It's a Yahoo News story, so take it for what it's worth. But it says a woman in the building was on the phone with her husband discussing that the pool had collapsed before the building came down. But in the pics the pool looks like it is still intact? Maybe another pool? Maybe crappy Yahoo reporting?

https://news.yahoo.com/missing-florida-woman-phone-husband-154523294.html

RebelE91 said:

---

It's a Yahoo News story, so take it for what it's worth. But it says a woman in the building was on the phone with her husband discussing that the pool had collapsed before the building came down. But in the pics the pool looks like it is still intact? Maybe another pool? Maybe crappy Yahoo reporting?

https://news.yahoo.com/missing-florida-woman-phone-husband-154523294.html

---

Current engineering consensus is deck by pool collapsed into underground parking deck and everything else just followed.

Water is still in the pool in this early shot from the morning after the collapse.

aggiehawg said:

---

Water is still in the pool in this early shot from the morning after the collapse.

---

The area between the pool and the part of the still standing building - that area I think had like a hot tub in it. Regardless, you can certainly see that whole deck area had dropped down (either before/during/after...I'm not sure of timing yet).

What's the official death count?

No hot tub, but looks like chlorine storage.

The rubble falls away from the pool though.

Cassius said:

---

What's the official death count?

---

10 bodies found, 151 unaccounted for.

Are they saying that area just north of the pool collasped, near the storage building?

TexasRebel said:

---

No hot tub, but looks like chlorine storage.

The rubble falls away from the pool though.

---

Hot tub above the pool...its drained in the photo above:

I meant the hot tub was still present.

The utility house was gone, and I'm sure the cracks drained the hot tub likely draining the pool too, in the pic. Level looks low.

Quote:

---

There was nothing unusual about the lobby and pool area at Champlain Towers South condo, which looked clean and well maintained to a commercial pool contractor who visited the building last Tuesday, just 36 hours before half of the building unexpectedly collapsed. Then, he saw the basement-level garage.

"There was standing water all over the parking garage," the contractor, who asked not to be named, told the Miami Herald. He noted cracking concrete and severely corroded rebar under the pool.

He also took photos, which he shared with the Herald.

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.

While he had worked in the industry for decades and had "gone in some scary places," he said he was struck by the lack of maintenance in the lower level. The amount of water at Champlain Towers seemed so unusual that the contractor mentioned it to a building staff member, Jose, who was showing him around.

---

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article252421658.html

Pictures at the link.

Going to proffer one theory, though admittedly I have an accounting background and not engineering, but have stayed in a HI Express.

Purely looking at the photos below and the video of the "pancaking", I wonder if the failure originated in that middle interior section. Looks like that was a clean break (red circle). Then that portion drug down the middle street facing section hence the look of a more "tearing" of the building. (green highlight)

These two sections come down quickly into the underground garage area and that force drives to the pancake towers foundation footings essentially creating a controlled demolition of the eastern tower.

Looks like that middle section could have been emergency stairs or elevator shafts, or both. May have created the weak point. But heck, what to I know. Just spit balling from our hotel in FLL and looking at all the condo towers around.

Edited to Add: Sort of strange how the east tower seems to "twist" as it collapses vs just straight-down.

Thoughts and prayers for those that lost loved ones and / or lost their home.

Looks like neglecting proper maintenance is the culprit.

BIDEN SAYS HE MAY TRAVEL TO FLORIDA AS EARLY AS THURSDAY IN WAKE OF MIAMI BUILDING COLLAPSE

— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) June 29, 2021

Irish 2.0 said:

---

BIDEN SAYS HE MAY TRAVEL TO FLORIDA AS EARLY AS THURSDAY IN WAKE OF MIAMI BUILDING COLLAPSE

— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) June 29, 2021

---

~150 dead people in a local disaster warrants a visit from the President within the week, but we have to wait 90 days for the VP to visit the border where there is a chronic human trafficking crisis.

Burdizzo said:

---

Irish 2.0 said:

---

BIDEN SAYS HE MAY TRAVEL TO FLORIDA AS EARLY AS THURSDAY IN WAKE OF MIAMI BUILDING COLLAPSE

— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) June 29, 2021

---

~150 dead people in a local disaster warrants a visit from the President within the week, but we have to wait 90 days for the VP to visit the border where there is a chronic human trafficking crisis.

---

The border crisis can't be twisted into an infrastructure pitch.

aggietony2010 said:

---

Burdizzo said:

---

Irish 2.0 said:

---

BIDEN SAYS HE MAY TRAVEL TO FLORIDA AS EARLY AS THURSDAY IN WAKE OF MIAMI BUILDING COLLAPSE

— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) June 29, 2021

---

~150 dead people in a local disaster warrants a visit from the President within the week, but we have to wait 90 days for the VP to visit the border where there is a chronic human trafficking crisis.

---

The border crisis can't be twisted into an infrastructure pitch.

---

I mean it could...just not one they want to talk about.

Does he blame it on desantis?

Skillet Shot said:

---

Does he blame it on desantis?

---

Magic 8 Ball says there is a high probability.

Skillet Shot said:

---

Does he blame it on desantis?

---

He is going to blame it on non-union construction, lax regulatory environment (DeSantis), climate change, and insufficient federal spending on infrastructure. Oh yeah, and Trump. O/U on incomprehensible gaffs about nothing in particular = 3.

Not going through 13 pages of thread to see if already posted:

Plans for the restoration of the building:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E4ukSCsXIAI3nDf?format=jpg&name=4096x4096


And the structural inspection from 2018:
https://www.townofsurfsidefl.gov/docs/default-source/default-document-library/town-clerk-documents/champlain-towers-south-public-records/8777-collins-ave---structural-field-survey-report.pdf?sfvrsn=882a1194_2

And everything else related to the building:

https://www.townofsurfsidefl.gov/departments-services/town-clerk/champlain-towers-public-records-documents

Rapier108 said:

---

Skillet Shot said:

---

Does he blame it on desantis?

---

Magic 8 Ball says there is a high probability.

---

Will it be a "whisper campaign"?

Skillet Shot said:

---

Does he blame it on desantis?

---

It's climate change...

https://www.foxnews.com/media/cnn-biden-energy-secretary-climate-change-surfside-building-collapse

"CNN, Granholm suggest climate change could have role in Surfside building collapse: 'Ghoulish'

CNN and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm were ripped by viewers on Tuesday for suggesting that climate change could have been a factor in the tragic building collapse in Surfside, Florida.

At least 11 people were killed and over 150 are missing in the aftermath of the collapse of the Surfside beachfront condo. Recent reports have revealed there were warning signs before the building fell as engineers reported several issues with the structure, but a local building official told board members that the building was in "very good shape." Despite the new intel, CNN asked Granholm what role a changing climate could have had on the destruction.

"Given what we know about the changing climate, given that you've seen an increase in so called extraordinary tides, and the impact that that can have in areas like south Florida, do you think that climate would have played a role in that building's collapse?" anchor Erica Hill asked. The segment was accompanied by the chyron, "Could Climate Crisis Have Contributed to Building Collapse?"

"Well, obviously we don't know fully," Granholm replied.

"We know that we're losing inches and inches of beach not just in Florida, but all around," Granholm said."

Party of science will probably be bringing its checkbook. ETA: Joe and Dr. Biden will probably be there on Friday. To help...

Guy from work that started last Monday along with his one year old and pregnant wife is in the missing. Awful.

And the letter issued to residents of the condo regarding the ~$15MM repairs:

https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/champlain-towers-south-condo-letter/b2a6e0b0ac7cf1ec/full.pdf

Fairview said:

---

Guy from work that started last Monday along with his one year old and pregnant wife is in the missing. Awful.

---

Awful, horrid. No decent owner would rent, sell, or buy with engineering reports in black & white of impending FAILURE. This is just obscene neglect of these condo owners responsibility.

TRADUCTOR said:

---

Fairview said:

---

Guy from work that started last Monday along with his one year old and pregnant wife is in the missing. Awful.

---

Awful, horrid. No decent owner would rent, sell, or buy with engineering reports in black & white of impending FAILURE. This is just obscene neglect of these condo owners responsibility.

---

Is this trolling? Literally nobody, including the structural engineer, expected the bulding to just fall over. What a ****ty post

Predmid said:

---

And the letter issued to residents of the condo regarding the ~$15MM repairs:

https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/champlain-towers-south-condo-letter/b2a6e0b0ac7cf1ec/full.pdf

---

This has been so sad all around, and as an HOA President I can empathize with what they were trying to do. Huge assessments like that are so hard to pass.

bthotugigem05 said:

---

Predmid said:

---

And the letter issued to residents of the condo regarding the ~$15MM repairs:

https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/champlain-towers-south-condo-letter/b2a6e0b0ac7cf1ec/full.pdf

---

This has been so sad all around, and as an HOA President I can empathize with what they were trying to do. Huge assessments like that are so hard to pass.

---

Not a good situation.. and I love to kick the HOA pres in our neighborhood in the nads we have a gated "unguarded entry" and this numb nutts doesn't give new home owners their gate codes until later when they figure they need them

Predmid said:

---

Not going through 13 pages of thread to see if already posted:

And everything else related to the building:

https://www.townofsurfsidefl.gov/departments-services/town-clerk/champlain-towers-public-records-documents

---

Thanks for the links, glad they had the 1979 structural drawings in the list of documents. Any of the other engineers had experience with pressure injected footings? The structural drawings from 11/1979 originally had driven 14"x14" precast piles called out at the pile caps and shear wall foundations (driven to 50 Ton). There was a revision note that the pile type changed to pressure injected footings (PIF) in Jan 1980.

Reading about them, a temporary casing with a concrete plug at the bottom is driven into the ground, then the concrete plug is pushed out and a zero slump concrete is placed to form an enlarged base below the casing. The reinforcing cage is lowered into the casing and then more concrete is placed as the casing is slowly pulled out. A drop weight is used to compact the concrete in small lifts.

On the drawings it is noted that steel reinforcing in the PIF was only required for the tension piles at the shear wall foundations

TxAG#2011 said:

---

TRADUCTOR said:

---

Fairview said:

---

Guy from work that started last Monday along with his one year old and pregnant wife is in the missing. Awful.

---

Awful, horrid. No decent owner would rent, sell, or buy with engineering reports in black & white of impending FAILURE. This is just obscene neglect of these condo owners responsibility.

---

Is this trolling? Literally nobody, including the structural engineer, expected the bulding to just fall over. What a ****ty post

---

3yrs to make repairs to maintain structural integrity, plus report noted the previous structural repairs incorrect. Repairs to structure made in in three years: zero.

Owners are responsible for this disaster. Doubt there is an engineer report with guarantee of owner's safety. Engineer did not expect is different than engineer saying oh, it won't collapse putting off structural repair maintenance for 3 years.

regarding the pending lawsuits...

what kind of assets does the condo association have that can be seized or gone after?

I suppose there's an insurance liability policy of some kind, but it probably only has $1 MM or $2 MM limits.

that's not very much if 50 or 100 condo owners are suing

Burdizzo said:

---

Irish 2.0 said:

---

BIDEN SAYS HE MAY TRAVEL TO FLORIDA AS EARLY AS THURSDAY IN WAKE OF MIAMI BUILDING COLLAPSE

— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) June 29, 2021

---

~150 dead people in a local disaster warrants a visit from the President within the week, but we have to wait 90 days for the VP to visit the border where there is a chronic human trafficking crisis.

---

Florida is a swing state. Xiden wouldn;t care otherwise.

Quote:

---

"We know that we're losing inches and inches of beach not just in Florida, but all around," Granholm said."

---

She's a liar.

W said:

---

regarding the pending lawsuits...

what kind of assets does the condo association have that can be seized or gone after?

I suppose there's an insurance liability policy of some kind, but it probably only has $1 MM or $2 MM limits.

that's not very much if 50 or 100 condo owners are suing

---

Wouldn't surprise me if the other building jumped in on this as well.

Can estates of owners sue?