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As the days go by and rescue work continues on the partially collapsed building in Miami, questions about how a 12-story building could collapse in 11 seconds mount.
And also, new evidence and new details are starting to emerge that will help experts determine the causes over time.
Since last weekend, the American media have published documents reporting a notable deterioration of the facilities at the South Champlain Tower.
This is the case of a letter sent last April to the owners of the apartments in which he was warned that the “degradation of concrete” “was accelerating” and that the damage “would start to multiply exponentially”.
The letter, sent by Champlain Towers South Homeowners Association president Jean Wodnicki, aimed to explain to tenants why a 2018 renovation estimated at around $ 9 million had gone up. to nearly $ 16 million three years later.
Recertification
The Chaplain Towers South is a 12 story, over 100 unit oceanfront condominium located in North Miami Beach.
The building was completed in 1981, according to city data.
Since the regulations in force establish that constructions of this type must pass an inspection at 40 years to guarantee their habitability, the building was subject to repairs in order to be able to be inspected by experts and obtain its recertification, according to the local authorities.
A consulting engineer, Frank Morabito, was hired in 2018 to do the initial assessment of the process and in his report when he indicated he had “abundant cracks” and landslides in the building’s underground car park.
Inspection revealed severe damage to the concrete slab under the pool deck – to the point where it was “out of service life” – and entry issues that “caused significant structural damage to the pool deck. the structural concrete slab below these areas “.
By 2021, Wodnicki mentioned in the April 9 letter, the building was in worse shape.
“Observable damage, like in the garage, has worsened considerably since the initial inspection “, he wrote in the letter, to which the newspaper first had access USA today.
“When you can visually see chipped (cracked) concrete, it means the rebar that holds it together is rusting and deteriorating below the surface,” Wodnicki said.
Other warnings
Wodnicki also noted that the “deterioration of concrete” had “accelerated” and that “the roof situation has deteriorated considerably.”
“New issues have been identified. Also, costs are increasing every year. This is how we have gone from the estimated US $ 9,128,433.60 in Frank Morabito’s 2018 report, to the much higher figure we have. today, “he explained.
Wodnicki further warned that it was “impossible to know the extent of the damage to the underlying rebar” until the concrete was broken.
“Often the damage is more extensive than what can be determined by inspecting the surface,” he added.
The letter to residents presented a darker picture of the building’s condition than they were given, they say, after the 2018 inspection.
Many of those who survived the collapse say they were told at the time that the building was “in very good condition”.
It is not clear whether the elements identified in Wodnicki’s letter are related to the collapse.
Experts warn that it is too early to draw hasty conclusions on the causes and recall that although the inspections determined “major structural damage”, they did not warn of the possibility of an imminent collapse.
This type of damage is frequent in old buildings and in particular in those located in the area facing the sea and this does not necessarily imply that they are at risk of collapsing.
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