A commercial pool contractor indicated where he saw serious corrosion in the Champlain Towers South pool equipment room in a photo he took two days before the building collapsed. COURTESY
Posted on 06/28/2021 6:58:21 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The contractor visited the condo building last week to put together a bid for a cosmetic restoration of the pool as well as to price out new pool equipment — a small piece of the multimillion-dollar restoration project that just was getting underway at the 40-year-old building.
In the pool equipment room, located on the south side of the underground garage, the contractor saw another problem — exposed and corroding rebar in the concrete slab overhead. He snapped some pictures and sent them to his supervisor along with a note expressing concern that the job might be a bit more complicated than expected. He worried they would have to remove pool pipes to allow concrete restoration experts access to repair the slabs.
The building caved in two days later, before they had time to complete their bid.
A commercial pool contractor indicated where he saw serious corrosion in the Champlain Towers South pool equipment room in a photo he took two days before the building collapsed. COURTESY
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The location of the deep pool of standing water and cracked concrete and corroded rebar in the garage of Champlain Towers South condo, as pointed out by a pool contractor who toured the property two days before the collapse. EDUARDO ALVAREZ
(Excerpt) Read more at miamiherald.com ...
ya and with that, expect a new wave of racial quota hires and at the end of the day where are we? ...this just breeds corruption and incompetence so I expect buildings will continue to fall.
A lot of information here ....
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article252421658.html
Architects for the most part design the facades and the interiors, the floor plans, pick out the fixtures and colors, etc., the overall concept and look of the building. But it is the structural and civil engineers who must find a way make it all work.
Structural and civil engineers must put their stamp on the structural design and the structural build drawings. Engineers would have been the ones to design how the building was anchored to the ground, how the pillars holding up the building were constructed and of what materials, and the underground structures such as the underground garage, calculate the slope of the pool deck to accommodate for drainage, waterproofing, etc.
They are probably getting calls from families missing family members- people might have been visiting.
I read there was a pool built indoors on top of the garage on the bottom floor.
See: Post 48
“She is correct it is not an ugly comment, this damage HAD TO be repaired it was up to the owners to each put in their share of the money to do the repairs!! I saw on another site the pictures of the engineers dire concerns it was the pool area, these owners repeatedly did cosmetic repairs to the pool which was built over the garage!! It was going to cost each owner in the building $100,000 to do the repairs!! I would expect each surviving owner to file bankruptcy and there will be no recourse for the families!! I wonder how many of the deceased did not want to pay their share!! Now IF an owner had renters in a unit THEN they will be responsible!!!”
Looks like the Norfolk Scope parking garage.
A Professor said that the building had been sinking over the past decades, this would cause the concrete to crack, thereby exposing the rebar causing it to rust and weaken.
You should see what all is being built-and has already been built along the Miami River...
I already live in the NE GA mountains. Had a bear in the trash last summer but I’m still staying here!
In my reading on the tragedy, I have seen references to three large groups that have been particularly affected. One article mentioned a high percentage of Jews owning units in the building. It was said in the context of a particular congregation that had a large number of members there. It might have been about 30-40 of the missing, if I'm remembering correctly. There are many Jewish families who own property in the NYC area and also Miami, so that makes sense demographically.
It also mentioned a disproportionate number of central and south Americans. It said that people in some of those countries come to the USA to get COVID shots rather than get them at home, as they are more available. I found that rather odd, but there are some relations of dignitaries missing, so maybe it's true. The third group is short-term renters. A lot of the units were used as Airbnb private rentals. I expect there's overlap among the three groups. None of them suggest a high percentage of illegal aliens, unless the COVID shot is the cover for their presence. Not much surprises me anymore. In any case, it is a horrific situation.
Just that single image would make me leave and never go back.
There is no place for joking about this. It is as ugly as being a worthless contractor, or blind building inspector; real people died expecting you do do your job, and what you did was way worse than spitting in served food.
It was mostly old retired folks.............
“In philosophy, or religion, or ethics, or politics, two and two might make five, but when one was designing a gun or an aeroplane they had to make four.”
― George Orwell, 1984
“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”
― George Orwell, 1984
“For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable – what then?”
― George Orwell, 1984
“You are a slow learner, Winston.”
“How can I help it? How can I help but see what is in front of my eyes? Two and two are four.”
“Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane.”
― George Orwell, 1984
There is an interview of the architect/engineer of the WTC made soon after the collapses. Good to watch.
I imagine if they’re like most other HOAs, they’re all personally indemnified. If reporting is accurate that it’s a tenant-owned building, then they’re likely won’t be any real accountability.
Have you seen the price these condos were selling for before the collapse?
There is a well known psychological phenomenon called normalcy bias.
Basically, people subconsciously rely on other people for cues. If they don’t see others fleeing, they won’t either. People will sit at slot machines with billows of smoke surrounding them and fire alarms blaring, but if nobody else is running away they will stay put unless the machine shuts off, and even then you might have to tell them there are free t-shirts and cocktails out in the parking lot.
And they tend to think that since nothing bad has happened any of the other times they’ve seen something that obvious, that nothing bad will happen anytime soon.
Of course they aren't responsible for the buildings owners.
They are, however, responsible for enforcing their building codes (& any applicable laws) that they put in place.
It was the pool "deck" area that was the main (but not only) area that was of concern to the engineer in 2017 and the engineer in 2018, as well as the pool contractor in this story:
The deepest puddle of standing water, according to the contractor, was located around parking spot 78 — an area that building plans show is located directly under the pool deck where in a 2018 inspection report, engineer Frank Morabito had flagged a “major error” in the original design that was allowing water intrusion and causing serious damage to the structural concrete slabs below.
The deck area around the pool was quite large, next to some of the parking. In the two pics posted here, you can see that part of the pool deck collapsed (the actual pool would be just below the bottom center left side of the 2nd photo)
They levy pretty high monthly condo fees and receive a percentage of the fees. The building assumes responsibility for routine maintenance of the common areas like hallways, lobby, landscaping, pool, garage and administration of owner/tenant issues, sales and billing. The condo fees also cover local and state taxes and major repairs, which may be budgeted or may be assessed.
For example, as the townhouse community where we live gets older, things happen—like the street trees have grown so that they are overshading the streetlights and uprooting sidewalks. So our HOA made a new proposal at the yearly budget meeting (which few owners bother to attend) and regular dues went up for several years in a row to prune 100 trees and repair sidewalks. But when a hurricane damaged the pool house and some other common-area structures, there was a one-time special assessment to cover the HOA's insurance deductible for those repairs.
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