Collapsed condo in Surfside, Fla., had faulty pool deck, investigators say
The condominium complex in Surfside, Fla., that collapsed nearly two years ago had a faulty pool deck, investigators said in a preliminary summary Thursday.
Some areas of the pool deck at Champlain Towers South were only about half as strong as the codes required when the building went up in the early 1980s and didn’t meet today’s standards either, the National Institute of Standards and Technology found, according to the Miami Herald.
“The lack of compliance was most severe in the pool deck structure,” said Glenn Bell, the probe’s team associate leader.
“Even absent any sudden overload or obvious initiator of a failure on the night of a collapse, the conditions present on the pool deck slab at that time represented a serious safety concern for the building.”
Ninety-eight people died when the 12-story condo near Miami collapsed on June 24, 2021. The investigation found the connections between the pool deck and its supporting columns to be weak, Bell said.
Other theories are still being explored, but investigators currently consider the pool deck to be the collapse’s most probable starting point, the Miami Herald reported.
Investigators say their efforts have cost more than $18 million so far and that more than 600 pieces of evidence are being kept in warehouses. They expect to present a final report in 2025.
“People ask what happened at Champlain Towers on June 24, 2021, but it may be more like a gradual deterioration of a structure that’s been compromised over time,” Bell said.
“We’re doing all we can to communicate our findings publicly.”
The remainder of Champlain Towers South was demolished in July 2021 before the arrival of a hurricane. Last year, a $997 million settlement was reached to cover multiple civil lawsuits related to the deadly collapse.
Thursday’s update comes less than three weeks after a six-story apartment complex in Davenport, Iowa, collapsed, killing three people. The cause of the May 28 collapse is also being investigated. Crews began the demolition of the Iowa building this week.
