Flaws in the design
and construction of Champlain Towers South’s pool deck
exposed that portion of the building to “critically low
margins against failure,” a newly released investigation
found.
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Designs fell short of
building codes, and slab columns and fixtures had “severe”
strength deficiencies in several places at the pool deck,
according to the National Institute of Standards and
Technology’s findings.
NIST is investigating the cause of the collapse of the
Surfside condominium, which toppled in the early morning
hours of June 24, 2021, killing 98 people.
While NIST’s final report isn’t expected until May 2025, its
preliminary findings validate long-held theories about
issues at the building’s pool deck, including witness
accounts that portions of the deck toppled first. NIST said
it has spent more than $17 million on the investigation.
Investigators also
found pool deck construction deviated from both the code and
original designs, a summary of the findings says. Slab
reinforcements were placed two inches deep into the concrete
slabs, more than the three-quarter-inch depth as designed.
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The vacant site of the Surfside collapse
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Issues were exacerbated when heavy
planters were added to the north side of the pool deck,
creating cracks and structural distress.
In a summary of its findings, a page
titled “physical manifestations of structural distress”
points to a planter box and a cracked planter wall atop a
“sagging slab.”
