Building Collapse in Miami

 

How does this happen in the United States of America?

A 12-story oceanfront condo tower partially collapsed early Thursday morning in the town of Surfside, spurring a massive search-and-rescue effort with dozens of rescue crews from across Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

Reinforced concrete should not fail this way. Clearly, something was not done right, either when it was built, or to maintain it.

I fear there is more of this in our future, as the left continues is march through everything as it destroys all standards.

Prayers for these people and their families.

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  1. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    Weeping (View Comment):
    And Texans have received pleas to raise their thermostats and help conserve energy because the energy grid might collapse otherwise. And we’re only in June. The worst is yet to come temperature-wise.

    And California is begging EV users  to charge during off peak hours because the grid cant handle it…….

    • #61
  2. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    Weeping (View Comment):
    So my question is: Taxpayers are paying to keep things like this from happening (energy grids, bridges, buildings, walkways, etc from collapsing). That’s not being done, apparently. So where is the money going?

    We built the infrastructure of this country with tax rates a fraction of what they are now. The roads, damns, bridges, sewer systems, aqueducts, canals, power grid, etc etc etc.  

    • #62
  3. Paul Stinchfield Member
    Paul Stinchfield
    @PaulStinchfield

    Raxxalan (View Comment):
    Paul Stinchfield

    Raxxalan (View Comment):

    Paul Stinchfield (View Comment):

    Raxxalan (View Comment):
    I think in Chicago Some work on a canal breached an old tunnel causing flooding and a draining of part of the canal.

    It was a bridge repair project which involved driving new pilings. A piling was driven through a long disused tunnel under the river. The breach caused flooding of basements throughout the Loop. There were no watertight doors in the tunnel network.

    Thanks! I vaguely remembered some of the video from that. It was pretty dramatic from what I recall a whirlpool in the canal.

    It’s sobering to realize how unreliable our memories can be, losing details, mixing things up, etc.

    • #63
  4. Paul Stinchfield Member
    Paul Stinchfield
    @PaulStinchfield

    Kozak (View Comment):
    charge

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Weeping (View Comment):
    And Texans have received pleas to raise their thermostats and help conserve energy because the energy grid might collapse otherwise. And we’re only in June. The worst is yet to come temperature-wise.

    And California is begging EV users to charge during off peak hours because the grid cant handle it…….

    Rationing is part of the plan.

    • #64
  5. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Paul Stinchfield (View Comment):

    Kozak (View Comment):
    charge

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Weeping (View Comment):
    And Texans have received pleas to raise their thermostats and help conserve energy because the energy grid might collapse otherwise. And we’re only in June. The worst is yet to come temperature-wise.

    And California is begging EV users to charge during off peak hours because the grid cant handle it…….

    Rationing is part of the plan.

    I keep looking for some logic to it and I can’t come up with anything else. This effectively means de-growth and we aren’t in a position to do that at all. Too much debt and too many unfunded liabilities.

    • #65
  6. Paul Stinchfield Member
    Paul Stinchfield
    @PaulStinchfield

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Paul Stinchfield (View Comment):

    Kozak (View Comment):
    charge

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Weeping (View Comment):
    And Texans have received pleas to raise their thermostats and help conserve energy because the energy grid might collapse otherwise. And we’re only in June. The worst is yet to come temperature-wise.

    And California is begging EV users to charge during off peak hours because the grid cant handle it…….

    Rationing is part of the plan.

    I keep looking for some logic to it and I can’t come up with anything else. This effectively means de-growth and we aren’t in a position to do that at all. Too much debt and too many unfunded liabilities.

    There is some logic in it, if you start with their assumptions: America is bad, Western civilization is bad, industrial civilization is bad, individual liberty is bad.

    • #66
  7. Weeping Inactive
    Weeping
    @Weeping

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Weeping (View Comment):
    So my question is: Taxpayers are paying to keep things like this from happening (energy grids, bridges, buildings, walkways, etc from collapsing). That’s not being done, apparently. So where is the money going?

    We built the infrastructure of this country with tax rates a fraction of what they are now. The roads, damns, bridges, sewer systems, aqueducts, canals, power grid, etc etc etc.

    OK. But that doesn’t answer where today’s money is going. Why aren’t repairs being made with today’s money? I’m sure there’s no easy answer to that question. It seems like there rarely is. But it’s something I wonder about anyway.

    • #67
  8. 9thDistrictNeighbor Member
    9thDistrictNeighbor
    @9thDistrictNeighbor

    Mario Salvadori was my father-in-law’s intellectual sparring partner.  He wrote a couple of accessible engineering books, one of which is called Why Buildings Fall Down (the sequel to Why Buildings Stand Up).  I’ve been meaning to read both of them for years. 

    • #68
  9. MWD B612 "Dawg" Member
    MWD B612 "Dawg"
    @danok1

    Weeping (View Comment):

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Weeping (View Comment):
    So my question is: Taxpayers are paying to keep things like this from happening (energy grids, bridges, buildings, walkways, etc from collapsing). That’s not being done, apparently. So where is the money going?

    We built the infrastructure of this country with tax rates a fraction of what they are now. The roads, damns, bridges, sewer systems, aqueducts, canals, power grid, etc etc etc.

    OK. But that doesn’t answer where today’s money is going. Why aren’t repairs being made with today’s money? I’m sure there’s no easy answer to that question. It seems like there rarely is. But it’s something I wonder about anyway.

    I recall reading a few articles about how the “Highway Trust Fund,” which our Federal gas tax is supposed to go to, being regularly raided for “general spending.” This was a few years ago, so I don’t have links at hand. I’ll try to find them later.

    • #69
  10. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    MWD B612 "Dawg" (View Comment):

    Weeping (View Comment):

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Weeping (View Comment):
    So my question is: Taxpayers are paying to keep things like this from happening (energy grids, bridges, buildings, walkways, etc from collapsing). That’s not being done, apparently. So where is the money going?

    We built the infrastructure of this country with tax rates a fraction of what they are now. The roads, damns, bridges, sewer systems, aqueducts, canals, power grid, etc etc etc.

    OK. But that doesn’t answer where today’s money is going. Why aren’t repairs being made with today’s money? I’m sure there’s no easy answer to that question. It seems like there rarely is. But it’s something I wonder about anyway.

    I recall reading a few articles about how the “Highway Trust Fund,” which our Federal gas tax is supposed to go to, being regularly raided for “general spending.” This was a few years ago, so I don’t have links at hand. I’ll try to find them later.

    Not just general spending.  Money collected for road and bridge repair goes to build bike paths, and light rail systems that no one uses.  Or putting neon lighting on the underside of a bridge over a river, so it looks cool at night.  Most places, they are spending at least 20% of the road and bridge budget on non-roads and non-bridges, because they know better than you what kind of transportation you should want.

    • #70
  11. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    Annefy (View Comment):

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    This building collapse is a tragedy.

    According to this report from the Miami Herald, the building was a 12-story, 130-unit condo completed in 1981. There were 55 units in the portion that collapsed. The collapse occurred at around 1:30 am.

    I am perplexed about the assignment of blame for this, both in the OP and in the comments. I don’t think that anyone yet knows the cause of the collapse. Why would anyone jump to a conclusion about the cause, less than 12 hours after this terrible event?

    Well – someone is to blame. It wasn’t an asteroid. We live in a first world country and a building collapsed.

    As for me, while I’m not assigning blame, I simply confessed where my mind went. And I’ll love to be wrong.

    It will be Trump’s fault or global warming. 

    • #71
  12. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

     

     

     

     

    Not a lot of debris, is there?

    • #72
  13. Roderic Coolidge
    Roderic
    @rhfabian

    It looks like the lower support structures all gave way catastrophically, like what you see with the controlled demolition of a high rise.

    • #73
  14. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    Flicker (View Comment):

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

     

     

     

     

    Not a lot of debris, is there?

    There actually is. It’s that an apartment complex has a lot of air in it.  It probably has the density of a nerf ball, if not a ping-pong ball. When it pancakes like that it compresses down to a solid mass maybe 2 stories high, 

    • #74
  15. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Roderic (View Comment):

    It looks like the lower support structures all gave way catastrophically, like what you see with the controlled demolition of a high rise.

    I think falling into a sinkhole would look pretty much the same.  The lower supporting columns would tilt in slightly and drop down.

    • #75
  16. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

     

     

     

     

    Not a lot of debris, is there?

    There actually is. It’s that an apartment complex has a lot of air in it. It probably has the density of a nerf ball, if not a ping-pong ball. When it pancakes like that it compresses down to a solid mass maybe 2 stories high,

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

     

     

     

     

    Not a lot of debris, is there?

    There actually is. It’s that an apartment complex has a lot of air in it. It probably has the density of a nerf ball, if not a ping-pong ball. When it pancakes like that it compresses down to a solid mass maybe 2 stories high,

    True.

    • #76
  17. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Weeping (View Comment):
    So my question is: Taxpayers are paying to keep things like this from happening (energy grids, bridges, buildings, walkways, etc from collapsing). That’s not being done, apparently. So where is the money going?

    We built the infrastructure of this country with tax rates a fraction of what they are now. The roads, damns, bridges, sewer systems, aqueducts, canals, power grid, etc etc etc.

    Much of the problem there is that building the infrastructure is just the start.  Once built, it doesn’t just exist forever.  Maintenance and paying the people who operate them, etc, are all ongoing costs that continue “forever.”  And while you’re paying to operate and maintain what you just built, you’re also looking to build MORE NEW infrastructure, which also costs more, and then THAT infrastructure has ongoing operating and maintenance costs..  Which means the building and operating and maintenance costs are ALWAYS INCREASING.

    • #77
  18. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Paul Stinchfield (View Comment):

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Paul Stinchfield (View Comment):

    Kozak (View Comment):
    charge

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Weeping (View Comment):
    And Texans have received pleas to raise their thermostats and help conserve energy because the energy grid might collapse otherwise. And we’re only in June. The worst is yet to come temperature-wise.

    And California is begging EV users to charge during off peak hours because the grid cant handle it…….

    Rationing is part of the plan.

    I keep looking for some logic to it and I can’t come up with anything else. This effectively means de-growth and we aren’t in a position to do that at all. Too much debt and too many unfunded liabilities.

    There is some logic in it, if you start with their assumptions: America is bad, Western civilization is bad, industrial civilization is bad, individual liberty is bad.

    Then why do they keep pushing people toward electric cars and other “improvements?”

    • #78
  19. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Weeping (View Comment):

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Weeping (View Comment):
    So my question is: Taxpayers are paying to keep things like this from happening (energy grids, bridges, buildings, walkways, etc from collapsing). That’s not being done, apparently. So where is the money going?

    We built the infrastructure of this country with tax rates a fraction of what they are now. The roads, damns, bridges, sewer systems, aqueducts, canals, power grid, etc etc etc.

    OK. But that doesn’t answer where today’s money is going. Why aren’t repairs being made with today’s money? I’m sure there’s no easy answer to that question. It seems like there rarely is. But it’s something I wonder about anyway.

    Building more new infrastructure is sexy etc, and ends up taking priority over maintaining what they just finished building.  As a result, the just-built stuff ages and falls into disrepair, maybe ends up failing – possibly at the cost of lives – but hey then they get to build New Stuff again!

    • #79
  20. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Flicker (View Comment):

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

     

     

     

     

    Not a lot of debris, is there?

    Aren’t all buildings mostly empty space inside, otherwise what’s the point?

    But that said, maybe some of it went into a sinkhole.

    • #80
  21. Annefy Member
    Annefy
    @Annefy

    FWIW, rumors on Twitter this might have been an act of terrorism.

    • #81
  22. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    Annefy (View Comment):

    FWIW, rumors on Twitter this might have been an act of terrorism.

    Yeah. Like that car that ran down a bunch of people at the Fort Lauderdale Pride Parade was an act of terrorism. I saw that on Twitter, too.

    • #82
  23. Annefy Member
    Annefy
    @Annefy

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    Annefy (View Comment):

    FWIW, rumors on Twitter this might have been an act of terrorism.

    Yeah. Like that car that ran down a bunch of people at the Fort Lauderdale Pride Parade was an act of terrorism. I saw that on Twitter, too.

    Well … it came from Jack Posobiec and he has good sources. Wouldn’t have bothered mentioning it otherwise.

    • #83
  24. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Weeping (View Comment):
    So my question is: Taxpayers are paying to keep things like this from happening (energy grids, bridges, buildings, walkways, etc from collapsing). That’s not being done, apparently. So where is the money going?

    We built the infrastructure of this country with tax rates a fraction of what they are now. The roads, damns, bridges, sewer systems, aqueducts, canals, power grid, etc etc etc.

    Much of the problem there is that building the infrastructure is just the start. Once built, it doesn’t just exist forever. Maintenance and paying the people who operate them, etc, are all ongoing costs that continue “forever.” And while you’re paying to operate and maintain what you just built, you’re also looking to build MORE NEW infrastructure, which also costs more, and then THAT infrastructure has ongoing operating and maintenance costs.. Which means the building and operating and maintenance costs are ALWAYS INCREASING.

    I don’t see exactly how this leads to a building collapsing.  Someone wrote a report about the building sinking 2mm? per year, and immediately surmised that this was involved in the collapse.

    • #84
  25. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Annefy (View Comment):

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    Annefy (View Comment):

    FWIW, rumors on Twitter this might have been an act of terrorism.

    Yeah. Like that car that ran down a bunch of people at the Fort Lauderdale Pride Parade was an act of terrorism. I saw that on Twitter, too.

    Well … it came from Jack Posobiec and he has good sources. Wouldn’t have bothered mentioning it otherwise.

    When I hear this I think of the Shh-bomb on Get Smart.  I think some of the audio from surrounding cameras would have pick up any explosions.  But I’m just guessing.

    • #85
  26. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Annefy (View Comment):

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    Annefy (View Comment):

    FWIW, rumors on Twitter this might have been an act of terrorism.

    Yeah. Like that car that ran down a bunch of people at the Fort Lauderdale Pride Parade was an act of terrorism. I saw that on Twitter, too.

    Well … it came from Jack Posobiec and he has good sources. Wouldn’t have bothered mentioning it otherwise.

    When I hear this I think of the Shh-bomb on Get Smart. I think some of the audio from surrounding cameras would have pick up any explosions. But I’m just guessing.

    Surveillance cameras rarely have sound.  It’s an entirely different legal situation; makes them bugs.

    • #86
  27. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Judge Mental (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Annefy (View Comment):

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    Annefy (View Comment):

    FWIW, rumors on Twitter this might have been an act of terrorism.

    Yeah. Like that car that ran down a bunch of people at the Fort Lauderdale Pride Parade was an act of terrorism. I saw that on Twitter, too.

    Well … it came from Jack Posobiec and he has good sources. Wouldn’t have bothered mentioning it otherwise.

    When I hear this I think of the Shh-bomb on Get Smart. I think some of the audio from surrounding cameras would have pick up any explosions. But I’m just guessing.

    Surveillance cameras rarely have sound. It’s an entirely different legal situation; makes them bugs.

    I saw a (purportedly security) video of collapse, apparently from inside a high-story lounge at 1:30AM I believe, the music was softly playing, and the buildings outside the  (presumably insulated double-pane) window didn’t register any sound at all.  I would think explosions would make more noise than the simple booms of the building breaking apart.  But then again, I am only guessing.

    • #87
  28. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    Judge Mental (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Annefy (View Comment):

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    Annefy (View Comment):

    FWIW, rumors on Twitter this might have been an act of terrorism.

    Yeah. Like that car that ran down a bunch of people at the Fort Lauderdale Pride Parade was an act of terrorism. I saw that on Twitter, too.

    Well … it came from Jack Posobiec and he has good sources. Wouldn’t have bothered mentioning it otherwise.

    When I hear this I think of the Shh-bomb on Get Smart. I think some of the audio from surrounding cameras would have pick up any explosions. But I’m just guessing.

    Surveillance cameras rarely have sound. It’s an entirely different legal situation; makes them bugs.

    If they have gunfire detectors in the area though, they would probably get something.

    • #88
  29. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Flicker (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Weeping (View Comment):
    So my question is: Taxpayers are paying to keep things like this from happening (energy grids, bridges, buildings, walkways, etc from collapsing). That’s not being done, apparently. So where is the money going?

    We built the infrastructure of this country with tax rates a fraction of what they are now. The roads, damns, bridges, sewer systems, aqueducts, canals, power grid, etc etc etc.

    Much of the problem there is that building the infrastructure is just the start. Once built, it doesn’t just exist forever. Maintenance and paying the people who operate them, etc, are all ongoing costs that continue “forever.” And while you’re paying to operate and maintain what you just built, you’re also looking to build MORE NEW infrastructure, which also costs more, and then THAT infrastructure has ongoing operating and maintenance costs.. Which means the building and operating and maintenance costs are ALWAYS INCREASING.

    I don’t see exactly how this leads to a building collapsing. Someone wrote a report about the building sinking 2mm? per year, and immediately surmised that this was involved in the collapse.

    I was addressing the point about taxes to pay for roads, dams, etc.  The issue is they can’t only just build new stuff: what has been built has to be operated and maintained, perpetually.  It’s not a one-time cost like the initial construction is.

    • #89
  30. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Judge Mental (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Annefy (View Comment):

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    Annefy (View Comment):

    FWIW, rumors on Twitter this might have been an act of terrorism.

    Yeah. Like that car that ran down a bunch of people at the Fort Lauderdale Pride Parade was an act of terrorism. I saw that on Twitter, too.

    Well … it came from Jack Posobiec and he has good sources. Wouldn’t have bothered mentioning it otherwise.

    When I hear this I think of the Shh-bomb on Get Smart. I think some of the audio from surrounding cameras would have pick up any explosions. But I’m just guessing.

    Surveillance cameras rarely have sound. It’s an entirely different legal situation; makes them bugs.

    Police departments sometimes have sound-detection setups to locate gunshots, but that might not help even if it existed there.

    • #90
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