Miami building collapse: Possible causes explained by area expert

[ExpressLane]

A condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida, on Thursday morning has left many wondering what caused the massive implosion, which has so far killed one person and left 99 people unaccounted for.

Miami-Dade County authorities are currently conducting an investigation into the Champlain Towers South Condo collapse, though an official cause behind the devastation has yet to be determined.

An area expert has brought forward some ideas as to what could have led the building's facade to crumble to the ground.

Gary Slossberg, founder of the South Florida construction company National Home Building & Remodeling Corp, said he hasn't heard any specific leads as to the cause of the building's fall, but after decades working in the industry, he has his suspicions.

"In a general way, there are many things that could happen. Construction defects or engineering defects," he said, adding that he's not suggesting there were any construction or engineering defects but simply pointing out the possibility. "I think there is some value, and it makes some sense to do periodic inspections."

Engineering inspections, which happen every five or 10 years, for example, might include removing drywall or other material to expose and inspect steel beams "to make sure they are not eroding away."

He added that salt in Miami's coastal air could potentially facilitate the erosion of steel. Evidence or erosion can appear in rust stains or exposed rebar.

"It's like a cancer," Slossberg said. "By the time you see it, it could be too late."

He added, however, that while salt can have a severe impact on coastal buildings, he is not sure how long it would take for salt to erode a building's materials to the point of collapse.

Solssberg also suggested that if the building were constructed with a "post-tension slab," or a concrete slab that has cables running through it, and one of those cables came loose, that could have led to its destruction.

"It could take down a whole building," he said.

Slossberg noted that the condominium, which had two-bedroom units on the market asking between $600,000 and $700,000, was built in 1981, when the county had different construction codes.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyl...ossible-causes


================================================== ==================

Personally I think it will be a combination of poor construction techniques and corrosion. With post tension if its not done right it can fail.

Hard to believe we don't have a bunch of threads on this.

[gemini104104]

A condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida, on Thursday morning has left many wondering what caused the massive implosion, which has so far killed one person and left 99 people unaccounted for.

Miami-Dade County authorities are currently conducting an investigation into the Champlain Towers South Condo collapse, though an official cause behind the devastation has yet to be determined.

An area expert has brought forward some ideas as to what could have led the building's facade to crumble to the ground.

Gary Slossberg, founder of the South Florida construction company National Home Building & Remodeling Corp, said he hasn't heard any specific leads as to the cause of the building's fall, but after decades working in the industry, he has his suspicions.

"In a general way, there are many things that could happen. Construction defects or engineering defects," he said, adding that he's not suggesting there were any construction or engineering defects but simply pointing out the possibility. "I think there is some value, and it makes some sense to do periodic inspections."

Engineering inspections, which happen every five or 10 years, for example, might include removing drywall or other material to expose and inspect steel beams "to make sure they are not eroding away."

He added that salt in Miami's coastal air could potentially facilitate the erosion of steel. Evidence or erosion can appear in rust stains or exposed rebar.

"It's like a cancer," Slossberg said. "By the time you see it, it could be too late."

He added, however, that while salt can have a severe impact on coastal buildings, he is not sure how long it would take for salt to erode a building's materials to the point of collapse.

Solssberg also suggested that if the building were constructed with a "post-tension slab," or a concrete slab that has cables running through it, and one of those cables came loose, that could have led to its destruction.

"It could take down a whole building," he said.

Slossberg noted that the condominium, which had two-bedroom units on the market asking between $600,000 and $700,000, was built in 1981, when the county had different construction codes.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyl...ossible-causes


================================================== ==================

Personally I think it will be a combination of poor construction techniques and corrosion. With post tension if its not done right it can fail.

Hard to believe we don't have a bunch of threads on this.

Typical example of so-called republican leadership at being another curse on society.

[ExpressLane]

Typical example of so-called republican leadership at being another curse on society.

God you are pathetic Its obviously Biden's fault.

[anonymoose]

God you are pathetic Its obviously Biden's fault.

It was built in 1981 when a dim was mayor. He obviously wrote the inadequate building code. Typically incompetent.
Unless of course Biden wrote the building code.

[gemini104104]

God you are pathetic Its obviously Biden's fault.

As you continue to hatch a bunch of rotten eggs at being a liar and a fact free fool at being so far up a un American repukes' hide you should have repuke crap all over yourself. Yet, consider some facts versus your fiction:

Biden gave Republicans a Tuesday deadline for an infrastructure proposal. They missed it.

GOP lawmakers didn't make Biden a counter-offer to his infrastructure plan by his Tuesday deadline.
They said Biden is still digesting their $568 billion plan and they'll hear from the White House this week.
Democrats are increasingly calling on Biden to ditch negotiations and move forward without the GOP."

https://www.businessinsider.com/repu...eadline-2021-5

[ExpressLane]

It was built in 1981 when a dim was mayor. He obviously wrote the inadequate building code. Typically incompetent.
Unless of course Biden wrote the building code.

Biden was in the Senate so it was his fault.

[Hawkeye10]

Biden was in the Senate so it was his fault.

GREAT POINT!

[Matt Dillon]

A condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida, on Thursday morning has left many wondering what caused the massive implosion, which has so far killed one person and left 99 people unaccounted for.

Miami-Dade County authorities are currently conducting an investigation into the Champlain Towers South Condo collapse, though an official cause behind the devastation has yet to be determined.

An area expert has brought forward some ideas as to what could have led the building's facade to crumble to the ground.

Gary Slossberg, founder of the South Florida construction company National Home Building & Remodeling Corp, said he hasn't heard any specific leads as to the cause of the building's fall, but after decades working in the industry, he has his suspicions.

"In a general way, there are many things that could happen. Construction defects or engineering defects," he said, adding that he's not suggesting there were any construction or engineering defects but simply pointing out the possibility. "I think there is some value, and it makes some sense to do periodic inspections."

Engineering inspections, which happen every five or 10 years, for example, might include removing drywall or other material to expose and inspect steel beams "to make sure they are not eroding away."

He added that salt in Miami's coastal air could potentially facilitate the erosion of steel. Evidence or erosion can appear in rust stains or exposed rebar.

"It's like a cancer," Slossberg said. "By the time you see it, it could be too late."

He added, however, that while salt can have a severe impact on coastal buildings, he is not sure how long it would take for salt to erode a building's materials to the point of collapse.

Solssberg also suggested that if the building were constructed with a "post-tension slab," or a concrete slab that has cables running through it, and one of those cables came loose, that could have led to its destruction.

"It could take down a whole building," he said.

Slossberg noted that the condominium, which had two-bedroom units on the market asking between $600,000 and $700,000, was built in 1981, when the county had different construction codes.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyl...ossible-causes


================================================== ==================

Personally I think it will be a combination of poor construction techniques and corrosion. With post tension if its not done right it can fail.

Hard to believe we don't have a bunch of threads on this.

Hebrew condo owners on A1A everywhere may should be nervous.

Holy shites that looks like Libya.

Are they sure no terrorists were involved?

That's a lot of damge.

[T. A. Gardner]

The two most likely causes of collapse here are:

A sink hole. Much of Florida is karst topography.



An eroded sinkhole under the building could have been forming for decades, unknown, and it finally collapsed in. Down comes the building. It wouldn't even take a big one. Just enough to collapse a few of the concrete columns holding the building up. The rest would collapse into the void formed.

The second most likely is that the soil there liquified for some reason and lost cohesion causing collapse. This is more common on engineered soils.

Neither use of a post tension slab nor corrosion in rebar would reasonably explain the collapse after just forty years in use. A post tension slab doesn't lose tension easily unless the cables used in its construction are cut through. This sort of construction is widely used in Arizona and I'm familiar with it. It is generally used on expansive clay soils that don't exist in Florida for the most part.

Looking at a map of where Surfside is, I'd say soil liquification is the likely culprit.



A rising water table or increased construction in the area could cause an infiltration of water into the soil destabilizing it and leading to the building's collapse.

[no worries]

The two most likely causes of collapse here are:

A sink hole. Much of Florida is karst topography.



An eroded sinkhole under the building could have been forming for decades, unknown, and it finally collapsed in. Down comes the building. It wouldn't even take a big one. Just enough to collapse a few of the concrete columns holding the building up. The rest would collapse into the void formed.

The second most likely is that the soil there liquified for some reason and lost cohesion causing collapse. This is more common on engineered soils.

Neither use of a post tension slab nor corrosion in rebar would reasonably explain the collapse after just forty years in use. A post tension slab doesn't lose tension easily unless the cables used in its construction are cut through. This sort of construction is widely used in Arizona and I'm familiar with it. It is generally used on expansive clay soils that don't exist in Florida for the most part.

Looking at a map of where Surfside is, I'd say soil liquification is the likely culprit.



A rising water table or increased construction in the area could cause an infiltration of water into the soil destabilizing it and leading to the building's collapse.

Holy crap, we agree on something, my thought, exactly.

Looking at the helicopter/drone video, you can see by the pool, there, the sand drops from pool deck about 6 feet.

Why would it do that?

A sinkhole or some kind of soil erosion undermining the vertical column(s)

[Guno צְבִי]

Collapsed Miami condo had been sinking into Earth as early as the 1990s, researchers say

The building, which was constructed in 1981, has been sinking at an alarming rate since the 1990s, according to a study in 2020 by Shimon Wdowinski, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environment.

When Wdowinski saw the news that the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside collapsed, he instantly remembered it from the study, he said.

Wdowinski said his research is not meant to suggest certainty about what caused the collapse. The building was sinking at a rate of about 2 millimeters a year in the 1990s and could have slowed or accelerated in the time since, he said.

In his experience, even the level of sinking observed in the 1990s typically results in impacts to buildings and their structures, Wdowinski said. He said that very well could have been the case for the Champlain building in the 1990s, based on his findings.

“It was a byproduct of analyzing the data. We saw this building had some kind of unusual movement,” Wdowinski said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/co...say/ar-AALoUP0

[Walt]

"In a general way, there are many things that could happen. Construction defects or engineering defects," he said, adding that he's not suggesting there were any construction or engineering defects but simply pointing out the possibility. "I think there is some value, and it makes some sense to do periodic inspections."

Engineering inspections, which happen every five or 10 years, for example, might include removing drywall or other material to expose and inspect steel beams "to make sure they are not eroding away."

Miami-Dade County is Republican controlled, and Florida is a Republican controlled state. I doubt the inspections happened that often, or were that good. Just saying.

[Jarod]

Clearly it was global warming and DeathSantis.