Two days after parts of the twelve-story Champlain Towers South building in Miami collapsed, more than 150 people are missing. Four people have been confirmed dead.
While rescue crews search for survivors, the cause of the building’s sudden collapse remains unknown.
A lot of people throughout this community, and actually all over Florida, want to know, how could a building collapse like that? Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said: CNN Friday.
writes on saturday morning Miami Herald That architect Frank Morabito warned of “significant structural damage” to the building in Status Report On October 8, 2018.
Damage: The parking garage under the building’s entrance also “revealed signs of fatigue from construction work,” the report said, and large cracks appeared in the concrete.
Photo: screenshot
The report was released by local authorities on Friday. It is not known whether the damage contributed to the collapse of the building.
Damage to concrete structures
According to the report, the “main problem” with Champlain Towers was that the pool area and planting at the entrance outside the building were laid out “on a flat structure.” This prevented water from draining, damaging the concrete structures.
Warning: Architect Frank Morabito warned of “significant structural damage” to the building in a condition report dated October 8, 2018.
Photo: screenshot
“The problem must be resolved quickly,” the architect wrote after his investigations into the building.
“Not replacing the waterproofing in the near future will widen the extent of concrete deterioration significantly,” he warned.
According to the report, the parking garage under the building’s entrance also “revealed signs of masonry fatigue,” and there were several large cracks in the concrete.
Recommended fixes in April
Miami Herald He writes that it is not yet known whether the damage that the engineer warned about has been repaired. to me The New York Times There were plans for extensive work that was due to start soon, based on the engineer’s warnings
In the proposed plans to repair and restore the building, which were prepared in April of this year, Morabito recommended major repairs to the concrete beside the pool area, as well as to the foundation walls.
Attorney Kenneth S. Deere, who is associated with the apartment building, told the New York Times Thursday that damage to the concrete and rusted steel structure that needed to be repaired was detected, but nothing was discovered to indicate that the building could collapse.
It’s been down since the 90’s
A study from last year showed that the Champlain South Towers have sunk two millimeters a year since the 1990s, several US media wrote.
The study was led by researcher Shimon Wudinsky of Florida International University’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.
He says he immediately thought of Champlain Towers South when he saw the news of the building’s collapse in Miami.
– When I heard that one of the buildings had collapsed, I immediately thought it must have been that one. When I watched it on TV, I thought, “Oh my God, we found out about it last year,” he told USA Today.
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