MIAMI: An engineer had warned three years before the deadly collapse of a Florida condominium building that there was evidence of “major structural damage” to the concrete slab below the pool deck.
His report also noted abundant cracking and crumbling in the underground parking garage, the New York Times reported on Saturday.
A large section of the 12-storey building in the Miami suburb of Surfside collapsed suddenly in the early hours of Thursday as residents slept, in a disaster for which the cause is not yet known.
Four people have been confirmed killed and 159 are still unaccounted for, with search-and-rescue teams working around the clock through an unstable mountain of debris.
The death toll is certain to rise with one floor of the high-rise stacked atop another like pancakes. Aided by dogs, cameras, sonar and heavy equipment, rescuers looked for any spaces that may have formed in the debris, leaving any possible survivors air to breathe.
The Times said that an October 2018 report by consultant engineer Frank Morabito had helped shape plans for a repair project that was scheduled to get under way soon, more than two and a half years after the building managers were warned.
The newspaper said the complex’s management association had disclosed some of the problems in the wake of the collapse. But the release by Surfside officials late on Friday of Morabito’s report made apparent the full nature of the concrete and rebar damage, it said.
Most of the damage was probably caused by years of exposure to the corrosive salt air along the South Florida coast, it said.
Morabito gave no indication in his report that the structure was at risk of collapse, but noted that the needed repairs would be aimed at “maintaining the structural integrity” of the building and its 136 units, the Times said.
“Though some of this damage is minor, most of the concrete deterioration needs to be repaired in a timely fashion,” the Times quoted Morabito as writing about damage near the base of the 40-year-old building.
The paper quoted Kenneth Direktor, a lawyer who represents the resident-led association that operates the building, as saying this week that the repairs had been set to start, based on extensive plans drawn up this year.
The Times added that Direktor said the process would have been handled much differently if owners had had any indication that the corrosion and crumbling — mild instances of which are relatively common in many coastal buildings — were a serious threat.
The death toll of four is certain to rise with one floor of the high-rise stacked atop another like pancakes. Aided by dogs, cameras, sonar and heavy equipment, rescuers looked for any spaces that may have formed in the debris, leaving any possible survivors air to breathe.
At the disaster site, teams from Mexico and Israel have arrived to help relieve locally based crews, many of whom have also travelled to disaster sites around the world.
Atop the pile, some wielded hammers and picks looking for signs of life. Heavy equipment scraped away the top layer.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue chief Andy Alvarez recalled that his team once pulled a girl out of earthquake debris in Haiti eight days into the rescue effort.
“You gotta have hope. We’re doing everything we can to bring your family member out alive,” Alvarez told the loved ones of the missing on CNN, pausing as he was overcome with emotion.
Built in 1981, the Champlain Towers South condominium had more than 130 units, about 80 of which were occupied, officials said. Roughly half appear to have collapsed.
