BOCA RATON -- The company that completed the city of Boca Raton’s first inspection recertification of a high-rise condo building resulting from the city’s new building inspection ordinance is sharing what the company found during its inspections.
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"There was a lot of repair that was
needed here,” said Matthew Nolan, the senior project manager
for Hillman Engineering.
Nolan says among the issues found at the Admirals Walk
Condominium building were columns in the garage that were
too narrow to keep supporting the deck above.
"The weight of this was causing the columns to punch through
it, so we had to structurally redesign some of the columns
downstairs so what you see today is safer,” said Nolan.
Nolan said he is not sure how much longer the narrow columns
would have held."You don’t know until it happens, so it was
important that we get it done,” said Nolan.
The team also found other issues in its inspections.
"We had to put new rebar and new steel in there," said
Nolan. "We put special concrete in that has corrosion
inhibitor, so that the ocean doesn’t have an effect on the
steel. We did work on the roof. They had potential
collapses, so we did some emergency work up on the roof."
Condominium board member and treasurer Collin D'Silva said
he was not surprised to find out what was discovered during
the inspections.
"We’re dealing with a 50-year-old building, so we’re pretty
much within expectations,” said D'Silva
As of now, all the repairs have been made, and the city of
Boca Raton can concentrate on the more than 320 other tall
buildings near the ocean that need to be recertified.
The team at Hillman Engineering says they’re glad they did
their part to keep everyone at Admirals Walk safe.
"It’s a big part of what makes you get out of bed in the
morning. I really do think that,” said Nolan.
Boca Raton is the only city in Palm Beach County with this
kind of ordinance for buildings, and right now, it’s unclear
how long it will take for the rest of the required
inspections in Boca Raton to be completed.
The state created its own building inspection
recertification ordinances after the surfside collapse.