@@dozaarchives2225 - that's exactly the point. Its NOT layman at all, otherwise you would not have to spend years at university learning it, a layman could do it. BUT explaining it in a way that a layman can understand is a real skill...
The nightly news believes hard information to be insensitive, and perhaps transphobic, you see. I really miss the 90's when hard information was only harmful to endangered sea creatures and my ancestral native tribe....
Talked to a retired civil engineer myself.......he said the biggest problem he'd encounter with older condos needing structural maintenance was with HOA's that delayed or rationalized reasons not to spend the money to do the repairs that were recommended. Knowing the personalities, in general, on HOA committees, I have no issues at all believing what he said.
That seems to have been an issue here as well. Josh stated in other video that much of the outside was painted with water proof paint. That paint was popular in the 90's. Today, we don't use it anymore because it locks water in whenever there is a crack. As a result, the concrete will be wet permanently, and the rebar will rust. So, that paint has been there way too long. Since its tendency to lock in water, you need to stay ahead of cracks forming, by regularly repainting.
@@lindap.p.1337 Nobody that buys into a time share is going to fork over the amount of money required to pay for millions in repairs. That’s why they bought into a timeshare to begin with. They got to split the cost over several other owners. I’d be really concerned if I was you, because you’re never going to get them to cough up the money before the building collapses. Good luck with that.
I saw a video this channel made on condo boards (where it said they'd each have to cough up $66000 per resident) and made the reflection that in my country the "condos" are a legal entity in its own right and takes up loans for renovation, has funds set aside over time, so there's never or rarely a discussion of people having to pay in big chunks of money. The monthly fee can go up, though. Then you don't own your flat, but you own a share in the association and a right to unequivocally use your flat, and the share can be sold. Maybe that makes a difference. Also, many were in their eighties. I recall from when renovation was discussed in my "condo" that old folks are reluctant to go through with expensive renovation and all the hassle of replacing pipes or suages when they're about to be dead within the next few years anyway, according to their reasoning. The renovation could start a few years on, when enough of the oldest residents had "left" and young people had bought their flats (🙄). This episide was in a "condo" in my country in about 1986.
As a deputy concrete building inspector for the city of Los Angeles, am now glued to your videos…. thank you so much! I have not been able to stop thinking about this incident and these people and their whole lives just disappeared in an instant. But we do know, it’s been a long time coming. Don’t put off your concrete repairs.
Look at his plans sir, the columns supporting the surviving section of the building appear to be bigger cross sectionally. I'm wondering if the part of the building that collapsed was originally intended to be built at all!
@@stephenhunter70 I'm thinking the same thing, or maybe it was a cost overrun, or possibly the building inspector let them change the plans mid construction.
Excellent presentation. A sign of true intelligence is an expert being able to translate highly technical knowledge into language the layman can grasp. You, sir, are one of those people!
I’m in a 14 story 1982 high-rise on the beach. On bedrock. Every summer for three years now we have had concrete restoration going on. It will be finished this summer. I like the fact that, because of this building collapse, HOA’s will no longer delay necessary maintenance. And county and state Requirements will be stricter.
@@anthonytestaforte1692 We don’t have assessments. We planned for this ahead of time and paid 2x HOA for a couple years. Easier to swallow. Plus we don’t let our damage get that bad! So it definitely wasn’t anywhere near 9 million! Heck not even a third of that. Plus all new roof and all new AC. Also, you know how that report said if they don’t fix it the problem would grow exponentially? Well, the cost will grow exponentially as well. That’s why we are well-maintained and nip anything in the bud
@@henryottis295 Hi. Not many earthquakes here in Florida, but I moved here from California. Many older buildings out there are retrofitted for earthquakes. I worked in a high-rise in seal Beach one time and they retrofitted our building. That’s the only reason why I know about it…
Thee's a guy that has talked about the pool deck not having a sloping floor to direct the water into draninage holes. He showed that the sloping floor was specified on the plans, but a while ago a new pool deck was laid over the top of the existing pool deck, and it appears that the new pool deck overlay was not sloped, so the water was likely not able to run off the floor. I think Josh should look into this.
Just wanted to say I’m a structural union ironworker in the northeast and have been following the collapse closely. Just wanted to say you’ve been doing a great job with all of this info as it comes in and have made some great points in all your videos. Thank you
I just happen to stumble upon these videos this morning. Needless to say I've been watching them all day. He is thorough,concise, and clear. Very easy to understand. I can't knock him or pick these videos apart even a little bit! He's very articulately explaining each video as to what he's trying to convey. Thank you for your time in doing these videos. Especially with it being during vacation. You be safe as well. Hug your children a bit longer and tighter.
Hey Josh! Thank you for putting these videos together, especially while on vacation. Your channel has been the most consistent and comprehensive of any I have seen covering this incident. My father studied architecture in college, and I took design and architecture courses in high school. I am now a police officer and former CERT team member, so I understand the SAR and recovery side of things well. Listening to your analysis and explanations based on your technical knowledge has helped fill in the gaps in my understanding of structural engineering and architecture, and I greatly thank you for that.
Forget about me... thank YOU for server the public as a police officer. That takes a true commitment to the public that I can only aspire to. Keep up the good work!
Was a CERT member until I was physically unable to be much help. CERT is a great program! Our small, rural county has def benefited from both the CERT folks & the SAR gang. I know dogs are available here 24/7. It takes huge dedication, proud to have served with them! We installed 200+ free smoke detectors in one weekend in one small, old, mobile home area. This saves lives! Thank you!
I live in a 20 story condo in WI. I am so appreciative of the condo owners who volunteer for the board and undertake the necessary reviews (with the help of consultants) for all manner of things from fire systems, elevator, exterior masonry, balcony safety and maintenance, upgrades to accommodate electric vehicles, on and on. A couple of years ago it was determined why and how some higher units on 2 sides had moisture seeping above the sliding doors. Most owners opted to make the recommended repairs. The building management secured a deal to replace all unit water heaters (originals were 12 years old) for a bulk price. This will reduce the likelihood of a failed heating unit leaking into down below units. Soon, because the refrigerant for our air conditioners is no longer available, we will need to replace our AC. The HOA is researching vendors to get condo owners the best price if replacement done in the same time period or (post Covid19) from same purchase lot. HOA’s can be effective and proactive.
As a builder in my younger days...working in high rise structural cement...my thought was always, "hope they maintain this thing". Lack of maintenance in reinforced concrete is as we've seen here. Many lessons learned, hopefully. Each generation has to understand. We had a GSA inspector force a tear down a spandrel beam due to crack formation while still under construction. He went out to the batch plant and discovered someone had changed engine oil into the sand pile. I used to do all the slump tests for each truck load. We'd pour up to 90 trucks a day sometimes. No cutting corners where life is in the balance.
A+ analysis. If there's anyone calling this a controlled demolition, they need to see your videos to understand just how a unimaginable event comes together through evidence.
@Flat Sign I belive the fire alarm only goes off if there is a fire. It seems like the pipe was not spewing water because of a fire but because it came undone during the buckling of the building.
@@ViolaS471 - The fire alarm should go off when there is any flow of water in the sprinkler system. That is how it works. The flow sensor should be checked at regular intervals.
@@GH-oi2jf Guess I learned something new about sprinkler systems. Wouldn't surprise me if the system in some of those old buildings were dated and fallible.
Some people want views more than they want to put the work in to present the actual facts, which sometimes aren't as glamorous and shiny as a conspiracy theory.
@@02markcal Add to that the fact that none of the news reporters know squat about construction or engineering, so they present their own misguided thoughts and opinions as the news. At least none of them were alleging that this was a terrorist attack by crazy Republicans......
@John Beige Hi John. Please provide proof regarding your comment that the design folks have left the country and that the construction companies are gone. If you don't have any proof then you really shouldn't make phony accusations.
This Colombian-Cuban couple were on vacation in the building next door, in their interview in Spanish they said this: they went down to walk and heard a loud noise and realized that the noises came from the garage of the collapsed building, a lot of water and parts of the The roof of the garage had already collapsed, some people went out to the balconies because of the noise and this couple yelled at them to get out of the building, but they either did not understand or did not hear well, in minutes it began to fall and the couple ran for their lives behind wall, when they looked back they could not see .. until they noticed that there were no people or buildings .. she replies in Spanish .. they all died, they all died ..my prayers for all of families. 🙏🙏
The couple filming the water gushing down that ramp - the woman said "It's going to collapse", and the man said no, no, it's not. He gives the interview, as she apparently doesn't speak English. She called it, but the people on their balconies didn't hear or understand when she yelled for them to come out of the building.
Oh goodness... What language? There was a woman who went out on her balcony, called her husband to tell him she just saw the pool deck collapse into the garage and chatted with him for the rest of her life.
Yep. You go to the regular news channels, and they will say something like "the collapse likely started at the pool deck" end of story, and the first thing that pops into your head is "what??? where in the heck is the pool deck??? Why would the pool deck bring down a huge building?". The mainstream media drives me crazy.
News Stations are mostly for the public's base "Entertainment" and not for this kind of salient information. The "News" shows leave that kind of coverage to documentaries made well after the fact.
This is the future of news. The days of main stream media is over. Real news takes a very long time to deliver - and it takes patience on the part of the viewer to get through it all. There is no way for the MSM to spend this type of time on every subject, and I count on and I appreciate the analysis presented by channels like BI.
That's because the "News" doesn't want you to be informed, they want you to be afraid and giving simplistic explanations that are light on details and facts is how they do it.
There was an interview with a former maintenance worker, he said water would flood into the parking area over two feet deep, and pumps could not keep up with it. Eventually it would be gone. that has been going off and on for several years. The building next door had no such flooding. Now if that isn't a red flag that you have a serious problem, I don't know what would be.
Oh sweet. Jesus....these poor people! It’s so frustrating how stupid people are in this world! Especially because there were many red flags & nothing was done 😢
Yes, and that was over a decade ago. Worse, he described the water entering the garage as sea water that seeped in monthly with the "king tide." He said that the management company told him that there was no way they could stop the seawater from entering the building and to just keep buying new pumps! He also said that the 2 feet of water was enough to "float" some cars around the garage..... That tells me that there have to be insurance claims or receipts where the HOA paid to repair cars that floated and repaint cars that parked under the stalactites where pool deck water was seeping through the concrete and damaging the cars below. We had that happen in my condominium building and they had to replace much of the rebar in the parking deck above. It was a very expensive repair, and one that they unsuccessfully repaired several times over the last 20 years instead of fix it early on. What people fail to realize is that if ANY part of the condominium structure (including simple parking decks) fails structurally, the City will condemn the ENTIRE BUILDING until it is properly repaired. Now you're going to have to move out and pay rent to live somewhere else while your mortgage payment, special assessments and condo fees continue on. Stupid people receive stupid prizes.....
@@MichaeljRichter Could have been considering Florida's history with sink holes. My theory is the salt water corroded the rebar, which causes it to expand, therefore cracking the concrete. Last inspection was in 2018, there were problems then with squalling. If it was fresh water it would take many years to fail, salt water on the other hand accelerated the rate of corrosion probably 10 fold.
Thank you for your clear and accessible explanations. I’ve been having a hard time dealing with the emotional weight of this happening not far from me, and your videos help. I think understanding eases fear and aid healing as well as helping to prevent similar disasters. Thanks again.
Had I been the one recording that I would have had NO idea what I was witnessing in that, shortly after, the collapse would take place. My god, there are no words. I'm lost for words. Thank you for these videos!
Yes, THANK YOU to you and YOUR FAMILY for sacrificing your vacation time to help us make sense of this terrible tragedy and learn from it to prevent such an experience from happening in our lives! God Bless you all.
Here's something I observed. In the video from the other building that shows the collapse, it appears that in the part of the building that did not fall, there were only a couple of lights on. That tells me most of those folks were still asleep. But in the part that fell first, there were several lights on or coming on, as if people were awakened by the noise of the imminent collapse and had just enough time to say what the hell was that, flip the light on and the building went. In the part that stood for a few seconds you can see lights flipping on as the other part of the building was collapsing, until it fell too. That is horrifying to me. Especially after hearing the young man that lost his mom & grandma, who said he talked to his grandma that morning & she told him she was hearing loud noises at 3am and couldn't go back to sleep. 18 hours later the building was gone. I would bet people heard this disaster in the making and didn't know what it was. During the day it could be the construction, city noise etc. But at night when its quiet & most people were asleep, this lady heard something that was disturbing to her. Who knows how long this building was slowly crumbling from the inside out. Anyone living in a highrise needs to learn from this and pay attention to their surroundings.
The people who saw the pool deck initially collapse should’ve pulled the fire alarm in both the hotel and lobby of the condo. The pool deck feel 7 minutes before the building collapsed. Those that woke up but stayed didn’t recognize that they were in danger. Even the model who lived along the backside of the building closest to the beach actually saw the pool deck collapse. But instead of leaving the building, she called her husband to tell him about the pool deck collapsing into the garage. She STILL didn’t leave. I don’t know if they’ve found her yet, but she was standing out on her balcony when she was talking to her husband.
Unfortunately, few people ever bother to pay attention to their surroundings. People need to put their damned cellphones down and rejoin the living and see their surroundings again.
@@mudman6156 they’ve found her . She was talking to him already, noticed the pool, THEN the line went dead as it collapsed. She did not have time to leave. Info comes from a fb friend who knew her and her family. It’s so sad that even a moments more of notice could’ve saved so many
@@mudman6156 hindsight is always 20/20. I guarantee you most of those people, many who were probably still half asleep, were not thinking that building was going to be on top of them minutes later. The woman on the balcony didn't have 7 minutes just because it took that amount of time between the pool deck and the building falling. She saw it just before the rest came down. Its easy for people who aren't in the tragedy to explain away how they would've done things differently. We now know the result. Those people did not until they were actively dying.
Thank you! I come straight to you now to understand the likely components and cause of this disaster. I am a Canadian neighbour who is sending all love and praying for comfort for all. Information calms questions, your insight is truly invaluable. Bless you for helping us all ~ even while you are away on holidays. May you be blessed.
@@BuildingIntegrity I noticed they reported that the association reported to residents that structural damage was worse than in the 2018 report so it looks like they did have a estimation done more recently…
No @buildingintegrity you’ve been awesome. I wouldn’t have had any clue what exactly happened with this before I stumbled on your channel. Hopefully the state and feds are watching this as well
@@BuildingIntegrity check this out. Here's a timeline of events and info on Reddit. www.reddit.com/r/CatastrophicFailure/comments/o7s500/room_711_actual_location_ring_camera_footage_is/?
A friend lived in a small two story, 150 unit complex… tri-level units at that. The parking is underneath the complex, street level…. Very common for her area. She had water leaking into her carport every summer. The cracks spread from edge to edge of where 5 cars parked. The HOA paid to patch it 3x in 2 years. She and the owner above her would argue about whose at fault, etc. She sold the condo and moved to Texas. Her broker who sold her condo to a friend helped to remodel it. When they took out the bathroom, there was mold everywhere. The neighbor above was contacted and after chipping a patch from their wall… MOLD! Turns out a unit 3 doors down had a massive pipeline leak that got worse every summer because of the sprinklers, etc. The HOA took so long to respond, the WHOLE SLAB above the carport fell then minutes later, all 5 condos on the first floor caved in. It was a mess. She was lucky to sell yet also testified in court when the new owner sued the HOA.
Hi from New Zealand - your videos are very informative, thank you for taking the time to create these to help us try to understand what has caused this tragedy. I am a Masters qualified adult educator specialist in eLearning and would like to say, your delivery is excellent and the way you are able to translate the technical info into something we can all understand is just brilliant.
Great, great videos!!....as a structural engineer myself, I have been flooded with calls from friend/clients/family asking for my opinion on what might the cause(s) be for this tragic collapse. Building Integrity does just that. Clear, concise explanation of potential causes. Great job. When I saw the video, it was apparent a ground level failure, either columns or foundation. The pictures showing the bottom reinforcement ripping out through the slab suggested a conventional slab, rather than pt as those are normally spaced further apart. It was a head scratcher for me, that a pool deck failure could impact the building in that way, as normally the pool deck slab is separated from the tall building slab by an expansion joint. Surprisingly, after getting access to the original drawings, noticed there was no expansion joint, and certainly a failure on the pool deck side could have impacted the building side columns. BI analysis is spot on. Prayers for all those affected by this tragedy.
Videos of the entire complex official tour are still around. Gives an idea of the scale. Yes, this was not the little motel by the freeway, on video screens so so hard to fathom. Florida infrastructure is only proving now many experiments from a half century ago. Subsidence happens.
One thing that I and many people might have missed is that there is parking all the way under the pool deck not just the condos itself. There’s parking under everything except the actual pool.
True. But let's say the pool suddenly broke and water gushed out and the decking gave way. Is that enough to collapse the building? Maybe the pool area failed because the weight of the building failing .
Just began watching your videos, and must say they are excellent. Having been involved for years with various subcontractors, etc. from the "supply-side" end of the food trough, these give me a renewed appreciation of the amount of work that goes into creating the initial engineering specifications, and why they're so important. Keep up the good work - I'll be following.
If you look at that rubble in front of the water coming down, it looks to be a couple large chunks with similar cross sectional dimensions to the standing column you point out. It might just be coincidence, but I’m wondering if we’re actually seeing chunks of the column that would have been just to the right.
The news report that I saw about this video stated the people who shot the video heard a loud noise, which was probably the debris falling into the parking garage, which is what prompted them to be shooting video into the garage at 1 o'clock in the morning.
@@lillumination5388 given the choice between a conspiracy and human failure, always put your money on human failure. Will be interesting to see what the final reports say when they are published, but my money is on unfortunate cost cutting choices resulting in preventable deaths.
@@shinyhappypeople9043 watch the start of the collapse, there are 3 places the light went up for a haft a second, the off. It alerted me.... controlled demolition was my thought. It was 1.30 am, how could the folks wake up to the rumble noise and then that fast turn the light on???
@@lillumination5388 that wasn’t people turning their lights on 🙄🤦🏼♀️ that was literally just sparks of electricity from the wires being ripped apart and damaged. So it was just bright flashes of light from that.
Thank you for explaining this in a manner we can understand. Your time and efforts reflect on the professionalism of your industry. We appreciate all that your doing
Great analysis. I would only add that the water coming down is probably not from a damaged sprinkler pipe but from the pool itself. Sprinkler systems are under pressure and if there was a break, the water would be gushing like a fire hose and there would be fire alarm activated.
I saw one version of the video that appeared to show the water stream come out of a white pipe. I could be wrong on that... Also, the video only shows one small part of the underground garage, and there are most likely other pipes that are broken also, so the amount of pressure at each pipe is greatly reduced. In other words, you are not going to get firehose-like streams of water out of 10 broken pipes.
Sprinkler systems are at the same pressure as ordinary water pipes. They both come from the city water supply. Fire hoses and sprinkler heads make a spray because they are designed with small holes to make a spray.
@@GH-oi2jf sprinkler systems are feed from a fire pump on the lowest floor of a building. If this was a sprinkler pipe that burst, tampers and flows would be triggered and the buildings fire alarm would have gone off.
Not only are you gifted in your understanding and ability to teach all levels if understanding ( even I can get what youre saying) but you have such a kind heart ... Your comment and concern for those who have lost family and friends truly touched my heart. You are certainly first class as a teacher but also as a human... I truly appreciate you.
A very super Public Service. Thank you for taking the time. Civilians like us need all the explanations we can get. Especially compelling were the overlaying charts and maps that helps us get the concepts you describe.
The woman literally says, crying: ‘todos se murieron, todos se murieron, Dios mio…’ (they all died, they all died, my God…). This video was originally published on tictoc about three days ago, but only now is being shown in other media. I imagine that the neighbors right above the collapse seen in the video should have been alerted by the sounds. There seem to be large chunks of debris all along the garage gate, next to the first column, before the area where the water is pouring from the broken pipe. If not concrete, what else could those shapes be, considering the debris we see further down in the ramp?
Oh lord , this is so very sad 😞 I couldn’t really see what those people saw until now I bet those people whom took this were just beside themselves and felt hopeless
Excellent work! As a layman (woman 😊) I really appreciate this breakdown. The color coded blueprint helps a lot especially when you juxtapose it with images and videos of the actual site. Thank you for sharing your expertise!
Succinct engineering analysis of potential modes of failure, with NO speculation! As an engineer with 40 years of experience I am grateful of our/ your training in approaching any problem as dispassionately as we can! We all forget that the physical foundations of our society are based on engineering. Engineering is an important piece of our society but we recognize it is only a piece, it's what we can contribute!
So useful, thank you. I couldn't figure out where the water was gushing from. The people who filmed it and tried to alert residents may sadly be traumatised for life by the experience, but rather than just film they did try to raise the alarm and should be proud of their actions.
Excellent observations and analysis! What you've analyzed here is exactly what I observed happening in the security camera video of the building actually collapsing - 3 visible sections in rapid sequence. I live in a 5-story condo of similar construction and am comparing what I see in our building with photos & videos of this building collapse. My major in college was design drafting 3-D BC (before CAD). I'll be following your analysis closely. The news reports hinted that there was an inside pool and an outside pool, but from the birds-eye image you showed it now makes sense why it looked like the "pool deck" they spoke of seemed to be inside the building. Previously it sounded like the first domino sequence began near the pool, but now we can clearly see that the collapse began underground in or near the parking garage. Also, visualizing from these to videos we can finally see where the parking ramp was located. Thank you. I suspect the only reason the remainder of the building did not twist and fall is because of the position of and the strength of the elevator shaft structure. They always pour extra thick concrete walls for those, and it appears that is when the first section collapsed, the elevator shaft is where the fallen area sheared off as it fell and south of that the remaining floors snapped off during phase 2, leaving the rugged floor edges that we see in the rescue videos. I watched the video of the collapse several times and when the second section collapsed it broke off of the east and west sections and as section 2 went down it pulled on both section 1 & 3. In that video you can actually see section #3 VISIBLY twist & then start leaning for a full 5 seconds before gravity won and it dropped. Rescue videos show shear marks on the elevator shaft and several large, angled cracks in the stucco as a result of the twisting action the elevator shaft withstood. .
The couple that recorded this was outside the hotel already enjoying the pool adjacent to the parking garage when they heard something significantly loud and noticed the damage and water gushing down and started recording and raising the alarm.
This also explains the moaning and screaming sounds heard from the building a few minutes before collapse. Florida often uses a dry sprinkler system. The lines are air filled until one of the heads pop. When the sprinkler lines cracked in the garage it enabled waterflow. Which pushed the air out resulting in the howling noises.
That is 100% the only reason we are doing these videos. If we can make the content interesting, more people will watch, and that's more people we can educate through the rest of our content on how to properly maintain their buildings to stay safe! Thanks for watching!
@@BuildingIntegrity The more informed people will be about technical & structural patterns of buildings ( Developers don't like to talk about ) the better well informed decision buyers will make . Not only that , they may push politicians to make transparent & genuine laws
It's so sad that tragedies like this that cost so much in human life are needed to get people's attention on things that should have been getting done all along. Now they are showing other buildings that residents were been told are safe with huge cracks and reports saying they are in need of millions of dollars of repair. One in California is close to been Red Tagged while the owners fight in court over who should pay. It's crazy.
Excellent explanation, very technical but very easy to understand, this apply to obviously, common sense and logic from technical perspective. Is amazing how the structure will talk to you, but some people will not understand all details in picture....amazing analysis, it shows that you been doing A LOT of this inspections and probably telling people things that they don't want to hear or other companies don't see or don't want to say.
You are an excellent teacher. I have zero interest in building structure, yet I find myself watching your videos all the way through. Selling courses would be a great idea!
Could you clear up one thing? Is that wind noise throughout the video, or is that the sound of concrete falling? Thank you for a professional analysis and so much information!
Let me add my support to that. The first portion of the video is so noisy, I wondered if the wind was blowing hard or if it was pre-collapse events in the building, with the latter more likely. It does look like those in and near the building got some warning of the collapse, although perhaps not enough to escape.
I'm structural engineering master student from germany and searched for more information about the collaps. Well, I was not expecting to find such well researched and techincal deeply discussion about this. Well made! I will definitely follow you're future content on this occasion and share the video with my colleagues.
These are the best videos I've seen in I don't know how long. Incredible work, no one else comes even close to the level of understanding and excellent explanations.
forget cell phones! every business has a security camera,homes doorbell cameras and we still haven't gotten to all the state and federal spy cameras! we are constantly under surveillance. im sure there is a ton of video of the collapse.
Thank goodness for people having the ability to capture things like awful disasters like this. The poor woman who captured this probably also witness the collapse of the building. It's gives insight to finding out why it collapse and who is responsible for the maintenance of the building.
In the meantime, Practical Engineer has a great series on concrete and rebar enforced concrete. If anyone wanted to know more about construction methods and how they work. I'm sure in the future when reports have been made by engineers he'll put out a video on it. He's done really good videos on the I-40 bridge and the Oroville Dam Spillway.
This was an attack by the CIA, FBI or some part of the Sick, Sick DeepState! Watch the video, you can see charges going off. It looks just like Oklahoma or the imploded building near the World Trade Center. Don’t be fooled , don’t put up with their murders. It was destroyed , because of John McAfee’s statement, that he had files on the DeepState at his home in the building.
@Flat Sign we can't see beyond the video if more water from broken pipes occured. Are you saying even a shorted out wire wouldn't stop alarms from going off? Maybe they haven't worked for some time. It's not like they're checked daily.
So glad I found this channel. These videos are so good. You explain things so well, so clearly and completely. I appreciate you sharing your wealth of knowledge with the rest of us!
Just think about this. One moment you are safe in your sack relaxing away - and in a moment…. Treasure your life time. Care and show love to those around you.
Sometimes, I really do need an engineer to talk to me like I’m a 5th grader. I’m impressed that I can understand this and relate it to others. And, what a completely sad event.
I just subbed. Ive viewed several of B.I. video and never hit the sub button until I took note of the factual INTEGRITY. I appreciate this guy taking a practical, professional and incredibly delicately holding "facts" off until he can verify his AND your theory. Abstaining from providing potentially incorrect information is of the utmost necessity. . . Dude's going above and beyond documenting and answering questions perhaps struggling families are trying to understand., "why". I subbed. Good actual honest work is becoming rare.
I look forward to this man analyzing the video that I just watched of the underground parking garage, shot a year before the collapse by a woman who was looking for the parking space for Apartment 611 that she considering buying.
I love your channel. I work in these types of buildings sometimes in West Palm Beach. Im just a laborer but sometimes when ill be doing demo and stuff and see tons of water damage to properties. I even done some minor patching and sealing before. I think the structure definately failed because of the water corroding everything. I was also thinking that the day that building came down it was raining almost non stop all day. I was thinking the added weight of the water on the roof and stored up inside the walls on that area in the garage/pool equipment area might have caused this. There was obviously alot of water coming into that garage area. Im not a building engineer though. I'm just a lay person that likes to break things with hammers and play with air chisels. 😆
Hi James! I know you’re just the hammer but can you tell me a bit about how code violations are reported? My husband is the mechanical inspector for the State of Michigan. He is also a great teacher and I find this stuff interesting!
Surely a sound building would be able to handle a rain shower. The rain and the equipment on the roof would add some weight, but they would only be triggers. There had to be a failure of the structure. The parking ramp video is a very important piece of forensic evidence because it clearly shows the base of the building beginning to crumble.
Thank you for this video, which you are making on your vacation. Good to see someone with some engineering knowledge and professional training providing some insight into this horrible tragedy.
This the alternate reality Kenny Powers who chose to go to University, study Engineering, never smoked and was always everyone's designated driver on Friday nights.
The rest of the building remained because the columns in those areas continued to bear the building loads. This video that came out this morning shows us the soffits of the first floor have fallen away right before the collapse. Please let us know from your structural drawings, if there are tie beams between the columns underneath the plaza/pool deck? That concrete debris had pretty large chunks of concrete that look like pieces of a beam. They're thicker than the 8 inch slabs. It appears those columns lost their critical lateral support. What followed, I'm guessing, was column bending failure, which happened, as you said , in fractions of a second.
Subscribed. I'm a physics, chem, and math nerd with a CS degree and I never thought I'd be so interested in structural engineering 👍😎 You make it accessible without coming across as elitist or arrogant, you just enjoy the subject and share it with passion. I now know way more stuff about concrete construction concepts than I ever knew I would want to.
First, thank you for taking time out of your vacation, it's appreciated by many. In the video it appears the debris gets deeper, and has larger pieces to the right looking down the ramp. If in fact it is, that would put the source of origin in the direction of those 3 support columns, just as you suspect. As much as I hate seeing catastrophes that result in loss of life (heart goes out to all who suffered losses), the forensics behind what caused them it is fascinating to follow, especially from someone experienced and knowledgeable as you. It's natural for people to want to know why these things happen, too often those who can and do determine it are also involved in the litigation that follows, leaving little to no public transparency for years after the fact, and people questioning if it could happen again. Knowledge and awareness is a key component to understanding how to prevent more of these incidents in the future.
Thank you for you videos this past week! It is a wealth of information that helps all of us sort through this tragedy. We never think something like this is even possible! We come we vacation and we presume we are safe. Obviously in most cases we are but, not always as seen this past week.
Much appreciated is the way you are taking the time to make your information accessible to us non-engineer types. It’s clear you are putting a lot of careful thought into the events that caused this tragedy. I wish the bubbleheads in the news media were even a tenth as thoughtful. Look forward to the next episode.
The column layout in the basement under the pool deck looks concerning. Near the swimming pool the spans of the slab appear to be in the order of 7 metres. This could cause the deck to sag which would lead to pooling water if the deck wasn't laid to a fall. The increased load of the water and heavy slab load could have caused the punch through of the thinner columns. Was the pool deck resurfaced with additional loading?
Thank you for each of your videos. You explain in terminologies that the layman can easily understand. I find your videos so helpful as I am a “want to know the details person” which you thoroughly cover. Keep up the excellent work!
I'd like to personally thank you for going through this with us. Having a more detailed analysis makes things more clear. It's so sad knowing this likely could have been prevented.
Having installed many fire alarm systems I don't believe that was a sprinkler system pouring water down. Unless I'm missing something, I don't see evidence of the alarm system sounding off in that video. If any water flows in a sprinkler system the entire system should have been triggered sounding all alarm horns and calling the fire dept immediately. At the least what we call a "Motor Water Gong" should have been sounding even if the electrical systems had been compromised. Motor water gongs are fully mechanical and require no electricity, springs etc as water flow activates and propels the gong and they are LOUD. Water flowing also releases pressure over the system triggering the jockey pumps and the main pump. This is another indicator the water falling wasn't sprinkler as it should have shown tremendous pressure rather than free falling as shown. Fire sprinkler pumps are typically hard wired to the power feed without over current protection typically found on any other electrical equipment as it's required to pump to it's death no matter what. I could go on but just pointing out indicators this likely was other plumbing from above maybe? Standing water falling thru from elsewhere? Anyhow, hope this helps somewhere along the way. I've been involved with these systems 35 years now and couldn't help but notice these missing factors in the video.
I wish the video creator would respond to this comment! He is very thorough with his explanation, and I wonder if this information affects his opinion, knowing what you have shared here! Excellent comment, THANK YOU for sharing!
Domestic water pumps/supply are also on the 1st floor above the ramp but I wouldn't think lines would be compromised unless the entire floor fell which doesn't appear that bad in the north video.
@MAX CHI Possibly the fire sprinkler system was the water running -- which would have tripped the alarm and brought the fire dept. If all that happened a few minutes before the major collapse, the trucks would have probably arrived just at that point in time. I wonder if a timeline has ever been investigated/released? Time will tell, 'eh?
I can't see how a fire sprinkler line was NOT broken in that initial collapse, which we now know was much of the pool deck, not just the entrance. They were everywhere in the garage. The alarm just didn't work.
Hey Josh, I’m not sure if you’ll see this or not. But there are more than three black-dome security cameras located ON and around the pool deck. You can see these cameras from photos, they are attached to posts. If these cameras were recording to a cloud, footage can be obtained, and might be footage that they are currently hiding from us. The maintenance room is located near the building that is still standing, but it seems like they will be demolishing it in a few days… someone needs to get the message out to the security guards to release the security footage as it’s crucial for clues as to what exactly happened, what and where collapsed first! Like if you agree!!!
If they were cheaping out on the maintenance, I seriously doubt they'd be paying for cloud video storage. It's far more likely that the video is either a) on a tape that is crushed at the bottom of that debris pile and at least a year from literally being uncovered, or b) if the security office was in the part of the building that hadn't fallen yet, then somebody's lawyer already has the video and isn't going to release it until after the lawsuits. It's not that they're hiding it from us, it's that they (whoever they is) have a greater interest in getting justice for the victims of this tragedy than sating the dramalust of the general public.
Thank you for your analysis. As a retired engineer myself, I can appreciate the way you are presenting the information in a lucid and thoroughly understandable manner. On another matter, it is my firm opinion that rescue at this point is moot. It is time to bring in the heavy machinery and clear the rubble. If safety requires knocking down the remaining structure, so be it, but any hope of "rescue" is a false hope and only serves to prolong the agony of the surviving family and friends. I firmly believe that it is best to end this hopeless, wishful thinking right now.
I've watched this before but now that I've watched several of your other videos I think it'll make mare sense. Thanks for these. No hype. No wild speculation, just 'what do we KNOW'.
You are an incredible teacher!!! Here's what I want to know: You showed graphics indicating uniquely significant subsidence at Champlain Towers South and explained that subsidence wasn't expected on the ocean side of that barrier island. 1) If nothing were built on that site, would you expect there'd be perceptible subsidence or was it a direct result of having a 12-story concrete structure with underground parking situated there? 2) Did geologists inspect the site prior to the project's being greenlighted and give it an OK? Or did they make a determination that it wasn't suitable for development but get overridden? I live in Los Angeles where developers of large projects have way too much control over politicians and the Dept. of Building & Safety. (As bad as things are, they would be much worse if stakeholders didn't devote their lives to pushing back and holding their feet to the fire.) Developers are masters of manipulation. I am suspicious about how that project got built, what corners were cut, and how the slab under the pool could have been okayed when it was not properly angled to facilitate runoff! Why didn't a building inspector notice that fundamental flaw after it had been poured and force it to be redone properly prior to construction of the pool? Perhaps that's the entire cause of the subsidence...decades of pooling water undermining the integrity of the ground that was holding up the condo building!
Miami sits on top of porous limestone and aquifer system. Below that is bedrock and I haven't found the depths of each geological layer. If builders go down to bedrock, how deep? What is the composition of the underground foundation system? I'm not an engineer nor geologist. But I do like to use logic to understand and figure things out. So....I start with the basic foundation and how deep. Then I think I should identify how much of foundation is in bedrock and how much of foundation is in limestone aquifer level (materials would be critical here due to ocean water). Imagine all the high rises using the same basic engineering. If the failure is the ground they sit upon, would this information be made public? It would destroy costal development as we know it, and definitely destroy Florida. Will the powers that be let that devastating information out or would they bury it?
@@dalenedaylean3555 They will bury it. They can't even admit that this has not been a rescue operation since the first day. They talk about miracles instead of the reality of being crushed under millions of pounds of concrete. I understand that they don't want to be the bearers of dismal news. And they want to remain in a bit of denial because the reality is so brutal. I also think there is a pool of festering guilt because this patriarchy we live in is not in the habit of preventing disasters. It wants to forge ahead and deal with the potential fallout down the road. Well, we're down the road. And I'm talking about climate change which we have ignored for so long that our species along with all the others is being destroyed. I am a huge animal lover and I've been pet sitting in people's homes for almost 30 years. The human toll from this tragedy is devastating. I can't let myself think too much about the various pets that must have lived in that building along with their people. I've devoted my life to helping and protecting animals and they were victims of this tragedy too.
Yeah, seems to me he skipped the first column in the diagram - the debris field is closer to the street than what he is illustrating. That doesn't preclude the deck collapse (would be further back out of sight) but we're not looking as far into the building as he's describing it. He has circled in purple, pillars #2 and #3, he should have circled pillars #1 and #2. So that debris field we are seeing in the video is from a unit above not the pool deck.
@@robertoullfig8324 he circled the right pillars as you see closer to the street there isn't another pillar, there is a solid wall which is the staircase, and you see that wall in the video.
@@deborahjanellemixedmediaart yes, a mother and her two children on the first floor facing the pool, they saw the pool deck collapse, they were able to escape. she said the pool deck collapsed at 1:15 am and she told the guard and her son called 911
In the hours and day leading up to this failure, very much reminds me of what transpired before the tragedy that occurred on the dive boat Conception. As in this case with a hole appearing in the pool deck, so many, many alarm bells would have gone off in my mind that I am sure that I would have pulled the fire alarm and kept it pulled until everybody was out and proper authorities and competent engineers were called in and made to understand the perniciousness of this structural failing. As an engineer myself, I am just amazed that what we take for simple common sense is so many, many times just not that common and what at least SOMEBODY should have noticed, just doesn't get noticed or appreciated.
Never thought I'd be listening to videos about structural engineering in my free time
Same here, but it's really fascinating, I'll never look at construction sites again without thinking of these videos.
@@lesleylesley5821 It is going to mak Pesky psak circle around the bollocks the potato calls infasructure
There's a lot to learn - not so much about structural engineering - but the demons running this planet...
th-cam.com/video/nUDoGuLpirc/w-d-xo.html
Me either, but here we are :)
@@michaelmcneil4168 ???????
*THIS GUY* spends a lot of time explaining complex stuff to clueless people for a living, I can tell... He made it clear to me what he was saying.
Yup.
Clueless man checking in here. Can confirm.
I thought it was fairly layman.
@@dozaarchives2225 - that's exactly the point. Its NOT layman at all, otherwise you would not have to spend years at university learning it, a layman could do it. BUT explaining it in a way that a layman can understand is a real skill...
Without being condescending.
This series is a real find. No slick production 100% of the effort has gone into distilling real, hard information into an understandable narrative.
100% agree.
It beats the Discovery channel
@@dagramirez No random drawn out dramatic pauses or dancing around the real info to make up time. lol
RIght? the content is the content. no time wasted or flashiness
The nightly news believes hard information to be insensitive, and perhaps transphobic, you see.
I really miss the 90's when hard information was only harmful to endangered sea creatures and my ancestral native tribe....
Talked to a retired civil engineer myself.......he said the biggest problem he'd encounter with older condos needing structural maintenance was with HOA's that delayed or rationalized reasons not to spend the money to do the repairs that were recommended. Knowing the personalities, in general, on HOA committees, I have no issues at all believing what he said.
which is why a criminal investigation is needed for this tragedy.
That seems to have been an issue here as well. Josh stated in other video that much of the outside was painted with water proof paint. That paint was popular in the 90's. Today, we don't use it anymore because it locks water in whenever there is a crack. As a result, the concrete will be wet permanently, and the rebar will rust. So, that paint has been there way too long. Since its tendency to lock in water, you need to stay ahead of cracks forming, by regularly repainting.
@@lindap.p.1337 Nobody that buys into a time share is going to fork over the amount of money required to pay for millions in repairs. That’s why they bought into a timeshare to begin with. They got to split the cost over several other owners. I’d be really concerned if I was you, because you’re never going to get them to cough up the money before the building collapses. Good luck with that.
I saw a video this channel made on condo boards (where it said they'd each have to cough up $66000 per resident) and made the reflection that in my country the "condos" are a legal entity in its own right and takes up loans for renovation, has funds set aside over time, so there's never or rarely a discussion of people having to pay in big chunks of money. The monthly fee can go up, though. Then you don't own your flat, but you own a share in the association and a right to unequivocally use your flat, and the share can be sold. Maybe that makes a difference. Also, many were in their eighties. I recall from when renovation was discussed in my "condo" that old folks are reluctant to go through with expensive renovation and all the hassle of replacing pipes or suages when they're about to be dead within the next few years anyway, according to their reasoning. The renovation could start a few years on, when enough of the oldest residents had "left" and young people had bought their flats (🙄). This episide was in a "condo" in my country in about 1986.
This is why I will never spend a dime on a condo. I have no intention of playing hot potato with an HOA or some other sucker who pays into one.
As a deputy concrete building inspector for the city of Los Angeles, am now glued to your videos…. thank you so much! I have not been able to stop thinking about this incident and these people and their whole lives just disappeared in an instant. But we do know, it’s been a long time coming. Don’t put off your concrete repairs.
There's a building in Marina del Ray that's crumbling. Saw it on ch7 or ch9.
Yes, I would be interested to hear your take on that building in Marina Del Rey too. It looks pretty bad.
There are two types of concrete. Concrete that is cracked and concrete that will crack.
Look at his plans sir, the columns supporting the surviving section of the building appear to be bigger cross sectionally. I'm wondering if the part of the building that collapsed was originally intended to be built at all!
@@stephenhunter70 I'm thinking the same thing, or maybe it was a cost overrun, or possibly the building inspector let them change the plans mid construction.
Excellent presentation. A sign of true intelligence is an expert being able to translate highly technical knowledge into language the layman can grasp. You, sir, are one of those people!
He really makes it interesting!
He should be there schooling all the other retards that don't know what they're doing 💯💯💯
absolutely
I don't have any experience in construction bo engineering and I follow along easily.
Already reported by others
I’m in a 14 story 1982 high-rise on the beach. On bedrock. Every summer for three years now we have had concrete restoration going on. It will be finished this summer. I like the fact that, because of this building collapse, HOA’s will no longer delay necessary maintenance. And county and state Requirements will be stricter.
Yeah.... and good luck financing all of your assessments coming up.
@@anthonytestaforte1692 We don’t have assessments. We planned for this ahead of time and paid 2x HOA for a couple years. Easier to swallow. Plus we don’t let our damage get that bad! So it definitely wasn’t anywhere near 9 million! Heck not even a third of that. Plus all new roof and all new AC.
Also, you know how that report said if they don’t fix it the problem would grow exponentially? Well, the cost will grow exponentially as well. That’s why we are well-maintained and nip anything in the bud
What about an earthquake, all that maintenance is useless in a high-rise.
@@henryottis295 Hi. Not many earthquakes here in Florida, but I moved here from California. Many older buildings out there are retrofitted for earthquakes. I worked in a high-rise in seal Beach one time and they retrofitted our building. That’s the only reason why I know about it…
Wanna bet ... Sure there will be a knee jerk reaction.. but give it 6 months and everything will be right back to normal...
I could listen to Josh talk about this all day. Fascinating and explained so well. Such a tragedy. My heart goes out to everyone involved.
Agreed!!
Same here!
Thee's a guy that has talked about the pool deck not having a sloping floor to direct the water into draninage holes. He showed that the sloping floor was specified on the plans, but a while ago a new pool deck was laid over the top of the existing pool deck, and it appears that the new pool deck overlay was not sloped, so the water was likely not able to run off the floor. I think Josh should look into this.
Me too!!!
Same!
Just wanted to say I’m a structural union ironworker in the northeast and have been following the collapse closely. Just wanted to say you’ve been doing a great job with all of this info as it comes in and have made some great points in all your videos. Thank you
I just happen to stumble upon these videos this morning. Needless to say I've been watching them all day. He is thorough,concise, and clear. Very easy to understand. I can't knock him or pick these videos apart even a little bit! He's very articulately explaining each video as to what he's trying to convey. Thank you for your time in doing these videos. Especially with it being during vacation. You be safe as well. Hug your children a bit longer and tighter.
That poor woman is saying their all dead in Spanish,so sad.
It gave me goosebumps.
Es correcto.
So sad and heartfelt 😞
Heartbreaking
Grief knows no language barrier 😔
Once again you have the most lucid explanation of any engineer talking about this.
Exactly
Yes ... Exactly !!!
I don't know his background but he's not a practicing structural engineer.
@@billj5645 And why do you think or know that? Seriously!
@@deborahallen3318 I don't know for a fact
Hey Josh!
Thank you for putting these videos together, especially while on vacation. Your channel has been the most consistent and comprehensive of any I have seen covering this incident.
My father studied architecture in college, and I took design and architecture courses in high school. I am now a police officer and former CERT team member, so I understand the SAR and recovery side of things well. Listening to your analysis and explanations based on your technical knowledge has helped fill in the gaps in my understanding of structural engineering and architecture, and I greatly thank you for that.
Forget about me... thank YOU for server the public as a police officer. That takes a true commitment to the public that I can only aspire to. Keep up the good work!
@@BuildingIntegrity my first exact thoughts as well Be Safe out there my friend. Praying for our LEOS who are under Siege daily.
Was a CERT member until I was physically unable to be much help. CERT is a great program! Our small, rural county has def benefited from both the CERT folks & the SAR gang. I know dogs are available here 24/7. It takes huge dedication, proud to have served with them! We installed 200+ free smoke detectors in one weekend in one small, old, mobile home area. This saves lives! Thank you!
I live in a 20 story condo in WI. I am so appreciative of the condo owners who volunteer for the board and undertake the necessary reviews (with the help of consultants) for all manner of things from fire systems, elevator, exterior masonry, balcony safety and maintenance, upgrades to accommodate electric vehicles, on and on. A couple of years ago it was determined why and how some higher units on 2 sides had moisture seeping above the sliding doors. Most owners opted to make the recommended repairs. The building management secured a deal to replace all unit water heaters (originals were 12 years old) for a bulk price. This will reduce the likelihood of a failed heating unit leaking into down below units. Soon, because the refrigerant for our air conditioners is no longer available, we will need to replace our AC. The HOA is researching vendors to get condo owners the best price if replacement done in the same time period or (post Covid19) from same purchase lot. HOA’s can be effective and proactive.
As a builder in my younger days...working in high rise structural cement...my thought was always, "hope they maintain this thing". Lack of maintenance in reinforced concrete is as we've seen here. Many lessons learned, hopefully. Each generation has to understand. We had a GSA inspector force a tear down a spandrel beam due to crack formation while still under construction. He went out to the batch plant and discovered someone had changed engine oil into the sand pile. I used to do all the slump tests for each truck load. We'd pour up to 90 trucks a day sometimes. No cutting corners where life is in the balance.
A+ analysis. If there's anyone calling this a controlled demolition, they need to see your videos to understand just how a unimaginable event comes together through evidence.
@Flat Sign I belive the fire alarm only goes off if there is a fire. It seems like the pipe was not spewing water because of a fire but because it came undone during the buckling of the building.
They need to see a shrink.
@@ViolaS471 - The fire alarm should go off when there is any flow of water in the sprinkler system. That is how it works. The flow sensor should be checked at regular intervals.
@@GH-oi2jf thats a bit rude, question everything until you know for sure. This video explained it well.
@@GH-oi2jf Guess I learned something new about sprinkler systems. Wouldn't surprise me if the system in some of those old buildings were dated and fallible.
Thank God someone on TH-cam can actually speak to engineering and logic, regarding this event.
Some people want views more than they want to put the work in to present the actual facts, which sometimes aren't as glamorous and shiny as a conspiracy theory.
@@02markcal Add to that the fact that none of the news reporters know squat about construction or engineering, so they present their own misguided thoughts and opinions as the news. At least none of them were alleging that this was a terrorist attack by crazy Republicans......
@John Beige Hi John. Please provide proof regarding your comment that the design folks have left the country and that the construction companies are gone. If you don't have any proof then you really shouldn't make phony accusations.
This Colombian-Cuban couple were on vacation in the building next door, in their interview in Spanish they said this: they went down to walk and heard a loud noise and realized that the noises came from the garage of the collapsed building, a lot of water and parts of the The roof of the garage had already collapsed, some people went out to the balconies because of the noise and this couple yelled at them to get out of the building, but they either did not understand or did not hear well, in minutes it began to fall and the couple ran for their lives behind wall, when they looked back they could not see .. until they noticed that there were no people or buildings .. she replies in Spanish .. they all died, they all died ..my prayers for all of families. 🙏🙏
😲🤭😓😥😢💔🙏🏽
😞
Yes, that couple also got injured from the building collapsing. There's video of their injuries somewhere online.
How does a fire alarm pull station work?
Wow, first time I've heard this... Did anyone listen to their warning and get out?
I can't even imagine being those people who heard the noise, took the video and then watched it collapse. My gosh...
The couple filming the water gushing down that ramp - the woman said "It's going to collapse", and the man said no, no, it's not. He gives the interview, as she apparently doesn't speak English. She called it, but the people on their balconies didn't hear or understand when she yelled for them to come out of the building.
Oh goodness... What language? There was a woman who went out on her balcony, called her husband to tell him she just saw the pool deck collapse into the garage and chatted with him for the rest of her life.
You are the most knowledgeable and understandable person commenting on this tragedy. Thank you for your professionalism
By far the best engineering explanation of the building collapse. In depth scientific commentary. If I had a building you would be my engineer!!!
These videos by Building Integrity are so clear and leagues ahead of any other news item on this terrible tragedy.
Yep. You go to the regular news channels, and they will say something like "the collapse likely started at the pool deck" end of story, and the first thing that pops into your head is "what??? where in the heck is the pool deck??? Why would the pool deck bring down a huge building?". The mainstream media drives me crazy.
News Stations are mostly for the public's base "Entertainment" and not for this kind of salient information. The "News" shows leave that kind of coverage to documentaries made well after the fact.
This is the future of news. The days of main stream media is over. Real news takes a very long time to deliver - and it takes patience on the part of the viewer to get through it all. There is no way for the MSM to spend this type of time on every subject, and I count on and I appreciate the analysis presented by channels like BI.
Very true, I put some recommendations today on the UK Daily Mail comments sections about these videos. They truly are exceptional.
That's because the "News" doesn't want you to be informed, they want you to be afraid and giving simplistic explanations that are light on details and facts is how they do it.
There was an interview with a former maintenance worker, he said water would flood into the parking area over two feet deep, and pumps could not keep up with it. Eventually it would be gone. that has been going off and on for several years. The building next door had no such flooding. Now if that isn't a red flag that you have a serious problem, I don't know what would be.
Oh sweet. Jesus....these poor people! It’s so frustrating how stupid people are in this world! Especially because there were many red flags & nothing was done 😢
Yes, and that was over a decade ago. Worse, he described the water entering the garage as sea water that seeped in monthly with the "king tide." He said that the management company told him that there was no way they could stop the seawater from entering the building and to just keep buying new pumps!
He also said that the 2 feet of water was enough to "float" some cars around the garage..... That tells me that there have to be insurance claims or receipts where the HOA paid to repair cars that floated and repaint cars that parked under the stalactites where pool deck water was seeping through the concrete and damaging the cars below.
We had that happen in my condominium building and they had to replace much of the rebar in the parking deck above. It was a very expensive repair, and one that they unsuccessfully repaired several times over the last 20 years instead of fix it early on.
What people fail to realize is that if ANY part of the condominium structure (including simple parking decks) fails structurally, the City will condemn the ENTIRE BUILDING until it is properly repaired. Now you're going to have to move out and pay rent to live somewhere else while your mortgage payment, special assessments and condo fees continue on. Stupid people receive stupid prizes.....
@@dalewalker4614 sounds like the foundation underneath the garage washed out.
@@MichaeljRichter Could have been considering Florida's history with sink holes. My theory is the salt water corroded the rebar, which causes it to expand, therefore cracking the concrete. Last inspection was in 2018, there were problems then with squalling. If it was fresh water it would take many years to fail, salt water on the other hand accelerated the rate of corrosion probably 10 fold.
Thank you for your clear and accessible explanations. I’ve been having a hard time dealing with the emotional weight of this happening not far from me, and your videos help. I think understanding eases fear and aid healing as well as helping to prevent similar disasters. Thanks again.
Had I been the one recording that I would have had NO idea what I was witnessing in that, shortly after, the collapse would take place. My god, there are no words. I'm lost for words. Thank you for these videos!
Seems like there's more footage from what's been released?
Josh, you’re a great teacher! You’re helping me to understand all kinds of new and interesting things!
New subscriber. Sorry this is interrupting your vacation but I really appreciate the videos.
He's making money with utube video that we all appreciate.
Yes, THANK YOU to you and YOUR FAMILY for sacrificing your vacation time to help us make sense of this terrible tragedy and learn from it to prevent such an experience from happening in our lives! God Bless you all.
Here's something I observed. In the video from the other building that shows the collapse, it appears that in the part of the building that did not fall, there were only a couple of lights on. That tells me most of those folks were still asleep. But in the part that fell first, there were several lights on or coming on, as if people were awakened by the noise of the imminent collapse and had just enough time to say what the hell was that, flip the light on and the building went. In the part that stood for a few seconds you can see lights flipping on as the other part of the building was collapsing, until it fell too. That is horrifying to me. Especially after hearing the young man that lost his mom & grandma, who said he talked to his grandma that morning & she told him she was hearing loud noises at 3am and couldn't go back to sleep. 18 hours later the building was gone. I would bet people heard this disaster in the making and didn't know what it was. During the day it could be the construction, city noise etc. But at night when its quiet & most people were asleep, this lady heard something that was disturbing to her. Who knows how long this building was slowly crumbling from the inside out. Anyone living in a highrise needs to learn from this and pay attention to their surroundings.
The people who saw the pool deck initially collapse should’ve pulled the fire alarm in both the hotel and lobby of the condo. The pool deck feel 7 minutes before the building collapsed. Those that woke up but stayed didn’t recognize that they were in danger. Even the model who lived along the backside of the building closest to the beach actually saw the pool deck collapse. But instead of leaving the building, she called her husband to tell him about the pool deck collapsing into the garage. She STILL didn’t leave. I don’t know if they’ve found her yet, but she was standing out on her balcony when she was talking to her husband.
Unfortunately, few people ever bother to pay attention to their surroundings. People need to put their damned cellphones down and rejoin the living and see their surroundings again.
@@mudman6156 They probably couldn't in their wildest imagination dream of the entire building coming down within minutes.
@@mudman6156 they’ve found her . She was talking to him already, noticed the pool, THEN the line went dead as it collapsed. She did not have time to leave. Info comes from a fb friend who knew her and her family. It’s so sad that even a moments more of notice could’ve saved so many
@@mudman6156 hindsight is always 20/20. I guarantee you most of those people, many who were probably still half asleep, were not thinking that building was going to be on top of them minutes later. The woman on the balcony didn't have 7 minutes just because it took that amount of time between the pool deck and the building falling. She saw it just before the rest came down. Its easy for people who aren't in the tragedy to explain away how they would've done things differently. We now know the result. Those people did not until they were actively dying.
I just want to take a minute to say thank you and great job for stepping up where our mainstream media is failing.
Thank you! I come straight to you now to understand the likely components and cause of this disaster. I am a Canadian neighbour who is sending all love and praying for comfort for all. Information calms questions, your insight is truly invaluable.
Bless you for helping us all ~ even while you are away on holidays. May you be blessed.
I saw this garage footage on cnn and thought, I should send Building Integrity this link. I’m glad to see you’ve seen it!
Yes, and someone did send me a link to the local news story that released the video too. You guys have been awesome 👌
@@BuildingIntegrity I noticed they reported that the association reported to residents that structural damage was worse than in the 2018 report so it looks like they did have a estimation done more recently…
No @buildingintegrity you’ve been awesome. I wouldn’t have had any clue what exactly happened with this before I stumbled on your channel. Hopefully the state and feds are watching this as well
@@jacklong9619 Yes, I am so happy to have it explained in a manner which I can understand.
@@BuildingIntegrity check this out. Here's a timeline of events and info on Reddit.
www.reddit.com/r/CatastrophicFailure/comments/o7s500/room_711_actual_location_ring_camera_footage_is/?
A friend lived in a small two story, 150 unit complex… tri-level units at that. The parking is underneath the complex, street level…. Very common for her area. She had water leaking into her carport every summer. The cracks spread from edge to edge of where 5 cars parked. The HOA paid to patch it 3x in 2 years. She and the owner above her would argue about whose at fault, etc. She sold the condo and moved to Texas. Her broker who sold her condo to a friend helped to remodel it. When they took out the bathroom, there was mold everywhere. The neighbor above was contacted and after chipping a patch from their wall… MOLD! Turns out a unit 3 doors down had a massive pipeline leak that got worse every summer because of the sprinklers, etc. The HOA took so long to respond, the WHOLE SLAB above the carport fell then minutes later, all 5 condos on the first floor caved in. It was a mess. She was lucky to sell yet also testified in court when the new owner sued the HOA.
Where was that at?
Happy your friend moved at the right time.
@@LindseyDara Brea California
They could have sued HER, too. Especially if its obvious they KNEW and failed to tell the new owners.
You get 5 years to sue in some states, btw.
Hi from New Zealand - your videos are very informative, thank you for taking the time to create these to help us try to understand what has caused this tragedy. I am a Masters qualified adult educator specialist in eLearning and would like to say, your delivery is excellent and the way you are able to translate the technical info into something we can all understand is just brilliant.
Great, great videos!!....as a structural engineer myself, I have been flooded with calls from friend/clients/family asking for my opinion on what might the cause(s) be for this tragic collapse. Building Integrity does just that. Clear, concise explanation of potential causes. Great job. When I saw the video, it was apparent a ground level failure, either columns or foundation. The pictures showing the bottom reinforcement ripping out through the slab suggested a conventional slab, rather than pt as those are normally spaced further apart. It was a head scratcher for me, that a pool deck failure could impact the building in that way, as normally the pool deck slab is separated from the tall building slab by an expansion joint. Surprisingly, after getting access to the original drawings, noticed there was no expansion joint, and certainly a failure on the pool deck side could have impacted the building side columns. BI analysis is spot on. Prayers for all those affected by this tragedy.
This is also good, wonder if those smaller columns were really used. They look proper sized in BI video. th-cam.com/video/PEPyE2h6P4k/w-d-xo.html
I saw this first thing this morning. It's huge.
Videos of the entire complex official tour are still around. Gives an idea of the scale. Yes, this was not the little motel by the freeway, on video screens so so hard to fathom. Florida infrastructure is only proving now many experiments from a half century ago. Subsidence happens.
We certainly appreciate your willingness to share your expertise! Thank you very much from all of us.
One thing that I and many people might have missed is that there is parking all the way under the pool deck not just the condos itself. There’s parking under everything except the actual pool.
Thank you . I was so confused about that.
True. But let's say the pool suddenly broke and water gushed out and the decking gave way. Is that enough to collapse the building? Maybe the pool area failed because the weight of the building failing .
@@waitaminute2015 If you look at the aftermath footage, the pool and hot tub are in tact, even the water inside.
@@waitaminute2015 The pool was pretty much untouched. It still had water in it.
@@michaelstrahan2.0 ok, I didn't notice. It seems people are thinking the pool failed and causes this.
Just began watching your videos, and must say they are excellent. Having been involved for years with various subcontractors, etc. from the "supply-side" end of the food trough, these give me a renewed appreciation of the amount of work that goes into creating the initial engineering specifications, and why they're so important. Keep up the good work - I'll be following.
If you look at that rubble in front of the water coming down, it looks to be a couple large chunks with similar cross sectional dimensions to the standing column you point out. It might just be coincidence, but I’m wondering if we’re actually seeing chunks of the column that would have been just to the right.
Good point
The news report that I saw about this video stated the people who shot the video heard a loud noise, which was probably the debris falling into the parking garage, which is what prompted them to be shooting video into the garage at 1 o'clock in the morning.
A loud noise? Explosion?
@@lillumination5388 they just said a loud noise, not an explosion.
@@lillumination5388 given the choice between a conspiracy and human failure, always put your money on human failure. Will be interesting to see what the final reports say when they are published, but my money is on unfortunate cost cutting choices resulting in preventable deaths.
@@shinyhappypeople9043 watch the start of the collapse, there are 3 places the light went up for a haft a second, the off. It alerted me.... controlled demolition was my thought. It was 1.30 am, how could the folks wake up to the rumble noise and then that fast turn the light on???
@@lillumination5388 that wasn’t people turning their lights on 🙄🤦🏼♀️ that was literally just sparks of electricity from the wires being ripped apart and damaged. So it was just bright flashes of light from that.
Thank you for explaining this in a manner we can understand. Your time and efforts reflect on the professionalism of your industry. We appreciate all that your doing
Great analysis. I would only add that the water coming down is probably not from a damaged sprinkler pipe but from the pool itself. Sprinkler systems are under pressure and if there was a break, the water would be gushing like a fire hose and there would be fire alarm activated.
I saw one version of the video that appeared to show the water stream come out of a white pipe. I could be wrong on that... Also, the video only shows one small part of the underground garage, and there are most likely other pipes that are broken also, so the amount of pressure at each pipe is greatly reduced. In other words, you are not going to get firehose-like streams of water out of 10 broken pipes.
The pool is not right above. But it's possible it came from the plumbing that supports the pool.
Sprinkler systems are at the same pressure as ordinary water pipes. They both come from the city water supply. Fire hoses and sprinkler heads make a spray because they are designed with small holes to make a spray.
@@GH-oi2jf I am sorry but that’s 100% wrong.
@@GH-oi2jf sprinkler systems are feed from a fire pump on the lowest floor of a building. If this was a sprinkler pipe that burst, tampers and flows would be triggered and the buildings fire alarm would have gone off.
Not only are you gifted in your understanding and ability to teach all levels if understanding ( even I can get what youre saying) but you have such a kind heart ... Your comment and concern for those who have lost family and friends truly touched my heart. You are certainly first class as a teacher but also as a human... I truly appreciate you.
A very super Public Service. Thank you for taking the time. Civilians like us need all the explanations we can get.
Especially compelling were the overlaying charts and maps that helps us get the concepts you describe.
The woman literally says, crying: ‘todos se murieron, todos se murieron, Dios mio…’ (they all died, they all died, my God…). This video was originally published on tictoc about three days ago, but only now is being shown in other media.
I imagine that the neighbors right above the collapse seen in the video should have been alerted by the sounds.
There seem to be large chunks of debris all along the garage gate, next to the first column, before the area where the water is pouring from the broken pipe. If not concrete, what else could those shapes be, considering the debris we see further down in the ramp?
Oh lord , this is so very sad 😞 I couldn’t really see what those people saw until now I bet those people whom took this were just beside themselves and felt hopeless
Here for my daily dose of interesting information. Thanks again, and have a great vacation day! 🌞
Excellent work! As a layman (woman 😊) I really appreciate this breakdown. The color coded blueprint helps a lot especially when you juxtapose it with images and videos of the actual site. Thank you for sharing your expertise!
Succinct engineering analysis of potential modes of failure, with NO speculation! As an engineer with 40 years of experience I am grateful of our/ your training in approaching any problem as dispassionately as we can! We all forget that the physical foundations of our society are based on engineering. Engineering is an important piece of our society but we recognize it is only a piece, it's what we can contribute!
So useful, thank you. I couldn't figure out where the water was gushing from. The people who filmed it and tried to alert residents may sadly be traumatised for life by the experience, but rather than just film they did try to raise the alarm and should be proud of their actions.
I’ve been trying to figure out the water too!
Have you seen the old episode of Twilight Zone where the guy tries to go back in time and save people? Have a look... :)
Excellent observations and analysis! What you've analyzed here is exactly what I observed happening in the security camera video of the building actually collapsing - 3 visible sections in rapid sequence. I live in a 5-story condo of similar construction and am comparing what I see in our building with photos & videos of this building collapse. My major in college was design drafting 3-D BC (before CAD). I'll be following your analysis closely.
The news reports hinted that there was an inside pool and an outside pool, but from the birds-eye image you showed it now makes sense why it looked like the "pool deck" they spoke of seemed to be inside the building. Previously it sounded like the first domino sequence began near the pool, but now we can clearly see that the collapse began underground in or near the parking garage. Also, visualizing from these to videos we can finally see where the parking ramp was located. Thank you.
I suspect the only reason the remainder of the building did not twist and fall is because of the position of and the strength of the elevator shaft structure. They always pour extra thick concrete walls for those, and it appears that is when the first section collapsed, the elevator shaft is where the fallen area sheared off as it fell and south of that the remaining floors snapped off during phase 2, leaving the rugged floor edges that we see in the rescue videos.
I watched the video of the collapse several times and when the second section collapsed it broke off of the east and west sections and as section 2 went down it pulled on both section 1 & 3. In that video you can actually see section #3 VISIBLY twist & then start leaning for a full 5 seconds before gravity won and it dropped. Rescue videos show shear marks on the elevator shaft and several large, angled cracks in the stucco as a result of the twisting action the elevator shaft withstood.
.
The couple that recorded this was outside the hotel already enjoying the pool adjacent to the parking garage when they heard something significantly loud and noticed the damage and water gushing down and started recording and raising the alarm.
I’ve watched every video you have made on the
collapse. Think you are doing an excellent job helping everyone understand what has happened.
This also explains the moaning and screaming sounds heard from the building a few minutes before collapse. Florida often uses a dry sprinkler system. The lines are air filled until one of the heads pop. When the sprinkler lines cracked in the garage it enabled waterflow. Which pushed the air out resulting in the howling noises.
Interesting!
Why do they use dry lines in florida? They're not going to freeze down there
@@Lv-nq9qz It can freeze in Florida, and the lines are often exposed without insulation.
Bright side of Surfside collapse & Building Integrity . People are 200% more aware
That is 100% the only reason we are doing these videos. If we can make the content interesting, more people will watch, and that's more people we can educate through the rest of our content on how to properly maintain their buildings to stay safe! Thanks for watching!
@@BuildingIntegrity Exactly! Now I know some Terminology and what to look for. Invaluable!
@@BuildingIntegrity The more informed people will be about technical & structural patterns of buildings ( Developers don't like to talk about ) the better well informed decision buyers will make . Not only that , they may push politicians to make transparent & genuine laws
It's so sad that tragedies like this that cost so much in human life are needed to get people's attention on things that should have been getting done all along. Now they are showing other buildings that residents were been told are safe with huge cracks and reports saying they are in need of millions of dollars of repair. One in California is close to been Red Tagged while the owners fight in court over who should pay. It's crazy.
No amount of truth and evidence will stop conspiracy theories. Sad to say.
Subscribed about 5 days ago, subs & views have increased by several thousand, well done! I can see why!
Excellent explanation, very technical but very easy to understand, this apply to obviously, common sense and logic from technical perspective. Is amazing how the structure will talk to you, but some people will not understand all details in picture....amazing analysis, it shows that you been doing A LOT of this inspections and probably telling people things that they don't want to hear or other companies don't see or don't want to say.
You are an excellent teacher. I have zero interest in building structure, yet I find myself watching your videos all the way through.
Selling courses would be a great idea!
Could you clear up one thing? Is that wind noise throughout the video, or is that the sound of concrete falling?
Thank you for a professional analysis and so much information!
Let me add my support to that. The first portion of the video is so noisy, I wondered if the wind was blowing hard or if it was pre-collapse events in the building, with the latter more likely. It does look like those in and near the building got some warning of the collapse, although perhaps not enough to escape.
It’s eerie to see the lights on in the unit directly about the garage.
That guy made it out, number 111 IIRC. He's felt the crack the strongest, so he woke up and ran.
@@olegkosygin2993 it was the mom in that unit who noticed and got her two adult kids out, actually.
Excellent analysis.
Explained like an engineering expert witness. Thank you.
I'm structural engineering master student from germany and searched for more information about the collaps. Well, I was not expecting to find such well researched and techincal deeply discussion about this. Well made! I will definitely follow you're future content on this occasion and share the video with my colleagues.
These are the best videos I've seen in I don't know how long. Incredible work, no one else comes even close to the level of understanding and excellent explanations.
Crazy that in this day an age almost everything somehow gets recorded with a cel phone video
I’m surprised we’ve only seen one video of the actual collapse though. Other than Rosie’s ring video from within her condo.
1984 was not just a book.
Thinking the same
forget cell phones! every business has a security camera,homes doorbell cameras and we still haven't gotten to all the state and federal spy cameras! we are constantly under surveillance. im sure there is a ton of video of the collapse.
Thank goodness for people having the ability to capture things like awful disasters like this. The poor woman who captured this probably also witness the collapse of the building. It's gives insight to finding out why it collapse and who is responsible for the maintenance of the building.
In the meantime, Practical Engineer has a great series on concrete and rebar enforced concrete. If anyone wanted to know more about construction methods and how they work. I'm sure in the future when reports have been made by engineers he'll put out a video on it. He's done really good videos on the I-40 bridge and the Oroville Dam Spillway.
Sounds great
Thank you. I followed both those stories intensely.
Link/channel name please ?
th-cam.com/video/PLF18H9JGHs/w-d-xo.html Practical Engineering
Thanks Sandra I will check it out!
I think the bang or thunder like sound heard was the building snapping, then pipes burst which is seen here.
This makes sense... 😨
@Flat Sign You're assuming THAT system was functional. The systems are tested regularly. The test report would be useful.
This was an attack by the CIA, FBI or some part of the Sick, Sick DeepState! Watch the video, you can see charges going off. It looks just like Oklahoma or the imploded building near the World Trade Center. Don’t be fooled , don’t put up with their murders. It was destroyed , because of John McAfee’s statement, that he had files on the DeepState at his home in the building.
@Flat Sign I don't think heat was present. Besides, if pipes burst, probably wires did too, or got shorted out. Wouldn't wires spark and die?
@Flat Sign we can't see beyond the video if more water from broken pipes occured. Are you saying even a shorted out wire wouldn't stop alarms from going off? Maybe they haven't worked for some time. It's not like they're checked daily.
I've come upon this s little late, but thank you for your detailed analysis. You make calculus type stuff accessible to the rest of us. Thank you.
So glad I found this channel. These videos are so good. You explain things so well, so clearly and completely. I appreciate you sharing your wealth of knowledge with the rest of us!
Just think about this. One moment you are safe in your sack relaxing away - and in a moment…. Treasure your life time. Care and show love to those around you.
Sometimes, I really do need an engineer to talk to me like I’m a 5th grader. I’m impressed that I can understand this and relate it to others. And, what a completely sad event.
It’s really important you’re bringing all this to light in an interesting format. Thanks for the hard work
I just subbed. Ive viewed several of B.I. video and never hit the sub button until I took note of the factual INTEGRITY.
I appreciate this guy taking a practical, professional and incredibly delicately holding "facts" off until he can verify his AND your theory.
Abstaining from providing potentially incorrect information is of the utmost necessity. . . Dude's going above and beyond documenting and answering questions perhaps struggling families are trying to understand., "why".
I subbed.
Good actual honest work is becoming rare.
Again …. thank you. Such powerful headlamps your explanations provide. Your comment about those lost kids really brings it home.
RESPECT
I look forward to this man analyzing the video that I just watched of the underground parking garage, shot a year before the collapse by a woman who was looking for the parking space for Apartment 611 that she considering buying.
Thanks again for the in-depth analysis!! Building Integrity is the best source for analysis on this collapse from everything that I have seen.
I love your channel. I work in these types of buildings sometimes in West Palm Beach. Im just a laborer but sometimes when ill be doing demo and stuff and see tons of water damage to properties. I even done some minor patching and sealing before. I think the structure definately failed because of the water corroding everything. I was also thinking that the day that building came down it was raining almost non stop all day. I was thinking the added weight of the water on the roof and stored up inside the walls on that area in the garage/pool equipment area might have caused this. There was obviously alot of water coming into that garage area. Im not a building engineer though. I'm just a lay person that likes to break things with hammers and play with air chisels. 😆
Hi James! I know you’re just the hammer but can you tell me a bit about how code violations are reported? My husband is the mechanical inspector for the State of Michigan. He is also a great teacher and I find this stuff interesting!
Raining all day wow good info haven't heard that before
Surely a sound building would be able to handle a rain shower. The rain and the equipment on the roof would add some weight, but they would only be triggers. There had to be a failure of the structure. The parking ramp video is a very important piece of forensic evidence because it clearly shows the base of the building beginning to crumble.
@@gerardacronin334 we are not talking a day here, We are talking 40 years of rain/weather events.
Watch BI TH-cam and your eyes will be opened.
You would actually have more insight into these things then most of these armchair engineers. Thanks for your post!
Thank you for this video, which you are making on your vacation. Good to see someone with some engineering knowledge and professional training providing some insight into this horrible tragedy.
Thank you so much for this. Clarity seems comforting in a story that brings us little comfort.
Her voice saying everybody died is beyond sad and frightening. May their souls rest in peace.
This the alternate reality Kenny Powers who chose to go to University, study Engineering, never smoked and was always everyone's designated driver on Friday nights.
Lol
OMG, I searched youtube to see who Kenny Powers is, the likeness is sooo funny!
Lmaooo
Omg I was JUST telling my husband the same thing 😂😂😂😂😂😂
The rest of the building remained because the columns in those areas continued to bear the building loads. This video that came out this morning shows us the soffits of the first floor have fallen away right before the collapse. Please let us know from your structural drawings, if there are tie beams between the columns underneath the plaza/pool deck? That concrete debris had pretty large chunks of concrete that look like pieces of a beam. They're thicker than the 8 inch slabs. It appears those columns lost their critical lateral support. What followed, I'm guessing, was column bending failure, which happened, as you said , in fractions of a second.
Subscribed. I'm a physics, chem, and math nerd with a CS degree and I never thought I'd be so interested in structural engineering 👍😎 You make it accessible without coming across as elitist or arrogant, you just enjoy the subject and share it with passion. I now know way more stuff about concrete construction concepts than I ever knew I would want to.
This is by far the best channel to get a lot of really interesting information about the building collapse.
First, thank you for taking time out of your vacation, it's appreciated by many.
In the video it appears the debris gets deeper, and has larger pieces to the right looking down the ramp. If in fact it is, that would put the source of origin in the direction of those 3 support columns, just as you suspect. As much as I hate seeing catastrophes that result in loss of life (heart goes out to all who suffered losses), the forensics behind what caused them it is fascinating to follow, especially from someone experienced and knowledgeable as you. It's natural for people to want to know why these things happen, too often those who can and do determine it are also involved in the litigation that follows, leaving little to no public transparency for years after the fact, and people questioning if it could happen again. Knowledge and awareness is a key component to understanding how to prevent more of these incidents in the future.
Thank you for you videos this past week! It is a wealth of information that helps all of us sort through this tragedy. We never think something like this is even possible! We come we vacation and we presume we are safe. Obviously in most cases we are but, not always as seen this past week.
Much appreciated is the way you are taking the time to make your information accessible to us non-engineer types. It’s clear you are putting a lot of careful thought into the events that caused this tragedy. I wish the bubbleheads in the news media were even a tenth as thoughtful. Look forward to the next episode.
The column layout in the basement under the pool deck looks concerning. Near the swimming pool the spans of the slab appear to be in the order of 7 metres. This could cause the deck to sag which would lead to pooling water if the deck wasn't laid to a fall. The increased load of the water and heavy slab load could have caused the punch through of the thinner columns. Was the pool deck resurfaced with additional loading?
Thank you for each of your videos. You explain in terminologies that the layman can easily understand. I find your videos so helpful as I am a “want to know the details person” which you thoroughly cover. Keep up the excellent work!
I'd like to personally thank you for going through this with us. Having a more detailed analysis makes things more clear. It's so sad knowing this likely could have been prevented.
Having installed many fire alarm systems I don't believe that was a sprinkler system pouring water down. Unless I'm missing something, I don't see evidence of the alarm system sounding off in that video.
If any water flows in a sprinkler system the entire system should have been triggered sounding all alarm horns and calling the fire dept immediately.
At the least what we call a "Motor Water Gong" should have been sounding even if the electrical systems had been compromised.
Motor water gongs are fully mechanical and require no electricity, springs etc as water flow activates and propels the gong and they are LOUD.
Water flowing also releases pressure over the system triggering the jockey pumps and the main pump. This is another indicator the water falling wasn't sprinkler as it should have shown tremendous pressure rather than free falling as shown.
Fire sprinkler pumps are typically hard wired to the power feed without over current protection typically found on any other electrical equipment as it's required to pump to it's death no matter what.
I could go on but just pointing out indicators this likely was other plumbing from above maybe? Standing water falling thru from elsewhere?
Anyhow, hope this helps somewhere along the way. I've been involved with these systems 35 years now and couldn't help but notice these missing factors in the video.
I wish the video creator would respond to this comment! He is very thorough with his explanation, and I wonder if this information affects his opinion, knowing what you have shared here! Excellent comment, THANK YOU for sharing!
Domestic water pumps/supply are also on the 1st floor above the ramp but I wouldn't think lines would be compromised unless the entire floor fell which doesn't appear that bad in the north video.
@MAX CHI Possibly the fire sprinkler system was the water running -- which would have tripped the alarm and brought the fire dept. If all that happened a few minutes before the major collapse, the trucks would have probably arrived just at that point in time.
I wonder if a timeline has ever been investigated/released?
Time will tell, 'eh?
Maybe a faucet on the pool deck for watering the plants?
I can't see how a fire sprinkler line was NOT broken in that initial collapse, which we now know was much of the pool deck, not just the entrance. They were everywhere in the garage. The alarm just didn't work.
Hey Josh, I’m not sure if you’ll see this or not. But there are more than three black-dome security cameras located ON and around the pool deck. You can see these cameras from photos, they are attached to posts. If these cameras were recording to a cloud, footage can be obtained, and might be footage that they are currently hiding from us. The maintenance room is located near the building that is still standing, but it seems like they will be demolishing it in a few days… someone needs to get the message out to the security guards to release the security footage as it’s crucial for clues as to what exactly happened, what and where collapsed first! Like if you agree!!!
If they were cheaping out on the maintenance, I seriously doubt they'd be paying for cloud video storage. It's far more likely that the video is either a) on a tape that is crushed at the bottom of that debris pile and at least a year from literally being uncovered, or b) if the security office was in the part of the building that hadn't fallen yet, then somebody's lawyer already has the video and isn't going to release it until after the lawsuits. It's not that they're hiding it from us, it's that they (whoever they is) have a greater interest in getting justice for the victims of this tragedy than sating the dramalust of the general public.
@@LabRatJason Absolutely.
I'm sure no one there has thought to check, glad there was a TH-cam comment to solve that problem.
Thank you for your analysis. As a retired engineer myself, I can appreciate the way you are presenting the information in a lucid and thoroughly understandable manner. On another matter, it is my firm opinion that rescue at this point is moot. It is time to bring in the heavy machinery and clear the rubble. If safety requires knocking down the remaining structure, so be it, but any hope of "rescue" is a false hope and only serves to prolong the agony of the surviving family and friends. I firmly believe that it is best to end this hopeless, wishful thinking right now.
Yes, but it's also evidence. Nobody wants to destroy a victim's body, either.
I've watched this before but now that I've watched several of your other videos I think it'll make mare sense. Thanks for these. No hype. No wild speculation, just 'what do we KNOW'.
Hello from Australia! Who knew I would find structural engineering fascinating! Thank you for explaining the issues in layman’s terms.
You are an incredible teacher!!! Here's what I want to know:
You showed graphics indicating uniquely significant subsidence at Champlain Towers South and explained that subsidence wasn't expected on the ocean side of that barrier island.
1) If nothing were built on that site, would you expect there'd be perceptible subsidence or was it a direct result of having a 12-story concrete structure with underground parking situated there?
2) Did geologists inspect the site prior to the project's being greenlighted and give it an OK? Or did they make a determination that it wasn't suitable for development but get overridden?
I live in Los Angeles where developers of large projects have way too much control over politicians and the Dept. of Building & Safety. (As bad as things are, they would be much worse if stakeholders didn't devote their lives to pushing back and holding their feet to the fire.) Developers are masters of manipulation. I am suspicious about how that project got built, what corners were cut, and how the slab under the pool could have been okayed when it was not properly angled to facilitate runoff! Why didn't a building inspector notice that fundamental flaw after it had been poured and force it to be redone properly prior to construction of the pool? Perhaps that's the entire cause of the subsidence...decades of pooling water undermining the integrity of the ground that was holding up the condo building!
Miami sits on top of porous limestone and aquifer system. Below that is bedrock and I haven't found the depths of each geological layer. If builders go down to bedrock, how deep? What is the composition of the underground foundation system?
I'm not an engineer nor geologist. But I do like to use logic to understand and figure things out. So....I start with the basic foundation and how deep. Then I think I should identify how much of foundation is in bedrock and how much of foundation is in limestone aquifer level (materials would be critical here due to ocean water).
Imagine all the high rises using the same basic engineering. If the failure is the ground they sit upon, would this information be made public? It would destroy costal development as we know it, and definitely destroy Florida. Will the powers that be let that devastating information out or would they bury it?
@@dalenedaylean3555 They will bury it. They can't even admit that this has not been a rescue operation since the first day. They talk about miracles instead of the reality of being crushed under millions of pounds of concrete. I understand that they don't want to be the bearers of dismal news. And they want to remain in a bit of denial because the reality is so brutal.
I also think there is a pool of festering guilt because this patriarchy we live in is not in the habit of preventing disasters. It wants to forge ahead and deal with the potential fallout down the road. Well, we're down the road. And I'm talking about climate change which we have ignored for so long that our species along with all the others is being destroyed.
I am a huge animal lover and I've been pet sitting in people's homes for almost 30 years. The human toll from this tragedy is devastating. I can't let myself think too much about the various pets that must have lived in that building along with their people. I've devoted my life to helping and protecting animals and they were victims of this tragedy too.
The debris in the garage is well lit from above. That might correlate with a hole in the ceiling.
Yeah, seems to me he skipped the first column in the diagram - the debris field is closer to the street than what he is illustrating. That doesn't preclude the deck collapse (would be further back out of sight) but we're not looking as far into the building as he's describing it. He has circled in purple, pillars #2 and #3, he should have circled pillars #1 and #2. So that debris field we are seeing in the video is from a unit above not the pool deck.
@@robertoullfig8324 he circled the right pillars as you see closer to the street there isn't another pillar, there is a solid wall which is the staircase, and you see that wall in the video.
One lady says "I thought I heard a car accident and came outside" probably that whole pool deck where we can't see
That’s what I was thinking too
I also notice the the lights of the unit just above the garage entrance were on. The noise must have awakened them.
@@deborahjanellemixedmediaart yes, a mother and her two children on the first floor facing the pool, they saw the pool deck collapse, they were able to escape. she said the pool deck collapsed at 1:15 am and she told the guard and her son called 911
@@deborahjanellemixedmediaart The room above the ramp was a generator room according to the drawings that Josh just showed.
They were definitely talking about getting woken up from a loud noise. So unfortunate, 100% preventable
This channel is phenomenal. Please keep making these videos!
Your ability to educate those of us unfamiliar with the science and subject matter is fantastic!
In the hours and day leading up to this failure, very much reminds me of what transpired before the tragedy that occurred on the dive boat Conception. As in this case with a hole appearing in the pool deck, so many, many alarm bells would have gone off in my mind that I am sure that I would have pulled the fire alarm and kept it pulled until everybody was out and proper authorities and competent engineers were called in and made to understand the perniciousness of this structural failing. As an engineer myself, I am just amazed that what we take for simple common sense is so many, many times just not that common and what at least SOMEBODY should have noticed, just doesn't get noticed or appreciated.
'Pernicious' is the most appropriate term I've heard used to describe this