Mascot Towers residents await causes of cracking

Residents had repeatedly told Bayside Council and the building manager that their Mascot Tower apartments were shaking during excavation work at the neighbouring Peak Towers block.

Residents also told how the basement carpark was flooded during the Peak Towers excavation.

Engineers at Mascot Towers are investigating whether the groundwater level just 1.5m below the basement carpark may have added to the damage at the crack-ridden apartment complex.

Owners were told on the weekend that engineers would be assessing Mascot Towers for at least five to seven days.

Real estate agent John Higgins, who sold most of the Mascot Towers apartments on their 2006 off the plan listings, and has been since involved since, told the Sunday Telegraph he believes the 11-storey Peak Towers, still under construction, may be responsible.

There is also an issue around a faulty support beam potentially causing the cracks that forced hundreds of residents to evacuate the complex on Friday evening.

The eight storey, 122 apartment Bourke Street was completed in 2008 above the railway line.

Higgins said cracks had also been found in the industrial building two doors down.

The building is adjacent to the site where an 11-storey apartment block is being built.

Documents show the NSW Office of Water approved­ the development after being satisfied that works dealt with the groundwater issues across the site at depths from 1.4m-1.6m below natural ground level.