THis isn't a theory btw, since there was roof top parking, and they had experienced leaks over the years and repairs, there was probably rot/corrosion on structural members causing those members to fail.......
We won't know for sure until a full investigation is conducted.
In addition, I spoke to a building inspector who was on site today about this. I asked him how they could have missed what turned out to be a structural problem....know what he said? Well, they cannot cut into any covering in order to see what issues might be buried under 12" of concrete. They also can't remove any fireproofing material covering the members. What they look for are signs or indicators of problems. I said "like rust stains, sagging, etc"? He said yup.
I then said: Do you think they inspected the entire structure?
Nope, that would be impossible. More often than not there are ventilation ducts etc that prevent you from being able to see everything, plus it would take a month or more to completely inspect the entire structure.
I said "kind of like when you're inspecting one of our houses, you don't check every nail, you check to see how we're nailing and assume that we're doing the same everywhere"
Yup, it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and cause countless delays to do something like that.....
Anyhow, someone's head will roll because of this even though they probably did everything they were supposed to do. But if there is legislature written to have the inspectors do a complete exam, including excavating and removing concrete to inspect sub-structures, plan on the cost of houses, condos etc to cost 10000x more than they do now.....(just imagine how long it would take to inspect every bolt, and every weld in a structure 100 stories high...there's millions of connections...)
We also went on to discuss the world trade center and how it failed even though it was a well built building......
We won't know for sure until a full investigation is conducted.
In addition, I spoke to a building inspector who was on site today about this. I asked him how they could have missed what turned out to be a structural problem....know what he said? Well, they cannot cut into any covering in order to see what issues might be buried under 12" of concrete. They also can't remove any fireproofing material covering the members. What they look for are signs or indicators of problems. I said "like rust stains, sagging, etc"? He said yup.
I then said: Do you think they inspected the entire structure?
Nope, that would be impossible. More often than not there are ventilation ducts etc that prevent you from being able to see everything, plus it would take a month or more to completely inspect the entire structure.
I said "kind of like when you're inspecting one of our houses, you don't check every nail, you check to see how we're nailing and assume that we're doing the same everywhere"
Yup, it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and cause countless delays to do something like that.....
Anyhow, someone's head will roll because of this even though they probably did everything they were supposed to do. But if there is legislature written to have the inspectors do a complete exam, including excavating and removing concrete to inspect sub-structures, plan on the cost of houses, condos etc to cost 10000x more than they do now.....(just imagine how long it would take to inspect every bolt, and every weld in a structure 100 stories high...there's millions of connections...)
We also went on to discuss the world trade center and how it failed even though it was a well built building......
