The NYC Skyscraper that Nearly Destroyed Midtown
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ธ.ค. 2019
- NYC's 601 Lexington (formerly Citigroup Building) nearly fell down in 1978. Here's the full story.
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😱 Want to learn about another strange skyscraper in NYC? This one has no windows and is tied to mass surveillance: th-cam.com/video/Koz9iUK0FHI/w-d-xo.html
i'm going to try to speak that slowly for 1 day to see who gets angry
Do know about 9/1????because the twin towers collapsed
When my grandmother worked for AT&T, she worked in that building. Then she went on to work for the federal government.
Didn't fall it collapse
How about discussing what was done to fix it? How was the market value of this building and others in its vicinity affected after the news broke out?
I sped up the video by 1.25x and he sounds Normal 😅
Thanks for the advice
I didn't know there's this part of city looks so beautiful in NY
Thanks. Lol. You were right.
Lol much better
Thank u so much I did the entire time 😂
“Luckily New York City never had to experience that” pause for dramatic affect so every person watching thinks of 9/11
@@PTS156 Well... The design is kinda what made the buildings crumble so quickly. th-cam.com/video/SnwYYF_gK1s/w-d-xo.html
Issa Knife theoretically a lot of buildings are designed to take that including the new WTC we just haven’t seen it. In a way the design of the towers did contribute to their collapse.
Issa Knife no one said it was the buildings fault they collapsed just said the facts that the unique design of the towers was partly why they had collapsed so quickly, trapped so many people inside, and caused a chain collapse.
It is probably because of 9/11 that we now think of designing stronger buildings so that if that were to happen again the damage would be less than that of the twin towers (the towers were designed just fine, they just weren’t design to take a hit by an aircraft, the possibility of that happening was just unthinkable, and the building systems continue to evolve every year, the towers design was great for its time, and now we learn from experience)
Actually The Towers Collapse, Not Falled On Their Sides
The way he’s explains sounds like how my high friend explains life when he’s high
Lol
Yes it’s a turn off
"High friend explaining life while he's high", I'm sorry you didn't clarify, was he high or something?
@@stickmanlife7839 he is probobly tall
Yeah mate it comes across as really boring I'm having to click off the video now
Am I the only one who wants this man to speak faster ?
I'd prefer he doesn't speak at all. He needs a voice over. The videos are cool but his voice is frustrating.
wowcanyoustop you can speed up the video
I had to put it on 1.5 speed. Unwatchable otherwise
@@3xsxs953 I watch all videos on 2x, I guess maybe I should take less coffee!
@@rickhall517930 its his microphone that isn't working that great
I'm halfway through and realized he's doing this in one take, including the intro!Way to have your thoughts together for 10 min straight! I can't keep my thoughts straight for 30 seconds.
Thank you 🙏 yea many of my videos are unscripted, especially my LIVE videos
This building still scares the crap out of me when I walk under it...or even look at it. It just ain't right.
Have a look at "Vancouver House" in Vancouver BC Canada Roger. Looks soooooo cool, but if the earth decides to shake things up a little (or a lot I suppose) what then?
@@gregfinlayprofessionalreal6234 Noooope. I'd never take that bridge again.
@@JunkCult I hear you, but I actually look forward to crossing that bridge. That silhouette from up close is mesmerizing. They did a similar building in Calgary (I think) that's the opposite; tapers from the top. It's not nearly as impressive.
@hello there why I gotta read this right before bedtime? Uuuugghhh.
Good one!
The best part here is the fact that the engineer listened to the student, rather than ignoring them because he is experienced and the student isnt. Kudos to William for that!
the student that LeMessurier did talk to didn't have any issues with the construction - he was Lee DeCarolis who was a 1st year architecture student - he just wanted to know how it stayed up - his professor had been skeptical of the buildings design
the one mistakenly assumed to be the student he spoke to was Diane Hartley - who wrote her bachelors thesis on the building - and she was worried about the wind loads and the placement of the columns - the engineer she spoke to explained why that wasn't an issue - she didn't understand the engineer - but cuz she mentioned the quartering winds - it is assumed she got it right - and in a sense she did - cuz LeMessurier would recalc the wind loads after his convo with DeCarolis - and determine the quartering winds were more of a threat than the perpendicular winds - due to the bolted joints in the chevron supports
well - it appears they were both wrong - recent analysis of the wind loads using modern technology has determined that the quartering winds were not quite the threat - it could be the building was never in danger of collapse in a high wind - but it will take an analysis of the original design structure to determine that
Well, if there was a disaster, I expect that the engineer would be in much bigger trouble.
Who would've thought a building on stilts could potentially fall...
Me
All buildings are on stilts, sometimes the stilts are just built around.
Why is he speaking so slowly???😣
Dramatic effect
He is trying to make a 10 minute video, it is a TH-cam thing.
Make that video 10mins for the monetization
TH-cam is international and one of the common complaints by non-native English speakers is that youtubers talk too fast in English.
Also it looks like the video is shot in 1 take, it'd be pretty hard to remember the whole script and speak at a perfect speed
Props to the original designer who was open to thought that maybe his building was unsafe. He’s a great example of a critical thinker. He doesn’t dismiss other people’s opinions or thoughts just because they aren’t the same as his, instead he tries to see where that person may be coming from so he can correct his mistake or help the other person correct theirs.
in a way - in this case - in talking to Lee DeCarolis (now an architect in NJ) - he described how the structure was robust due to the V bracing that directed the weight (and wind loads) to the columns - it got him to rethinking about the wind loads - and he recalculated
unfortunately - he didn't remember the student's name and begged him to contact him - but he died before DeCarolis read about LeMessurier's escapade - and DeCarolis was evidently reluctant to reveal himself cuz it would like he was claiming to be a hero - so after the NIST re-analysis of the wind loads which says that they were not the severe threat that spurred LeMessurier to get the building reinforced - and the building may not have toppled in high winds as thought - he felt safe to tell his story (see OnlineEthics (dot) org and search for his name)
there's a reason this building is discussed in talks of ethics - cuz LeMessurier immediately tried to assess the building's strength based on his new calcs - and when it was deemed unfit - he approached the bank - and even the city was brought it - paranoidal people want to criticize everyone - but in fact - the response by everyone was exemplary
ironically - it may have been wasted - recent analysis of the wind loads using modern technology says that the quartering wind loads were not the threat that was assumed in 1978 - maybe the original building would have held up
Maybe he was upset that they didn't follow his design and used the bolts.
@@nampyeon635 - in his talk to MIT in 1995 - he defended the engineers and Bethlehem Steel - and he said the bolts were "beautiful bolts" - it was after recalculating the wind loads that he realized they were built to lower (original) specs - and that there were too few of them - tho the NIST reanalysis says that it is possible he was wrong about that
He saved a lot of lives and potentially prevented several millions or perhaps even billions of dollars of damage. He should be commended for that.
People complaining about free content this man put the effort to create and share here… Do you know how hard it is to create this type of video, where you have to get so many facts right, there’s no script and it’s not edited? 😒
Thank you man! I really appreciate this video 👍🏽
I appreciate the recognition of the work that goes into these. Thank you! 🙏
This video would be sooo much better it he'd spoke bit faster and make it 5 min...
Possibly, this was made before TH-cam changed monetization to 8 mins.
Watch the video on speed 1.25
Or people who don’t speak English...
@@spacepaul4678 True, but he should find another way to make it 10 minutes long. Him speaking this way makes it sound like we are young children learning English. While I love architecture videos, I had to stop halfway. I did find a long video on TH-cam with a person who speaks naturally. It was so much better.
It was single shot video, no editing. That’s impressive
“luckily, NYC never had to experience that”
....yeah about that
I actually appreciate the fact he speak slowly as a french watcher, this make it easy to understand
Yes me too. It’s contrary to the speed of a lot of speech nowadays but I can hear every word here. Very well presented in my opinion, visuals too.
All of the comments saying that you’re speaking too slowly don’t realize you’re doing this video in one take. Good on you.
This building gives me anxiety.
Most comments here said that he spoke too slow..
As a non westerner, it makes me easier to understand, specially with his american accent.
The cadence was fine :)
You're good!👌
Is not the American accent the easiest to understand? Especially this pretty clean one.
Subtitles
@@user-hu3iy9gz5j they’re most likely used to received pronunciation. (british)
not everyone learns or is exposed american english on a daily basis.
“Luckily New York City never had to experience that” - I rate that statement 9 out of 11.
9 out of 11 Architects agree
9 out of 11 times he uses the word, “luckily”.
Lmao
20 out of 01 ratings
Right? I was like, “WHAT?”
People the world trade was hit with a plane hes talking about falling because how it was designed,
what planes ? it was bombs . wake tf up
@@pavelordonez5352 ight, find me the planes rn
@@KSATSpotting the planes did crash into the buildings but there was bombs in the planes so thats what made the buildings fall
y’all are stupid
@@chilidavis9894 ur mother
Of course, the young man is talking about falling own its own, not folks trying to topple it..you folks are so busy trying to criticize something you don't use your brain before you complain.
^ this 🙏
Very well said
he really should just clarify especially after the horribly erroneous statement that "luckily new york city never had to experience that"
So I wasn't using my brain when I cringed for 15 minutes and started thinking about how many names I recognize when hearing the names of the victims? Yep I'm sure I wasn't... Anyways moving past that it was a good video not gonna take that away from him.
Yeah. I don't have a problem with this video. I guess I kind of knew what the spokesperson meant.
The moral of the story, "An architect's dream is an engineer's nightmare."
You said it all brother
I want my 900 story, concrete skyscraper to be held up by a 1 inch wooden beam! Make it happen!
Lol. True!
To clarify on the history of buildings that fell. I do realize that WTC fell. I meant to say "topple in an unplanned manner". While one of the World Trade Center building almost did topple, it didn't actually crash directly into other buildings.
This would have been the only skyscraper in NYC history thus far to have toppled onto other skyscrapers.
Kinda did fall into other buildings
I think what he’s saying is in a domino like fashion. But they did destroy all the low rise buildings surrounding them including the 22 story Marriot hotel between the giants. Also damaged other larger towers pretty badly including 7 WTC which ended up also collapsing that evening. Just a terrible day. Never forget 🇺🇸
Harold Bickham there was a Greek Orthodox Church that was destroyed by one of the collapsing twin towers
@Marius Ipad you mean imploded. I will never get over the lies and loss of life.
WTC turned to dust. Otherwise the bathtub would have been flooded by the Hudson River with the weight of two buildings.
The company I used to work is at 30th floor. Watching this video gave me chills.
Were u ever scared of the building ?
It's worth mentioning that LeMussurier had calculated that with the tuned dampener functioning it reduced the building sway by 50% so it should be able to withstand Ella but it needed electricity to operate and if the hurricane knocked out the power then the building was doomed. That day they installed backup generators to keep the dampener working no matter what. LeMussurier wasn't just appalled that the developer switched to bolts but also how few they used. They wound up welding extra 2" plates over the joints. Cost Citicorp $8 million to do the complete fix. They sued LeMussurier because it was his design flaw. With no lawyers LeMussurier and some VP from Citicorp worked out a settlement in which Citicorp accepted the $2 million LeMussurier's insurance company would pay on the claim and absolved him from further indemnity.
Wow, it’s sad to see some companies cut costs at any opportunity:/
How was it his flaw they did not follow his plans they switched to bolts so how was that his fault?
@@Denvermorgan2000 depends on contract structure
Was about to point this out.
I’m just impressed that he memorized the scripts and didn’t mess up
I didn’t use a script. All of my one-take videos and live-videos are unscripted, I just research and tell the story spontaneously ;) I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Urbanist: Exploring Cities aw that’s nice I love how natural this is and people are complaining about the pauses but I find them relaxing and like how this is so spontaneous 😊
I worked there in the early 90s as a temp mailroom clerk, and in the early 2000s as a union carpenter installing furniture
The actual address is 153 East 53rd St and it's on Lexington between East 53rd St and East 54th Street
Happy to hear that the designer was not full of himself and actually looked in to student’s questions
Oh, really?
How about the thousands of people that were are risk - and told NOTHING by the authorities or the engineers and developers?
How convenient that the newspapers were - conveniently - on strike during the clandestine repair period?
Was that engineered by the city authorities in collusion with the involved parties soley for their self-interest - but with total disregard for the citizens right to know?
That is the very definition of high-level corruption
The “Tour du Midi” in Brussels is even more extreme. It balances on a huge central and smaller column that holds up the entire skycraper like a christmas tree.
How about Rainier Tower in Seattle. That one’s on a single column that looks like it’s designed to fail
Having a cigarette while talking about this would have added character. Lovely voice to listen to
Ha! Sounds very film noir, I like that idea
this was great, loved it. I am curious to know what this Student is doing now.
99% Invisible (a design oriented podcast) has an episode on this tower and even interviews the student, her name is Diane Hartley and according to her Twitter she's a 'Real Estate and Business Development Consultant'.
I thought it wasn’t so good his narrating eloquence is terrible. Felt like he was biting his tongue half the time.
robert lautner yeah i agree, but seems like a newer channel, im sure he’ll improve
Hopefully hired immediately
Yes, Robert. His cadence is broken and difficult to engage with. There is tons of dead air which is verboten in broadcast reporting. I was in a constant state of anticipation like, “What has happened to the audio?” I’m hopeful he’ll improve too. He has a nice style.
We all remember when this building was being built. I'd pass it everyday back in 1977-78. It was unbelievable to see it on stilts, yet they made it work
That’s a major screw up... They erected a ticking time bomb in midtown Manhattan. Thank god someone realized the fatal flaw.
Not really, the major screw up would have been not to make any verification and let the tragedy happen
Imagine if it was Trump Tower. Nothing would have been done to fix the problem
Legend has it that Diane Hartley an engineering student at Princeton found out about the weak bolted joints as the engineer was out by 40% it was her critical analysis that exposed the problem that was fixed at night so the public would not know!!!!
@@joesimon2018 Son, Trumps gone. Stop wasting your life worrying yourself sick about him. Go try to enjoy life.
Amazing video! Kudos for shooting this all in one take like this! Impressive
You could fit a building in between those pauses ... good god lol love the video tho
I love how he talks and explains it. As a someone who’s English is not the first language I have time to listen to him in peace and actually think about it and understand what he just said without having to rewind the video couple of times because I didn’t understood the first time what he just said
building 7 has left the chat
hahaha for real
All for oil 🙃
well to be fair it collapsed from fire and didnt really collapse on other buildings
Did it fall over like a domino?
Blue9 MultiMedia Group no it collapsed itself from fire
Great storytelling - That said, your videos would be greatly enhanced with tighter cuts instead of one continuous shot.
I agree, I don't mind the conversational pace or the pauses to show the site (as others seem to be complaining about), but it's vlog-type pieces like these that demonstrate why the craft of editing is so important. Hire a cameraman, take B-roll, let the narrator just narrate instead of multi-tasking the whole thing, and finally cut the whole thing together properly.
no thanks. i like his style. its nice and chill.
These kind of buildings freak me out. I get queasy walking under them and looking up. Like the Rainier Tower in Seattle. It doesn't have the outrigger columns.
I really love that your not doing a voice over and you are there in person talking about it. Subscribed!
Yes!! Most of my videos are done actually visiting places :D there’s plenty of voice over videos out there in the world anyway
Check out the Millenium Tower in San Francisco. It is a leaning tower that can topple at any time and its foundation is built on quicksand
Y’all give the dude a break... yea it was rough but by engineer standards his presentation skills are superb.
People knew. I was in high school working part time at Herman's world of sporting goods on 53rd & 3rd. We were warned of the potential collapse of the new CitiCorp head quarters, which is the building you're discussing. They put in the top of the building a weighted counter balance which swings in the opposite direction of the sway of the bldg helping to maintain its balance.
Fantastic! A great example of how the city is a sum of that happens in. This history is abiu engineering, urbanism, security, journalism, ethics and...life! Thanks to bring it to us!
No cuts or edits the whole time - I really like that!! Keep it up!!
Agreed, that is very hard to do.
Great video, nice and stable filming as well!
Tried to watch this FIVE TIMES. The cadence of his speech kept putting me to sleep. I eventually had to give up.
Great video! This skyscraper looks horrific to me😳 as a German I am not used to high buildings and I think I will never get used to them haha.
Fascinating story. I liked the way you presented it: suspenseful till the very end!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this story!
Great story, but the suspense was literally killing me 😂😂... I was like "TELL ME!!!!! I MUST KNOW!!! WHY MUST I ENDURE THIS PLAGUE OF IGNORANCE???? I MUST KNOW!! TELL ME!!"
I've stared at that building when I've been in Manhattan, and wondered the same. There just doesn't seem to be enough stuff on the bottom to keep the rest of the building up. Anyway, I'm not an architect or structural engineer, so what to I know. :)
Loved this one! Keep it going! :-)
That is strangest building
This video would be much better if it were edited?
I don't know about that. The fact that it can be shot in one take and flow that well is impressive
The story could've been told in 2 minutes!
@@billwilmington8284 but it doesn’t flow well at all, that’s the issue 🙄
@@realtwogreenie Well, that's an educated reply
Excellent story telling, maintained technical soundness while keeping me in suspense.
I’m so glad you appreciate my storytelling 😁🙌 thanks for watching!
Good video, but could use some B-Roll
Great knowledge & memory covering this story. cheers!
"Well luckily New York City never had to experience that..."
Twin Towers: Am I a joke to you
He meant skycraper collapses due to design flaws in them, not terrorist attacks.
Those are intentional, accidents aren’t.
I had this same issue in the first 18 seconds.
@@alvarodm well you do know it's a joke right
Twin towers were away from other buildings and they went straight down not tooling over
@@alvarodm R/woooosh
This was good man I know it’s hard talking to camera. Great job
thank you! glad you enjoyed :D
A lawyer I knew said she was told she'd always be juggling multiple balls in the air. She would inevitably drop a ball every now and then; just pray and take care you don't drop the exploding ball. Really close call here.
Great video! Thanks so much!
This is exactly the kind of video I'd like to see more of. Well done.
This story is mentioned in the book, The Checklist Manifesto, by Atul Gawande. He uses it as an example of why regularly scheduled intra-team meetings are important for complicated projects. He considers those meetings to be a type of checklist and its likely the dangerous construction error would not have occurred ( using bolts instead of welding) if those types of meetings were taking place while the building was being constructed.
That is not the building's (Citicorp Building) only error. It's slanted roof was supposed to be used for solar panels but was designed in the wrong direction.
the bolts were not dangerous when first introduced - LeMessurier had no problem with them when he heard about them - it was after recalculating the wind loads - he realized that they were below the strength needed
however - a NIST reanalysis of wind loads says that the quartering winds were not the threat LeMessurier calculated - maybe the building would have withstood the high winds without reinforcement - but someone will have to reanalyze the original structure in light of the new wind load data
I subscribed. Every October, my city has an open house architecture event, but I will not be going this year. I am counting on you to fill the void.
This is the building why I studied structural engineering. Thanks for sharing!
Good video. Informative. 👍
New York thanks you Diane Hartley! 👍🏼👍🏼🤗
the student who LeMessurier spoke to was Lee DeCarolis - in describing how the structure worked - LeMessurier was prompted to recalculate the wind loads - a NIST reanalysis now says the quartering wind loads weren't the threat the LeMessurier thought
Since you state that the student called Le Messurier on the phone because Le Messurier said a student called him, you obviously assume he made a mistake in saying the student was a “he” since you don’t mention it. If you had listened to Diane Hartley, she did not talk to Le Messurier, but an assistant, which is most likely why Le Messurier said the student was a “he” who he talked to and is why he probably didn’t remember anything about the student. This would make more sense that he talked to his assistant about the phone call from Diane and mixed up the actual details of the call over ten years later when he recounted how he learned of the conclusions of her calculations. Just saying since your making a record of what happened for history and not just for entertainment.
I think you are being far too generous. It is outrageous to think that LeMessurier didn't take the time after all was said and done to find this student and give whoever it was, proper credit where it was due. My guess is, he knew full well who it was, and worse still, that it was a woman that pointed out his failure. I watched LeMessurier tell his story and it was clear to me that he was very much 'old school'. As a female engineer myself, I still experience this kind of sexism in this day and age, I can only imagine how much worse it would have been in the 70s and 80s when all this went down. Either way, shame on him for not finding the student to thank or credit, or for knowing, and still not giving credit. It would have been very easy for him to do once the story was out.
@@carolynh3437 what was worse is that citicorp at the time re-neged on a stipend of $10,000 to publish a book about the building derived from her thesis that they promised her after her studies
@@carolynh3437 I agree with you. I've heard this story before and wondered why she did not get proper recognition for saving a potential disaster.
It could be the firm was just embarrassed it was a little girl. Although Diane was smart & hardworking but still for them a girl student who noticed the miscalculation in this huge project which could give them bad PR. As a structural engineer, Lemessurier should have given her credit especially in such a math intensive major.
Hey man what's up from Houston Texas love the video's this is a good1!
this was really good. I enjoyed how you walked around it and got different perspective. like we were in new york on that day in december too.
precisely my intention and so happy you enjoyed it this style. There's plenty of documentaries and podcasts out there about this, but wanted to make a more casual telling of this tale. thanks for watching!
I enjoy the slower cadance it gives me a chance to process his words.
yay! that's wonderful to hear :)
That is a really, cool building. I want to go to New York so bad.. Just to experience it. I live all the way in a small Arizona town.
Thanks for sharing love ❤️
Excellent video! Well done.
I love photographing that building when I’m in that area. And I love this story you provided! I never knew. Thank god for that girl and thank god that man listened to her lol!
I’m so happy you enjoyed this story! And yes I’m so grateful for the student 🙏
@@UrbanistExploringCities more stories like these please! I’m hooked
Okay, I knew TH-cam's algorithms were good, but are they reading minds too, because I was just wondering about this building a day or so ago after seeing part of in the background of a picture for a car. I couldn't tell where the shot was taken, but wanted to know because I could only see one of its stilted legs that really had me curious about its full design. Guess you answered quite a few of my questions, so thanks for posting.
Welding vs bolting makes a massive difference. You torque down a bolt all you want it will never be as strong as a weld.
I pass the building everyday. Thanks for the video. 👏🏽
My art highschool is actually quite close to the tower, and I used to chill at the bottom all the time. Quite a nice place, loved this history lesson on it!
Speaking slow is way better and relaxing
Idk what the other fools talking about
agreed :) many people are too much in a hurry nowadays. That's why many popular vlogs are so manically edited.
he did it for the money
Yeah. For them, a TH-cam video will be disqualified if it fails to keep their mind busy.
@@flamixin tbh your right lol
@@faii1660 True. So many people either talk so slow or they keep stalling to make that 10 minute deadline. Many of these videos could be 4 minutes, but it has to be stretched. Thank Jesus Christ many other TH-camrs made videos on this.
Great video, I never thought I could be so engrossed in the history of a skyscraper to be honest
I actually like the way you speak and find it quite enjoyable. You’re quite easy on the eyes too 😁 I too have always worried about falling skyscrapers In nyc.
In NYC skyscrapers don't fall, they collapse!
19 years later people still don't know why.
I’m pretty sure i do.
tall32guy “still don’t know why”
Luckily NY never had a Skyscraper fall!!!👀
@@syissa92 Yeah 7 buildings fell that day. Also damaging the millennium Hilton!!!
@Raven De Vera Yes, but that's not what he said. 😂😂 I knew exactly what he meant but it didn't stop me from cringing and ultimately laughing at his poor wording.
Thanks for the video!
I used to come out of that building in 1980 taking the F train on weekdays. I was a student at college then and thought it was a nice and unique building. The base of the building does look different to me after all these years. Thanks for the video.
"Luckily New York City never had to experience that"....awkward silence.
Nice video!!
Thank you for watching! 😁
Awesome content. Subscribed
.....REALLY GOOD REPORTAGE......AND COOL...... THANKS ✨
This is just such a stupid design. Why even build like this - on the edge of disaster. Okay the church, but still. This is an ego gone wild in an engineering pissing match.
There’s also a lot of wasted space
The specific reason was because it is on the edge of disaster, and when you can engineer it to never fall then why not?
@@micah_lee If I were to engineer it to never fall it would be a pyramid and last 2,000 years. But I get your point.
Ikr like just don't put it on stilts simple!
I think I'll stay away from skyscrapers now.
Everyone talking about them nowadays, many have dreams to be architect
Don’t go to New York then :(
This video was very interesting thank you❤️
Did not know about this building. I'm my opinion it looks very good for its age and I love the emptiness at the bottom, it makes the whole place more interesting
Extremely nice to know but as an architecture enthusiast I’d like to know much more about exactly how the welding took place and how it worked against crosswinds. Thanks.
the engineer LeMessurier spoke at MIT in 1995 - describing the building - the video can be found on TH-cam ("the fifty-nine story crisis") - it might be found in the suggested videos to the right of this - btw - he asks the student who spoke by phone to him to call him since he didn't remember his name - the student was Lee DeCarolis - not Diane Hartley as often claimed - but he didn't learn about the issue til after LeMessurier's death
Let the guy speak how he speaks, we would never know if he is struggling with speech difficulties or not. Cut him some slack
I love engineering and have heard faster talkers tell the tale. This was like being there. (By the way just try talking calmly on any subject extemporaneously at any busy New York boulevard)
I don't know what would be more worse. Standing under that building or being at the top of it and it just happened to fall.
this is such an informative video :)
fixing it was the right thing to do but keeping the whole thing secret was not. what if it had fallen. they were just protecting themselves, not the public, by hiding that.
I'm sure there is a video somewhere explaining this better than i can, but this is the core of it: they needed the people inside the building since they acted as a "counter" to the wind.
the building wasn't going to fall at any random moment - it was going to fall during high winds (it was thought) - like in the hurricane that was coming the east coast while the reinforcement was going on - but the Red Cross and City had planned to evacuate the building and surrounding buildings should it strike - of course - it veered off
however - it may not have - recent reanalysis using modern technology has shown that the quartering wind loads were not the threat that LeMessurier had determined - maybe there was never a risk of imminent collapse
Very impressed that this was all done in one take- Bravo!
Great video!