For a little more background on this event, look into the collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel in NOLA. Main difference is the Hard Rock site was under construction and not occupied. That shut down a large area of the city and recovery of the victims took months. Lots of folks were pissed about the process to make the site safe. It was a very grim story.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
For a little more background on this event, look into the collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel in NOLA. Main difference is the Hard Rock site was under construction and not occupied. That shut down a large area of the city and recovery of the victims took months. Lots of folks were pissed about the process to make the site safe. It was a very grim story.

I almost forgot about the Hard Rock. I remember there was a body exposed and visible from the street. They had to use a tarp to cover the body until they could be removed. I just read an article that said it took 10 months to recover the last body. The Hard Rock collapse looked small compared to Miami.

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I just read an article that said it took 10 months to recover the last body.

If you want to know how screwed you are when it comes time to rely on the government there you have it.

Just imagine how screwed you'll be in a wide spread event like an earthquake. Better hope you have regular folks in your area that will step up if if that time ever comes.

In this case, you have 12 stories and millions of pounds of concrete, steel and miscellaneous furnishings right above the rescuers, and it could come down at any moment, killing everyone working to get into the rubble.

That more than anything else is holding back heavy equipment and moving anything without determining what the potential is for causing more problems is going on.

As far as the heavy equipment goes there are a lot of rules on using it. Most of the movement of debris is done by hand to keep the pile stable. They do use cranes along with heavy rigging technicians who have specialized training. The reason body recoveries take so long is that once people are no longer rescuable the teams take a lot less risk.

I have no words.

Wow seeing that drone video was an eye opener on just what
conditions faces the rescued and rescuer .

The rest of the building was brought down at 10:30 last night. The company that did it got $935,000. I can’t imagine what their insurance costs are. Link

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
The rest of the building was brought down at 10:30 last night. The company that did it got $935,000. I can’t imagine what their insurance costs are. Link

Quote from the linked AP News article:

"State officials said they hired the BG Group, a general contractor based in Delray Beach, Florida, to lead the demolition. They did not immediately respond to an inquiry about how the firm was selected, but a contract for the project calls for the state to pay the company $935,000.

A spokesperson for the state’s Division of Emergency Management said the company subcontracted with Maryland-based Controlled Demolition Inc., which experts say is among only a handful of companies in the U.S. that demolishes structures using explosives."


Sooo, why subcontract the demolition? Is C.D.I. not licensed to operate in FL? Would FL law required specific licensing, or that a company be located in FL to get the contract? Is a GC required for such a demolition project? Is it somehow related to contractual requirements for Union labor? Safety/Insurance reasons? C.D.I will only do the actual demolition work and requires somebody else manage the site safety responsibility?

Seems to add unnecessary cost to the job, but hey, it government money...

The photos all show equipment belonging to Alpha. I have worked with them on bank building and vault demos in Florida. They certainly have the ability to get through concrete and steel without disturbing things that shouldn't be disturbed.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
The rest of the building was brought down at 10:30 last night.

Dumb question but what happened to all the personal property inside the building. Lets say you lived on the side of the building which did not collapse. Im assuming you were only given time to grab what you can carry out in one trip and not allowed to reenter. You basically lost everything you own!

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:

Sooo, why subcontract the demolition? Is C.D.I. not licensed to operate in FL? Would FL law required specific licensing, or that a company be located in FL to get the contract? Is a GC required for such a demolition project? Is it somehow related to contractual requirements for Union labor? Safety/Insurance reasons? C.D.I will only do the actual demolition work and requires somebody else manage the site safety responsibility?

Seems to add unnecessary cost to the job, but hey, it government money...

Maybe CDI for the knowledge and experience and BG Group for the grunt work? But really, who cares?

^^^Well, 'IF' it's unnecessary, and adds $100K+ to the cost (at taxpayer expense!), SOMEBODY should care! Just Sayin'...

I'd suspect that BG was hired as the FL firm and upon inspection decided that CDI was probably the better firm to handle or advise on the demolition.

It worked, they brought it down safely and quickly, pretty amazing getting it done that fast.

Kudos to both...

The reason likely has to do with Florida procurement regulations.

The reason for CDI is they have more experience imploding partially collapsed, structurally unsound buildings than any other firm. They did dozens of buildings in Mexico City following an earthquake, and IIRC they did the fed.gov building in Oklahoma City, plus others around the world.

quote:

Originally posted by gpbst3:
Dumb question but what happened to all the personal property inside the building. Lets say you lived on the side of the building which did not collapse. Im assuming you were only given time to grab what you can carry out in one trip and not allowed to reenter. You basically lost everything you own!

Unlikely anyone was allowed back inside due to the risk. Yes, they lost everything, and this is why we have insurance. Had it been a fire it could have been a total loss as well.

Question from me is how the insurance policies will pay - individual unit polices vs. overall building coverage vs. any findings of negligence or fault on the part of those managing the building, etc. Hopefully the residents are made whole quickly so they can move on to a new residence, and then the insurance companies can argue about it and sue each other over the next few years.

The unit owners personal insurance will cover their personal property and any internal fixtures (thing cabinetry, appliances, etc.). The general rule of thumb is that the personal policy covers anything inside the paper on the sheetrock. In a rebuild they'd pay to repair/replace. Here they'll probably just get a check. The Condo corporation's policy will cover the cost of the structure and systems (basically anything outside and including the paper on the sheetrock.) In a total loss situation like this, they'll have to be some agreement on how to divvy that up among the unit owners.

quote:

Originally posted by Lefty Sig:

quote:

Originally posted by gpbst3:
Dumb question but what happened to all the personal property inside the building. Lets say you lived on the side of the building which did not collapse. Im assuming you were only given time to grab what you can carry out in one trip and not allowed to reenter. You basically lost everything you own!

Unlikely anyone was allowed back inside due to the risk. Yes, they lost everything, and this is why we have insurance. Had it been a fire it could have been a total loss as well.

Question from me is how the insurance policies will pay - individual unit polices vs. overall building coverage vs. any findings of negligence or fault on the part of those managing the building, etc. Hopefully the residents are made whole quickly so they can move on to a new residence, and then the insurance companies can argue about it and sue each other over the next few years.

Yeah it was a big cost to bring the rest of the building down but you have to figure the amount of care and expertise that would be required in this very specific circumstance. This isn't a vacant building that is structurally sound and needs to be taken down. That and if they are assuming that there are still people alive on the other side that need to be found. The amount of precision to keep the building from falling on the area that needs to be searched.

Now take that and figure how much it would cost if the state cheaped out and something went wrong.

quote:

Originally posted by ryan81986:
Yeah it was a big cost to bring the rest of the building down but you have to figure the amount of care and expertise that would be required in this very specific circumstance. This isn't a vacant building that is structurally sound and needs to be taken down. That and if they are assuming that there are still people alive on the other side that need to be found. The amount of precision to keep the building from falling on the area that needs to be searched.

Now take that and figure how much it would cost if the state cheaped out and something went wrong.

I agree with this. Like the story of the retired fellow that billed $1 for banging a spot with a hammer and $999,999 for knowing where to hang to fix the machine nobody else knew how to fix.

Kudos for them (politicians) doing it right.