SURFSIDE — The site of
what used to be the Champlain Tower South condominium along
a pretty stretch of beach in Surfside, FL remains an empty,
flattened crater of questions and mysteries.
“I have 8 zillion ideas but there’s no inkling at all,” said
Allyn Kilsheimer when asked if he and his team were any
closer to knowing what caused the tower to crumble.
Kilsheimer, of D.C.
based KCE Structural Engineers, is part of the team of
national experts working to determine why the 136-unit
building collapsed overnight on June 24th. The disaster
resulted in the heartbreaking deaths of 98 people including
men, women, and children.
“There was a trigger that started this from happening,”
Kilsheimer said.
It’s known the 40-year-old building had its share of design
flaws and structural concerns including “major structural
damager” identified in the garage and under the pool deck.
Chipping and eroded concrete have also been reported as
ongoing issues in the building prior to its collapse. |
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But whether those
issues were enough to bring the building down, Kilsheimer
doesn’t have the facts yet to prove or disprove any
theories.
“There could have been many, many things that alone look bad
and sound bad but didn’t cause it to start collapsing. They
could have contributed to the collapse if they wouldn’t have
been “bad.” Maybe it wouldn’t have been as sensitive as it
was, but you don’t know that, I don’t know that at this
time,” he said.
Finding cause in any structural failure is timely and
complicated but Kilsheimer, a world-renown expert in his
field, said the investigation into the Champlain Tower South
collapse is being made more complicated because he still
hasn’t been granted access to critical data and debris.
“This is the most a-typical situation I’ve been involved
in,” he said. Kilsheimer was hired by the town to
investigate its collapse but the National Institute of
Standards and Technology is leading the investigation. In
addition, there are hundreds of lawyers involved and court
cases determining when and who can access certain material
at any given time.
When asked if the situation has become frustrating,
Kilsheimer responded, “that would be an understatement.”
Still, he expects his findings to be released before the
first anniversary of the collapse.
According to Kilsheimer, structural debris from the site is
being held in two warehouses off-site. About a week ago, he
was granted access to view what’s left of the basement along
with some debris off-site.
This month, he hopes to spend three weeks conducting
critical tests on elements on and off-site.
But for now, answers into what caused the residential
building to just fall taking nearly everyone inside with it,
remains a matter of hyperbole, theory, and few facts.
“I don’t know any more than what I’m saying now,” said
Kilsheimer.
On Monday, the National Institute of Standards and
Technology will be providing an update on its investigation
into the collapse but officials from the federal agency make
it clear no findings or conclusions will be provided.