Some of the concrete columns were cracked. The parking garage was frequently flooded with corrosive saltwater. And the roof was undergoing repairs, with crews pounding on the tower from above for weeks. Officials don’t yet know whether any — or all — of those factors caused a Florida beachside condominium tower to suddenly collapse Thursday morning. But experts are closely examining a 2018 report that identified numerous issues with the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside, including “major structural damage” to a concrete structural slab below its pool deck that needed to be extensively repaired. “Failure to replace waterproofing in the near future will cause the extent of the concrete deterioration to expand exponentially,” said the report from the Morabito Consultants engineering firm. The situation is a “major error” dating to the building’s original construction, according to the report, which was released with other documents late Friday by Surfside officials. The report also uncovered “abundant cracking” and other faults in concrete columns, beams and walls in the parking garage. Some of the damage was minor, while other columns had exposed and deteriorating rebar. It wasn’t immediately clear from the documents whether this issue or others identified in the report were ever dealt with, or had any role in the building collapse. Frank Morabito, the firm’s president, did not immediately respond Saturday to an email seeking comment. The building was in the midst of its 40-year recertification process, which requires detailed structural and electrical inspections. In an interview Friday, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said he wasn’t sure if the inspection had been completed, but he said it may contain vital clues. “It should have been a very straightforward thing,” Burkett said. “Buildings in America do not just fall down like this. There is a reason. We need to find out what that reason is.” The 12-story tower’s collapse has left at least four people dead and 159 people missing, as of Friday, and numerous questions about how this could have happened — and whether other similar buildings are in danger. Details of the Champlain Towers recertification inspection will be made public once they are completed, Surfside Town Clerk Sandra McCready said in an email. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at a news conference Friday that she has seen no evidence of a sinkhole — much more common in other parts of Florida — or of something criminal, such as a bomb. “I can tell you that at this time, they haven’t found any evidence of foul play,” she said. Beyond that, much focus is on ocean water, which is rising in South Florida and elsewhere because of climate change. Last year, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a measure that would require developers to complete sea-level rise studies before beginning publicly funded projects. Like everyone else, the governor wants answers about the cause of the collapse as soon as possible. “We need a definitive answer for how this might have happened,” DeSantis said at a news conference. “It really is a unique type of tragedy to have, in the middle of the night, half a building just collapse like that.” Meanwhile, the land on which Champlain Towers sits has been gradually sinking, according to a study published last year by an environmental professor at Florida International University. But the […]

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