M1/Grayston Bridge Commissioner orders Australian expert witness to return for further testimony
The Commissioner presiding in the M1 Bridge enquiry has ordered Form-Scarf expert witness from Australia to return to the country on August 29th to provide certain crucial evidence required by Murray and Roberts, the principal contractor.
Lennie Samuel said: “we will afford Murray and Roberts an opportunity to get the information they want. I do not want us to be moving backward and forward in this matter”.
For its part, Murray and Roberts said it want all inputs and outputs that were modelled.
The company said “we will however not signal our question as this could prejudice our case.”
Farrow took the witness stand on Tuesday and from the beginning was accused by Murray and Roberts of being biased in his modelling – an allegation he consistently denied.
Gary Farrow, a mechanical engineer from Australia, told the Commission that, although he had limited access to contracts between Form-Scaff and Murray & Roberts, his analysis of the fatal site disproves insinuations that he was biased in favour of his “employer”.
“My mandate was configuration of the temporary structure and ascertain the causes of collapse,” Farrow also told the Commission that he approached his modelling with open mind and sound judgement, “I did not prejudge evidence in view of evidence on site”.
Form-Scaff, provides an array of products and services to a range of construction and civil engineering industries. It was the supplier of the material for the temporary work structure constructed at the M1/Grayston Drive project.
The M1/Grayston Drive Pedestrian and cyclist structural bridge Section 32 Inquiry was appointed by the Department of Labour. The inquiry is presided by Lennie Samuel, assisted by Lesibe Raphela. It was set-up to investigate the collapse of the temporary bridge structure on the M1/Grayston Drive that led to the death of two people and injury to 19 others.
The Section 32 investigation is being held in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act.
Enquiries:
Mokgadi Pela
Cell: 082 808 2168
