[ad_1]
The Salesforce Transit Center complex, which spans several blocks, is visible after its closure on Tuesday, September 25, 2018 in San Francisco. (Eric Risberg / AP)
- A second cracked beam was discovered in the transit center of San Francisco.
- Called the "Grand Central of the West", the $ 2 billion transit center opened last month.
- Officials say the transit platform would remain closed at least until the end of the week.
- The center is adjacent to the so-called condominium sinking Millennium Tower, although it is believed that the two incidents are unrelated.
A second cracked beam was discovered Wednesday in San Francisco's "Grand Central of the West" after its closure Tuesday afternoon following the discovery of an initial crack in a support beam in the station.
The first crack was discovered by workers installing tiles at the $ 2 billion Salesforce sales center. The engineers spent the day inspecting the damage, deciding to close the station around 17 hours. Tuesday, Executive Director Mark Zabaneh said.
According to Zabaneh, the engineers discovered that the first crack crossed a beam that held a park above three blocks and crossed a street in the city center.
He said the problems were localized in this area of the transit platform, but they would remain closed "at least until the end of next week," according to inspections. We do not know yet what caused the cracks.
Mayor London Breed said the facility would remain closed until it can be reopened safely. Its role in the wider transportation system is too important "not acting quickly to have definitive answers to the public, and someone must be held accountable once the cause is determined," she said. in a statement.
(PLUS: Hundreds of feet from Australia Beach disappear overnight: "This will almost certainly happen again")
The engineers decided to close the station due to an "abundance of caution," Zabaneh said.
"The beam behavior is unpredictable," he said.
The transit center, a dominant presence in the city's booming southern market quarter, is next to the Millennium Tower, which has opened about 45 centimeters from its opening on a former landfill. 2009.
The owners have filed multiple lawsuits against the developer and the city, with some claiming that the construction of the transit center caused the sinking of the Millennium Tower.
The lower level of the Salesforce Transit Center is empty except for the font after it is closed. (Eric Risberg / AP)
Zabaneh said that he did not believe that the cracked beam was related to ongoing problems at the Millennium Tower.
The crack was found near a weld on a horizontal beam subjected to stress, Zabaneh said. Engineers are looking for other cracks in other pipes, but they are optimistic, the damage being limited to a single beam.
The buses were re-routed to a temporary transit center about two blocks from the center's construction. A downtown street under the beam was also closed indefinitely, causing traffic chaos, while some streets were closed for a Salesforce sponsored conference that was to attract 170,000 attendees.
Wrapped in a wavy white metal veil, the five-level center includes a bus bridge, a sky-lit central entrance hall and a rooftop park with an open air amphitheater. Zabaneh said US steel was used in the construction of the center.
"A steel beam should never crack," said Joe Maffei of Maffei Structural Engineering at the San Francisco Chronicle.
The newspaper had previously reported that the complex was facing delays in issuing contracts, and that the winning bids were ultimately higher than expected.
The cost of the terminal has gone from $ 1.6 billion at its inauguration in 2010 to over $ 2 billion in 2016 due to what one analyst called "optimistic assumptions," according to the Chronicle.
The project is financed by land sales, federal stimulus grants, district fees and taxes, bridge tolls and federal and state funds.
Many condominiums have been built in the booming southern market district over the past five years and several multi-story construction projects are still underway while San Francisco is attracting Silicon Valley technology companies.
Salesforce online business software company, which opened its 61-storey Salesforce Tower earlier this year, bought the transit center's naming rights in 2017 as part of a 110-year sponsorship deal. millions of dollars over 25 years.
The Salesforce Transit Center is operated by the authority of Transbay Joint Powers.
Source link
