SINGAPORE - The Housing Board (HDB) on Friday (Sept 30) embarked on an ultrasound inspection of the sunshades in four blocks in Tampines.

This comes after a concrete sunshade on the fourth floor of Block 201E, Tampines Street 23, dislodged on Sunday (Sept 25) and fell on the sunshade on the third storey.

No one was injured in the incident, and the cause is still under investigation. HDB engineers have also ascertained that the building is structurally safe.

HDB said it will be using ultrasound scanning equipment to check the sunshades at the affected block and three other blocks which have similar sunshades - Blocks 201A, 201B and 201D, Tampines Street 21.

The four blocks, which were built in 1985, are home to 181 households and have 73 sunshades.

HDB said the ultrasound scan "seeks to assess the condition of each sunshade, including the presence of reinforcement bars embedded within the sunshades as this is one of the areas of our investigation".

The ultrasound scanner transmits magnetic waves into the concrete and detects the presence of metal reinforcement bars inside the sunshade.

Scaffolding and safety barriers have been erected at the site in preparation for the checks.

HDB added that it will work with the Tampines Town Council to repair the sunshade on the third storey, which was hit by the dislodged sunshade on Sunday.

The dislodged sunshade was taken to a laboratory on Sunday where more checks will be done.

"To get a complete and accurate picture of the cause behind the incident, we need both the laboratory investigation and site checks to run their full course," HDB said, adding that it will share the investigation outcome and the follow-up measures.