Construction collapse threatens Saenger in NOLA

[JohnD]

Thanks to @MNicolai for the link to ENG-TIPS.com in post #19. Lots of great info even if much of it is written in Engineese.
One interesting idea put forward was this:

 

[Van]

Thanks to @MNicolai for the link to ENG-TIPS.com in post #19. Lots of great info even if much of it is written in Engineese.
One interesting idea put forward was this:

I agree with the assessment that the corridor could have acted as a 'fire break' that kept the rest of the structure from following the collapse. Despite the cheesy support structure my money is still on the idea that somebody took out a vertical strut with an impact lower on the structure.

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

I'd expect the bowing temporary jacks will get some review. Makes me wonder if they were pulled too soon.

 

[MNicolai]

They're prepping explosives to blow the cranes up in the next 24h. Intent is just to drop the cranes before they fall, and they've moved 2-4" on their own already last night. Closing gas lines, firefighters are moving peoples' cars out of the evac zone so if anything happens the fuel in their tanks doesn't catch fire, demolition specialists are dropping near the cranes in buckets to use torches to soften the support seal, and there are FAA flight restrictions in place.

The lawsuits filed also allege that documents relating to the soil and piles were "fudged".

The subs say they complained about the structural conditions but were ignored. The city says they were never informed of any complaints.

This will become a circular firing squad of blame.

 

[JohnD]

CNN and others are reporting that because of bad weather moving in over the weekend, the demolition team will be blowing up the two cranes.

Once again from the ENG_TIPS forum it seems that the first 6 floors, part of which will be parking garage, are capped in a much thicker and stronger "transfer deck" or PT transfer slab or also called the Podium Slab or deck.
From all the available images it certainly looks like that section held up well. It remains to be seen how it holds up to the blasting of the very heavy cranes.

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

The city says they were never informed of any complaints.

Official spokesperson? And no one in building department is saying anything?

Years and years of investigation and litigation and spin.

 

[MNicolai]

Who knows what credibility those statements have. Parts of NOLA's building permit dept are under federal investigation for corruption.

 

[TimMc]

The City of New Orleans (not the train in Arlo Guthrie's song) is one of the most corrupt places in the USA to deal with permits, plans, and construction. When Katrina hit 14 years ago, it was discovered that a majority of floodwater pumps that had been paid for in a bond and grant program had never been delivered or installed.

Like I said earlier, it's a wonderful city in a lot of respects but the parts that aren't.... oh well.

 

[Jay Ashworth]

WWL live coverage of the blow-down:

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It looked like a pretty sloppy job to me, bringing the crane towers down, but it also looked as if they missed the Saenger in the process.

 

[ptero]

They are reporting only a few broken windows in the Saenger and one other bldg. Looks like the theatre is ok. Good thing that crane fell and aligned with the street as it hit the ground. Other damage was said to be fairly minor - to a sewer line. They are also spinning that the crane that hung up and did not drop was expected. That’s seems like quite a ‘spin’ to me. They said they’ll go after it piece by piece from another crane.

https://www.wdsu.com/article/watch-four-angles-of-hard-rock-crane-implosion/29528352

 

[MNicolai]

The comments from the city that the rear crane dropped as expected may be a little optimistic but all things considered this is a safer situation than they had before. They're up against some steep expectations though so I understand why they wouldn't want to draw any uncertainty that they had chosen the wrong firms to execute the demo. Lot of people don't understand that there's really no way to quantify exactly how something like that is going to fall given the time crunch. There are very few firms worldwide who have any experience working under those conditions and even in spite of on-site inspections there are many assumptions that must be made.

At least it looks like both cranes can be dismantled now in a manner that doesn't risk either apparatus butcher knifing 300' in a direction. Hopefully they can get that jib assembly down pretty quickly since that appears to be a little precarious.

It was interesting watching some civil engineer on one of NOLA's local news channels try to explain that maybe the podium levels could be salvaged or deconstructed piece by piece in a "matter of weeks." No way. Nothing is salvageable. You couldn't find a structural engineer or an insurance provider who would ever sign onto preserving any of those lower levels. Even if you could, nobody would ever agree to sign a lease to occupy that building. Thankfully the mayor came on a few minutes later and asserted they would eventually implode the entire building.

I found the contract negotiations over the last few days to be particularly intriguing. Nobody would contract directly with the GC or developer and everyone needed full indemnity and payment up front.

More details emerged Saturday about the firms involved in taking the cranes down. Gov. John Bel Edwards' office said the lead contractors are D.H. Griffin Wrecking Co. of Greensboro, North Carolina, and Lemoine Disaster Recovery of Lafayette.

Controlled Demolition Inc. of Maryland is the explosives subcontractor, and the global firm Thornton Thomasetti is the engineering consulting subcontractor, according to the city.

Matthew Bloch, the governor's executive counsel, said that while the state signed the demolition contract, the $5 million cost of the demolition is being paid by the building's owners and insurers. But that contract covers only the cranes' demolition. The future of whatever parts of the crumpled building survive the cranes' fall has yet to be announced.

"Once the imminent peril of the cranes is resolved, the state will continue to work with all involved, including the city, NOFD and the State Fire Marshal, to evaluate the next steps," said Shauna Sanford, a spokeswoman for the governor.

The contract negotiations with the demolition companies appear to have been difficult. Bloch said they were ongoing as recently as Thursday — days after the companies arrived on the ground and a day before the demolition was first set to go off. The contract's effective date was Friday.

The demolition companies refused to contract directly with the building's owner and general contractor, according to Bloch.

Both the owner and the general contractor have already been slapped with several lawsuits and will likely face more as the days go by.

Sanford said it "became clear" that the demolition job couldn't happen without the state's involvement.

"However, the governor insisted that all of the costs be paid by those responsible for the construction and their insurers. Further, the building owner and contractor have been required to indemnify the state and the demolition contractors for this work," she said.

In a statement, Cantrell said the contract negotiations didn't contribute to the demolition delays.

"As we have seen, the dynamics of the situation have been fluid and evolving," she said. "My team has been involved and fully engaged in the conversation around liability and cost. We have worked around the clock to find solutions. This work has not contributed to delays or diverted from the stated priority of keeping the public safe during this trying time.”

City leaders first scheduled the controlled demolition for Friday, then canceled it. The operation was next supposed to go down on Saturday afternoon.

WWL-TV reported Saturday night that the hotel developers, a group led by Mohan Kailas, did not pay the $5 million demolition price until Saturday morning, causing the delay from Friday. The station said the demolition team required full payment in advance. A spokesman for the developers confirmed the money was paid Saturday morning but said the delays had nothing to do with the payment.

 

[Jay Ashworth]

Oops:

Worker who survived hotel collapse deported

A construction worker hurt in last month’s collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel construction site in New Orleans was deported to Honduras on Friday.

www.yahoo.com

 

[TimMc]

Oops:

Worker who survived hotel collapse deported

A construction worker hurt in last month’s collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel construction site in New Orleans was deported to Honduras on Friday.

www.yahoo.com

In my best Peter Lorry impersonation: "How very convenient".

 

[TimMc]

And the bad news continues: the bodies of 2 workers are still in the partially collapsed rubble, one of them several floors above street level.

Victims' bodies still at New Orleans Hard Rock Hotel months after collapse

Wind blows tarp off one of two bodies amid ruins of the unstable building which is to be imploded in March

www.theguardian.com

Wind recently blew away the tarp that covering the visible body parts of the lowest victim and it was photographed and circulated on social media before the NOFD eventually re-covered the remains. I guess this will be a new tourist attraction for Mardi Gras.

 

[MNicolai]

The photos online will still manage to circulate around but at least they were able to get a new tarp in place.

 

[MNicolai]

All of the bodies have been recovered.

With all 3 dead construction workers now recovered, here's what's next at the Hard Rock Hotel site

The developers of the collapsed Hard Rock Hotel construction project for months have said that the only thing stopping them from taking down the rubble at the corner of Canal

www.nola.com

Unfortunately they've missed their target demolition date a couple times now and the fractured hotel remains standing as a probable hurricane approaches the Louisiana coast. Not sure what kind of concern there is for wind load on the overall structure but at the very least it's a risk for airborne debris.

 

[Jay Ashworth]

This just crossed my desk:

Saenger Theatre - EverGreene

By the time Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and dumped 20 feet of water in the Sanger, the 4,000-seat atmospheric theater had already been modified several times, neglected, and lost its luster. But the $52M restoration and renovation of the Saenger Theatre, beginning in 2011, would...

evergreene.com