Could typhoons and earthquakes be the reason for the
crumbling of these ruins? Let's examine the real cause.

From my position along the roadside, I could see this hole-like crack on one of the pillars. After taking the full shot of the building, I decided to walk a bit closer to get more details. As soon as II was directly in front of this formation, I zoomed in on it with camera, and took the shot below.

Note that there is a hollow pipe that has been broken. Beside the pipe are two small steel bars. There's something like an iron ribbon to the right. Scroll down the page, and you'll see how these bars have been exposed almost all the way down.

Note also how the cement has been worked on. From the looks of it, this pillar is just waiting to crumble.

There are many other pillars in worse shape than this. And then again, there are many that ARE MISSING. This is my whole point about using a restoration expert (or a work crew that is trained for this kind of job). Imagine what would happen if those remaining exposed bars were to be removed?

if you examine this damaged area more closely, you'll find that the cement is colored with varying shades of gray. Due to the effects of weathering, the outer portions (nearer the surface) are much darker than the the inner portions, while the inner portions are much cleaner and lighter in color - showing that they have been exposed much more recently.

So, the question now is: How did the ruins get to be in this deplorable state?

One common answer that I keep hearing is that this is damage from previous eras. I beg to disagree. Over the last ten years, I have conducted many activities that entailed passing through these ruins, and I have personally seen the progressive deterioration of this (and other) buildings. While it is true that Middleside Barracks went through horrendous bombing during World War II, and has been victimized by cement, iron, and treasure-hunters in the past, I can tell you that these ruins were in much better shape ten years ago., Maybe air pollution has gotten so bad that the cement peels off the pillars and steel bars work themselves out of the concrete!

The next question is: How do we put a stop to this deterioration? Some say it can't be done -- yet.

The reason being bandied around is that there's not enough funds to maintain a security force that could protect these ruins. But does it really take that much to patrol the island? One or two roving guards on motorcycles could do a lot to discourage activities that lead to monstrous results like this. The simple expedient of rearranging budget item priorities to help come up with some cost-efficient SECURITY measures would certainly achieve immediate results.