MIAMI — A federal team
investigating the collapse of a condominium tower in
Surfside, Fla., has moved into the next phase of its work.
Ninety-eight people died on June 24, 2021, when part of the
Champlain Towers South building unexpectedly collapsed.
A team from the
National Institute of Standards and Technology began its
investigation days after the collapse, while search and
rescue operations were still underway. Some of the debris
from the site was later removed to a warehouse, where
scientists and engineers with NIST conducted nondestructive
testing.
Now the agency, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, has
moved some 400 large chunks of steel-reinforced concrete
along with other evidence to a larger space. There, teams
using heavy equipment can begin removing and testing
concrete cores and samples of the rebar.
The NIST team is trying to understand why a portion of the
12-story building suddenly fell and to recommend changes to
regulations and building codes to avoid similar disasters.
Reporting by the Miami Herald and other news organizations
has focused attention on possible construction defects that
may have contributed to degradation of the building's
concrete and its reinforcing steel.
NIST says the investigation of the Champlain Towers South
collapse is "one of the most complex and challenging of its
type ever undertaken, with no obvious initiating event for
the collapse." The agency says its investigation won't be
completed until spring of 2024. A report with
recommendations is expected a year later. |
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In an aerial view, a cleared lot where the 12-story
Champlain Towers South condo building once stood is seen on June 22,
2022, in Surfside, Fla. It had been a year since the tragic event
where 98 people died when the building partially collapsed on June
24, 2021.
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