Large Apartment Building Collapses in Miami

[durangodawood]

Pretty much what the thread title says. I always wonder how things like this happen, both from the technical as well as the regulatory angles. Must be horrific for the people involved.

Miami building collapse: 51 people unaccounted for

 

[Sabertooth]

They better find a reason fast, or else it could happen again.

 

[durangodawood]

They better find a reason fast, or else it could happen again.

Hopefully someone kept the original drawings of this building.

 

[wing2000]

....built in the 1980's

 

[Goonie]

They better find a reason fast, or else it could happen again.

My understanding is that building work was being done on the roof.

 

[Sabertooth]

My understanding is that building work was being done on the roof.

As in unusually heavy equipment was placed there?

 

[CatsRule2020]

From the photo I don't know if one could tell. But I did read of the sink-hole problems they were having in that state.

 

[durangodawood]

....built in the 1980's

Whats the significance of that?

 

[Goonie]

As in unusually heavy equipment was placed there?

I don't know. But reports from residents(according to the media) appear to be that there had been repair/building work being done on the roof. If the roof was weak due to building code violations, lack of repair, one can definitely picture the building pancaking as one floor collapses on another.

 

[durangodawood]

I don't know. But reports from residents(according to the media) appear to be that there had been repair/building work being done on the roof. If the roof was weak due to building code violations, lack of repair, one can definitely picture the building pancaking as one floor collapses on another.

Yes, the dynamic load of a falling floor is typically more than the floor below can handle. See WTC.

 

[cow451]

Pretty much what the thread title says. I always wonder how things like this happen, both from the technical as well as the regulatory angles. Must be horrific for the people involved.

Miami building collapse: 51 people unaccounted for

 

[trunks2k]

Yes, the dynamic load of a falling floor is typically more than the floor below can handle. See WTC.

Mhmm. That's generally how it happens - you lose support in one spot, it can't hold the weight above it and it comes crashing into an otherwise intact structural member, which can't support the dynamic load and collapses as well.

Side note: Which isn't all that much different from how a controlled demolition is done - except a controlled demolition is more, well, controlled to make sure the building actually collapses and debris is contained to certain areas. People seem to expect big buildings to topple over like a tree or something. But just think of basic physics - you need a lateral force to make the building go to the side. When it collapses, the force is pretty much all straight down. Though, granted, you can potentially have a hinge type of effect that can cause portions to tip some before being overcome by gravity.

ETA: In fact, if a big building fell over more like a tree, I would assume that it was done via controlled demolition. That's VERY hard to do. Buildings want to fall straight down.

 

[essentialsaltes]

The Miami-area apartment building that crashed to the ground in a horrifying early-morning collapse Thursday had been experiencing “issues” for years, and it was even the subject of a scientific study last year that warned of it sinking into the earth.

The Champlain Towers complex in Surfside, Florida, was the subject of at least one lawsuit over the maintenance of the structure’s outer walls.

According to a Florida International University professor who co-authored a study focused on the issue last year, the complex had been sinking into the earth bit by bit since the 1990s, at one point at a rate of about 2 millimeters per year.

Professor Shimon Wdowinski and co-author Simone Fiaschi were examining increases in flooding frequency, and found that in addition to rising sea levels, flooding was “significantly higher” in areas along the southeastern coast that had been sinking into the earth due to urban development and compacted sediment on what was (at least in part) reclaimed marshland.

Climate change + Florida marshland is not a good combo.

 

[durangodawood]

.....
Climate change + Florida marshland is not a good combo.

But think of all the money we saved by not doing hardly anything.

 

[wing2000]

Whats the significance of that?

...it's not that old as far as buildings go.

One might ask, how diligent were city building inspectors in that timeframe as well.

 

[wing2000]

...this might be a clue from a 2018 engineering report released yesterday [concrete sitting on water over time is never a good thing]

https://www.townofsurfsidefl.gov/do...ral-field-survey-report.pdf?sfvrsn=882a1194_2

 

[durangodawood]

...this might be a clue from a 2018 engineering report released yesterday [concrete sitting on water over time is never a good thing]

https://www.townofsurfsidefl.gov/do...ral-field-survey-report.pdf?sfvrsn=882a1194_2

View attachment 301359

Yep. Slope away from your buildings for water drainage, people.

 

[hedrick]

...this might be a clue from a 2018 engineering report released yesterday [concrete sitting on water over time is never a good thing]

https://www.townofsurfsidefl.gov/do...ral-field-survey-report.pdf?sfvrsn=882a1194_2

View attachment 301359

In addition the report noted deterioration in columns and other structural items. They were going to repair most of this, but it was obviously too late. One article suggests that salt water in the atmosphere makes this area more dangerous than is typical. I suspect Florida may need to shorten reinspection from every 40 years to something shorter.

 

[essentialsaltes]

wing2000 mentioned it already, but...

Engineers who evaluated the South Florida condo that partially collapsed Thursday, leaving dozens trapped under the rubble, warned in a 2018 report of a “major error” in the construction’s original development. The report – released late Friday by officials in Surfside, Fla., – notes that the building’s reinforced concrete slab is not sloped to drain.


As search-and-rescue teams continue to look for any possible survivors, the newly disclosed report shows Frank Morabito told building managers of “major structural damage” to the concrete at Champlain Towers South. City officials released the report as investigators start to seek a definitive explanation of the collapse. Authorities say 159 people are still unaccounted for.

 

[Goonie]

wing2000 mentioned it already, but...

Engineers who evaluated the South Florida condo that partially collapsed Thursday, leaving dozens trapped under the rubble, warned in a 2018 report of a “major error” in the construction’s original development. The report – released late Friday by officials in Surfside, Fla., – notes that the building’s reinforced concrete slab is not sloped to drain.


As search-and-rescue teams continue to look for any possible survivors, the newly disclosed report shows Frank Morabito told building managers of “major structural damage” to the concrete at Champlain Towers South. City officials released the report as investigators start to seek a definitive explanation of the collapse. Authorities say 159 people are still unaccounted for.

It reminds me of greenfell.