Florida Is Not Known For Its Stringent Building Codes

[Minimalist]

What a surprise.  A Florida law which would have required condos to be inspected and make repairs was passed in 2008 and repealed in 2010 due to push back by the real estate industry.

https://www.msnbc.com/craig-melvin/watch...6410437575


It's always about the money.

[Astreja]

The worrisome thing is that this building, forty years old, is smack-dab in the middle of the condo boom in America. How many hundreds or thousands of these buildings are scattered in states that have the equally weak code-enforcement?

I'm expecting a lot more tragedies like this, especially now that climate change is messing with soil moisture and bad storms are becoming more frequent.

[Thumpalumpacus]

The worrisome thing is that this building, forty years old, is smack-dab in the middle of the condo boom in America. How many hundreds or thousands of these buildings are scattered in states that have the equally weak code-enforcement?

I'm expecting a lot more tragedies like this, especially now that climate change is messing with soil moisture and bad storms are becoming more frequent.

Anyone who's driven past the condos lining the Santa Monica or Newport Beach shoreline sees buildings like this all over the place that have been there at least since the late 70s.

Granted the condos in Middle America don't suffer the salt-water corrosion, but still, erosion and ground-settling are things too in the Mississippi/Missouri valleys, and the drainages feeding them. And building codes probably aren't as stringent in those areas.

[Dom]

They pulled a live cat out of the rubble.

[Aliza]

They pulled a live cat out of the rubble.

OMG! That's so wonderful!

ETA: Can you link us? I can't find it.

[jerry mcmasters]

They pulled a live cat out of the rubble.

Just heard the interview: [cat rubbing head] "Fuckin' meow..."

[Dom]

They pulled a live cat out of the rubble.

OMG! That's so wonderful!

ETA: Can you link us? I can't find it.

I just heard it on CNN. Probably there will be links available in a while...

[Astreja]

Anyone who's driven past the condos lining the Santa Monica or Newport Beach shoreline sees buildings like this all over the place that have been there at least since the late 70s.

Granted the condos in Middle America don't suffer the salt-water corrosion, but still, erosion and ground-settling are things too in the Mississippi/Missouri valleys, and the drainages feeding them. And building codes probably aren't as stringent in those areas.

AFAIK (I am not a geologist), land close to waterways tends to be unstable because of the high amount of silt.  Winnipeg has two large rivers running through the middle, along with a few small rivers and creeks, and I've been informed that there are lots of cracked foundations within a mile of the river.

It must be a nightmare in the Mississippi delta.

[Aliza]

Good grief. Partial collapse of a roof.  Probably pretty minor because I didn't notice any injuries immediately reported. This building was from 1972.

https://th.bing.com/th?id=OP.vkXp7fdXzf%...5&pid=21.1

[SYZ]

AFAIK (I am not a geologist), land close to waterways tends to be unstable because of the high amount of silt.  Winnipeg has two large rivers running through the middle, along with a few small rivers and creeks, and I've been informed that there are lots of cracked foundations within a mile of the river.

It must be a nightmare in the Mississippi delta.

Cities—such as Melbourne in Australia that're built on alluvial plains (silt) usually
require piles to be driven to underlying bedrock for stability.  Which is one of the
reasons so many multi-story buildings have three or four levels of underground
parking—it makes it easier to use shorter piling lengths.  The piles are capped and
then a raft slab with ground beams is laid on the caps.

Maybe that wasn't done in Miami?  Any word yet on the condos' structural failure?

[Aliza]

AFAIK (I am not a geologist), land close to waterways tends to be unstable because of the high amount of silt.  Winnipeg has two large rivers running through the middle, along with a few small rivers and creeks, and I've been informed that there are lots of cracked foundations within a mile of the river.

It must be a nightmare in the Mississippi delta.

Cities—such as Melbourne in Australia that're built on alluvial plains (silt) usually
require piles to be driven to underlying bedrock for stability.  Which is one of the
reasons so many multi-story buildings have three or four levels of underground
parking—it makes it easier to use shorter piling lengths.  The piles are capped and
then a raft slab with ground beams is laid on the caps.

Maybe that wasn't done in Miami?  Any word yet on the condos' structural failure?

Early, educated speculation is pointing to a series of support beams in the garage that failed. The garage on the ground floor did not cave in, but the pool deck right over the garage is what collapsed. Everything else followed that collapsed pool deck. It appears that the original builder did not properly waterproof the pool deck and that water was seeping through to the garage below for years. The next issue is spalled concrete on the support beams which exposed the metal rebar and caused corrosion and weakness. A possible factor may have been some heavy planters that were added to the perpetually soggy pool deck, and heavy gym equipment that was also over part of the area that initially collapsed. 

In short, the condo board fucked everything up.

[Astreja]

I continue to be baffled as to why someone thought it was a good idea to put a swimming pool over a parkade in the first place.

[Aliza]

I continue to be baffled as to why someone thought it was a good idea to put a swimming pool over a parkade in the first place.

The swimming pool itself is not over the parking garage. Only the deck where people would sun themselves or walk up to the pool was above the garage. I was confused about that as well at first, but 100% of the swimming pool floor rested on the ground. 

(I have never heard the term parkade before. I like it!)

[Astreja]

(I have never heard the term parkade before. I like it!)

Possibly it's a Canadianism. 

[Fireball]

That parkade is now an aquacade.

[Minimalist]

There are still investigative journalists in the world.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/c...82008.html

Contractor for fallen Surfside condo later lost license amid fraud, negligence claims

The construction of the doomed Champlain Towers South building in Surfside was helmed by a developer charged with tax evasion in Canada, an engineer who oversaw a bungled municipal garage in Coral Gables, and an architect who temporarily lost his license for poor designs.
And for three critical months during construction, the team was joined by Alfred Weisbrod, a general contractor whose 20-year career in South Florida was pockmarked with complaints of “negligence,” “incompetency or misconduct,” and who had a propensity for abandoning projects midway through, according to court records and newly released documents from the state licensing agency.
Although Weisbrod’s troubles with the licensing agency came after his stint as one of Champlain Towers South’s three general contractors, experts still questioned his qualifications for participating on such a large-scale project.

While the root cause of the catastrophic collapse of Champlain Towers South that left 98 dead on June 24 is still unknown, engineers who reviewed building plans and photos of the debris as part of a Herald investigation agreed that faulty design and poor construction likely contributed to a worst-case scenario.
On a major project like Champlain South, the lead engineer helps design the structure to be strong and safe while the general contractor is in charge of building it. Both of the contractor and the inspecting engineer — who at Champlain towers was the same as the lead engineer — are responsible for ensuring the construction matches the design and meets the applicable building codes.
“If an engineer gets this wrong, the contractor is supposed to pick up on it,” said Gregg Schlesinger, a Fort Lauderdale contractor and attorney.
Engineers consulted by the Herald regarding Champlain Towers’ design and construction pointed to narrow columns that did not meet building code requirements and an apparent lack of rebar connecting the columns — two things they said might have been the difference between a limited failure of the pool deck, which cratered initially into a downstairs garage, and the total collapse of half the building. Both problems should have been caught by the original project engineer and the general contractor, experts told the Herald.

Weisbrod is deceased.