Three years ago a consultant warned fatal collapse The concrete slab under the pool deck in a South Florida condominium building had evidence of “major structural damage” and abundant cracks and collapses in the underground parking garage new York Times Reported on Saturday morning.
A large part of a 12-story building in the Miami suburb of Surfside suddenly collapsed in the early hours of Thursday as residents were asleep, in a disaster whose cause is not yet known.
Four people have been confirmed dead and 159 are still unaccounted for, with search and rescue teams working round the clock through a shaky mountain of rubble.
times said an October 2018 report by consulting engineer Frank Morabito had helped shape plans for a repair project, more than two and a half years after building managers were warned it was about to begin.
The newspaper said the complex’s management association had uncovered some problems after the collapse. But the release of Morabito’s report late Friday by Surfside officials made the full nature of the concrete and rebar damage clear. Most of the damage was probably caused by years of exposure to corrosive salt air along the South Florida coast, it said.
Morabito gave no indication in his report that the structure was in danger of collapse, but noted that the necessary repairs would be aimed at “maintaining the structural integrity” of the building and its 136 units. times said.
“While some of this damage is minor, most concrete falls need to be repaired in time,” times Morabito wrote about the damage near the base of the 40-year-old building.
The paper quoted Kenneth S. Director, a lawyer who represents the resident-led consortium that operates the building, as saying this week that repairs were about to begin, based on extensive plans drawn up this year. On.
times Said the director said the process would be handled very differently if owners had any indication that rust and crumbling – a relatively common example in many coastal buildings – were a serious threat.