What do you know? A structural engineer had documented widespread defects 3-years before the condo collapse that has left on the order of 150-people unaccounted for.
Three years before the deadly collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium complex near Miami, a consultant found alarming evidence of “major structural damage” to the concrete slab below the pool deck and “abundant” cracking and crumbling of the columns, beams and walls of the parking garage under the 13-story building.
I don’t have the slightest difficulty believing this, because during my years in Florida I was sometimes among the engineers issuing those warnings — and being ignored. That — and the willingness of many engineers to turn a blind eye — had much to do with my decision to leave engineering.
Expect more stories just exactly like this one as the’80s building boom matures.