Damage to Laurentius roof not too bad

President Mirle Buurma can smile about it now. “You could hardly think of a better outcome, if you had to have a crane fall onto your building.” On Tuesday last week, a 60-m tall crane toppled over during construction work behind the historic headquarters of student association Laurentius. While the crane made a sizeable hole in the roof, there were no casualties and the damage hasn’t turned out too bad.

Crane incident

• Crane topples over onto Laurentius building

The crane was being used for work on the insulation of the roof of an office building behind the society building. The office building is also owned by Laurentius. “The work occasionally involves lifting heavy panels over the roof. That’s why no one was allowed in the premises during construction work – a very wise policy, as became clear. And fortunately the builders are alright too,” says Buurma.

Damages

On Monday, the roof still had a yawning hole. But fortunately, the building’s support beams – which are crucial for its structural integrity – survived unscathed. Nor was any inventory damaged. The building’s attic is primarily used to store materials for parties and Eurekaweek.

The builders made a start on repairing the hole on Friday. “We’re still working to establish, together with the insurer, how much the damages are exactly,” says Buurma. Buurma hopes that by the end of next week, the roof will be as good as new.