27.02.2012

Marrakesh Death Wish

A reader in Morocco has sent us a photo which shows an extremely dodgy seven storey wooden scaffold in Marrakesh.

While he has not provided any details apart from location, we feel the picture speaks louder than words.
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An extremely dodgy seven storey wooden scaffold in Marrakesh

Unlike the properly made wooden scaffold systems that you still occasionally see in places like Germany, this one is decidedly homemade. The vertical supports appear to be a continuous line of planks with nailed together joints, while splintered planks haphazardly nailed to the structure form the cross bracing.

It is quite clear from the photograph that the scaffold meets few, if any, of the basic safety rules for such structure although amazingly the main working platform does appear to have a toe-board! Although you could fall through the gap between them and the platform. We are not quite sure about the tie-ins to the building, but there is plenty of contact with it and with the overhanging roof structure.
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A closer look at the wooden scaffold

The planks that are used for platforms are loose, with many of them clearly not in good condition. There appears to be no proper form of access to the working levels.

Building such a scaffold, as with bamboo and to a lesser extent, tube and coupler, requires a great deal of skill to do properly. Skills that this contractor clearly does not have and it certainly qualifies for our Death Wish series.