Building Collapse in Downtown Cincy

I was surprised not to see this be a topic of conversation.

As of right now, they're bringing in heavy machines to chip away at the now hardened concrete that fell from the floor above. They're doing this in hope of finding a worker who is still unaccounted for.

It's been a incredible (although an awful event) effort to watch from afar. At the height of the operation yesterday, CFD had over 100 firefighters working in unison to try to rescue the worker.

I am hoping and praying they are able to find the worker and bring closure for the family before the holiday, but it will still be an awful holiday for them. Someones relative went to work to provide for those they care about and never made it home... gut wrenching.

WLWT had live footage yesterday on Facebook either from an adjacent rooftop or maybe a helicopter. I watched for a little bit. It looked like the crews were doing some frantic digging through the (then) wet concrete, so I was concerned that they were trying to find someone...really, REALLY sad.

The building is at the corner of 4th and Race Streets downtown, and is a development initiated by 3CDC, who is behind the renaissance taking place in Over The Rhine. They chose Cushman & Wakefield to develop the property. Turner construction is the general contractor, Baker Concrete is the concrete "prime contract", and Baker had Gateway Concrete Forming working as a second tier subcontractor to them. The employee they're hoping to recover from the concrete is an employee of Gateway Concrete Forming, who would have been erecting and wrecking the concrete forms and shoring.

Baker was apparently pouring the structural slab for the 7th floor of the building yesterday, and something caused a collapse in the formwork, injuring the four workers that ChickenWyngz mentioned, and assumedly killing the other worker.

I know numerous people with all of the companies. I've worked on, and been in charge of similar projects. Scary stuff to think of what can happen if something goes wrong. I have two men from one of my jobsites who are spending the remainder of their lives in wheelchairs after trying to improperly offload a truck with an undersized piece of equipment. I think about those two guys most days of my own life. Tough thinking about what's going through the heads of the people in charge here, and the folks involved who are undoubtedly questioning whether they were the ones who did something wrong to cause this.

Just a few blocks away from my office and around the corner from where my girlfriend works. She was sending me photos of all the emergency vehicles on the streets outside yesterday. Just awful.

Could that Crain tower have had something to do with the collapse?

I can’t help but to wonder what does this now mean for the integrity of the structure? Certainly it’s going to be a huge deal to try to fix what has been damaged, and I wonder how this might affect the whole project. Were there more floors to be added, and if so could the strength of the building be compromised?

I’ve not a clue about all that goes into building structures, much less what might go into repairing this type of damage, but I have to believe that going forward there’s going to have to be some highly trained authorities on such matters putting their heads together to make sure that this will not be project failure for years to come.

I can’t help but to wonder what does this now mean for the integrity of the structure? Certainly it’s going to be a huge deal to try to fix what has been damaged, and I wonder how this might affect the whole project. Were there more floors to be added, and if so could the strength of the building be compromised?

 

I’ve not a clue about all that goes into building structures, much less what might go into repairing this type of damage, but I have to believe that going forward there’s going to have to be some highly trained authorities on such matters putting their heads together to make sure that this will not be project failure for years to come.

It's tough telling exactly how many stories the building is intended to be based from this rendering, but by my count it's intended to be at least 12. They were pouring the slab for the 7th floor when the collapse occurred yesterday.

There will be plenty, PLENTY of forensic structural studies done on the existing completed structure and what damage has or may have occurred. You're right, though, the individuals involved in the follow up to this accident are going to be very VERY highly trained and the work will be extensive and time consuming before they're given the go-ahead to repair what needs repairing and continue with the construction. This is going to be a multi-multi-million dollar accident, beyond whatever settlements take place with the injured workers and the family of the worker who is assumed deceased.

I can’t help but to wonder what does this now mean for the integrity of the structure? Certainly it’s going to be a huge deal to try to fix what has been damaged, and I wonder how this might affect the whole project. Were there more floors to be added, and if so could the strength of the building be compromised?

It's tough telling exactly how many stories the building is intended to be based from this rendering, but by my count it's intended to be at least 12. They were pouring the slab for the 7th floor when the collapse occurred yesterday.

A reporter from channel 12 this morning said that the structure was supposed to be 14 stories tall when completed. So, a lot more is (was?) to be built on top of where the collapse occurred.

Could that Crain tower have had something to do with the collapse?

The reports I have read (which I realize are all "initial" at this phase) all said that the authorities reported that the crane was not involved in the accident, although I'm sure they were using it to bring some material and equipment up to the 7th floor. I'm assuming they were pumping up the actual concrete to the work area - nowdays they can pump concrete up well over a thousand feet, vertically.

I've worked on a small handful of projects that involve tower cranes, and only one that had a tower crane designed into the footprint and requiring "infill" of the slabs after the fact once the crane has been removed. The crane is anchored into a GIANT concrete footing that is left in place permanently and covered over once the project is complete, and the structure of cranes like the one in the pictures from this jobsite is completely independent of the building itself. Once they finish everything, they remove the crane, put in concrete forms in the opening that was occupied by the crane, pour new concrete slab, wreck out the forms, and its as if it was never there.