Posted on 06/26/2021 11:28:59 AM PDT by rxsid
Engineer Warned of ‘Major Structural Damage’ at Florida Condo Complex
A consultant in 2018 urged the managers to repair cracked columns and crumbling concrete. The work was finally about to get underway when the building collapsed.
Three years before the deadly collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium complex near Miami, a consultant found alarming evidence of “major structural damage” to the concrete slab below the pool deck and “abundant” cracking and crumbling of the columns, beams and walls of the parking garage under the 13-story building.
The engineer’s report helped shape plans for a multimillion-dollar repair project that was set to get underway soon — more than two and a half years after the building managers were warned — but the building suffered a catastrophic collapse in the middle of the night on Thursday, trapping sleeping residents in a massive heap of debris.
The complex’s management association had disclosed some of the problems in the wake of the collapse, but it was not until city officials released the 2018 report late Friday that the full nature of the concrete and rebar damage — most of it probably caused by years of exposure to the corrosive salt air along the South Florida coast — became chillingly apparent.
“Though some of this damage is minor, most of the concrete deterioration needs to be repaired in a timely fashion,” the consultant, Frank Morabito, wrote about damage near the base of the structure as part of his October 2018 report on the 40-year-old building in Surfside, Fla. He gave no indication that the structure was at risk of collapse, though he noted that the needed repairs would be aimed at “maintaining the structural integrity” of the building and its 136 units.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Engineer Warned of ‘Major Structural Damage’ at Florida Condo Complex (report from 2018)
lawyers will make millions
So the city knew about this situation three years ago?!
But...but....It’s already been reported to be the result of global warming.
Nobody was taking the global warming shtick seriously.
And it was causing people to wonder why the enemedia was trotting it out.
Still might not have anything to do with the pool or surrounding plumbing, but either/both make far more believable culprits than global warming.
Anyone heard if anyone moved out of the building recently?
If so, that might provide some interesting info, especially if it was one or more condo board members leaving.
The last two photos tell it!
Last four photos
Was repair delayed because of Chivi lockdown???
Do you want it done good, fast, or cheap?
You only get to pick two.
Guess they went with fast and cheap.
Thank goodness for cheap labor.
Just doing the work that Americans refuse to do.
Wow, those last two pics. I’m sure there’s more pics that show the decay. That thing was crumbling.
Has John “for the people” Morgan dispatched a team yet? Families will get pennies on the dollar. And yes, that salt air doesn’t mess around.
"At the ground level of the complex, vehicles can drive in next to a pool deck where residents would lounge in the sun. Mr. Morabito in 2018 said that the waterproofing below the pool deck and entrance drive was failing, “causing major structural damage to the concrete structural slab below these areas.”The report added that “failure to replace the waterproofing in the near future will cause the extent of the concrete deterioration to expand exponentially.” The problem, he said, was that the waterproofing was laid on a concrete slab that was flat, not sloped in a way that would allow water to run off, an issue he called a “major error” in the original design. The replacement would be “extremely expensive,” he warned, and cause a major disturbance to residents.
In the parking garage, which largely sits at the bottom level of the building, part of it under the pool deck, Mr. Morabito said that there were signs of distress and fatigue.
“Abundant cracking and spalling of varying degrees was observed in the concrete columns, beams, and walls,” Mr. Morabito wrote. He included photos of cracks in the columns of the parking garage as well as concrete crumbling — a process engineers refer to as “spalling” — that exposed steel reinforcements on the garage deck.
Mr. Morabito noted that previous attempts to patch the concrete with epoxy were failing, resulting in more cracking and spalling. In one such spot, he said, “new cracks were radiating from the originally repaired cracks.”
The report also identified a host of other problems: Residents were complaining of water coming through their windows and balcony doors, and the concrete on many balconies also was deteriorating.
A great question for some "brave" reporter to ask the mayor/building association.
Clearly we need to condemn all coastal buildings from Miami Beach to Boca Raton. No human occupation, no sale or purchase of property, and void all insurance....except for conservatives of course.
Non essential possibly.
The existence of a report attached does it because it sets the time frame. In other words, this report was a couple years ago. And it sounds like there was already a contract to repair it. These are agencies who do budgets...”we’ll put it in next years budget” is common.
Condos are generally purchased by individual buyers; who do these people hold accountable when recommendations have been made and some alarms have been sounded?
If they got paid more for not working...probably.
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