there's no way in hell any competent engineer (working for the building's developer or the city's BBI) would approve a deficient foundation for a 54 floor building in an earthquake zone.

From Forbes article...

Supervisor Aaron Peskin discovered documents dated February 2009 where the chief building inspector wrote to the engineering firm about unexpected settlement. The firm replied the settlement was at 8.3 inches but was still safe. The inspector believed the situation was under control.

City attorney Dennis Herrera subpoenaed the developer as part of the city’s investigation.

Meanwhile, Millennium Partners insisted the foundation was fine and up to the city’s building code. It said nearby construction at the Transbay Transit Center, which included pumping out groundwater, led to softening and compressing the soil.

The TJPA said the developer should have used end-bearing piles that would have reached to bedrock instead of resting on over 900 friction piles driven into dense mud. Millennium Partners shot back, saying the tower is not the only site to be built above dense sand. The firm said the Embarcadero Center and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art have similar foundations.

 

Somebody at the SFBBI really fumbled the ball on this one.

City government agencies like the SFBBI may have some kind of immunity against being sued for professional negligence. However if I were the attorney representing the owners in that ill-fated building, I'd drag the city's engineers into the fray.

 

A few weeks ago, 4 houses in my city literally crumbled to the ground after the dugout for a building that was being constructed just millimeters away from their boundary walls gave way and the ground slid from under them. Two people were killed in the incident. They both were inside the same house trying to salvage personal stuff before being forcibly evacuated. One of them was in the second floor, and the other in the first floor. Ironically, the one that was in the first floor survived and the other one did not. That's because the entire house toppled and fell upside down into the hole when it finally came down.

​

Four more houses have been demolished after further evaluation. And another four are being watched closely... this event is going to be a nightmare for the construction company...

 

A municipal agency/engineers have all the time and resources they need to enforce accepted engineering principles. Especially on known unstable ground/region. Even if resources are short....the builder can be required to complete needed studies.

Sounds like a perfect opportunity for political influence and maybe personal compensation in an indirect way.....seems to be popular now.

OR maybe we're putting out engineers who are good computer simulators....but don't understand the fundamentals. I wonder if the simulator allowed that design......or had to be in a different frame. Maybe the engineer equated that depth with bedrock......and told simulator so.

No one has died......but the lawyers will reap. City engineer will probably get a promotion.

 

Hi,

Are they still renting out apartments in that building?
Now's the time to get a good deal

I saw a lot of videos on sink holes and related lately on TV. All over the world, especially in Florida where they have a whole region that is being investigated for spaces underground due to limestone deterioration.
Things fall in and dont get out.

 

Hi,

Are they still renting out apartments in that building?
Now's the time to get a good deal

I saw a lot of videos on sink holes and related lately on TV. All over the world, especially in Florida where they have a whole region that is being investigated for spaces underground due to limestone deterioration.
Things fall in and dont get out.

the Millennium Tower is a condo development and some owners are renting them out.

However, I suspect the building may not be salvageable and the owners may wind up shopping for a demolition contractor with experience in high rise implosions like the Ocean Tower in my first post..

 

the Millennium Tower is a condo development and some owners are renting them out.

However, I suspect the building may not be salvageable and the owners may wind up shopping for a demolition contractor with experience in high rise implosions like the Ocean Tower in my first post..

Hi,

Ok thanks i'll run over there tomorrow and rent one out

I was just joking though because i would be the next person after the last person to ever rent out anything in that building. I like the buildings i live in to stay, well you know, straight up and down

They are redoing a bridge in my area. Fourth one in maybe two or three years. Nice to see them being redone but wow it blocks the street route for months at a time. This one, even though small, will take about 6 months to complete so for all that time i have to use a different route. The street connects two main streets and the detour around that is like 4 miles. Another small one they did not too long ago also took a long time to complete, but that was a side street so i never used it anyway, but every time i went by there i wondered what was taking so long to finish.

 

the Millennium Tower is a condo development and some owners are renting them out.

However, I suspect the building may not be salvageable and the owners may wind up shopping for a demolition contractor with experience in high rise implosions like the Ocean Tower in my first post..

Take a look at the surroundings of Ocean Tower and compare to Millenium Towers. After you do that, you'll realize why implosion has already been ruled out - it will have to be disassembled.

 

They need one of these -

 

The 60 story One Rincon Hill Tower in S.F. also failed approval because of inadequate seismic tolerance and it was sent back to the design board several times .

The very last place I would want to be on planet earth is a 60 story tall building in San Francisco. Went through a few quakes in California and a single story is one story too tall.

On another note, here in Cleveland, Ohio on a lake they call Erie there are plans underway to attempt to place wind turbines about 10 miles offshore in the lake. Keep in mind while the lake is shallow (about 60 feet) the lake also freezes over during a cold winter. This is going to get interesting. While I keep reading nonsense about this I have yet to see anything as to an engineering plan or report. What I see is politicians praising a plan being fed by government (my tax) dollars. I still would like to see a plan?

Ron

 

The foundation for the 54 floor luxury Millennium Tower in San Francisco has settled at least 16 inches and the building is also leaning 2 inches out of plumb.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/SF-s-landmark-tower-for-rich-and-famous-is-8896563.php

The same thing happened to the brand new 32 floor Ocean Tower condo on Padre Island in Texas and it finally had to be demolished.

There haven't been any strong earthquakes since the Millennium Tower was built in 2009 and I suspect a moderately severe quake will finish it off.

The leaning tower of Pisa has been leaning for nearly 1000 years.

 

Take a look at the surroundings of Ocean Tower and compare to Millenium Towers. After you do that, you'll realize why implosion has already been ruled out - it will have to be disassembled.

It's going to be a nasty and long demolition job and it will disrupt leisure activities (like restaurants ans shopping) for months.

In the 1980s, there were about 10 demolition jobs in the financial district over a one year period and many of them were done at night to minimize the nuisance. These were 10 stories or less and used an old fashioned wrecking ball (which has been obsoleted by the hydraulic cracker). However taking down a 54 story concrete building will be a hassle and the defective piles (that don't go to rock) will probably also need to be removed.

 

However taking down a 54 story concrete building will be a hassle and the defective piles (that don't go to rock) will probably also need to be removed.

Can't those piles simply be ignored and simply be built around in the next construction?

 

Can't those piles simply be ignored and simply be built around in the next construction?

I would build a park there.

On the other hand, one engineering estimate is that the ground could support the weight of the building if 20-stories are removed.

 

Can't those piles simply be ignored and simply be built around in the next construction?

I believe there are over 200 piles and they are strategically placed around the perimeter (which extends to the sidewalk) and within the interior footprint and new piles would have to be driven between the old ones. The reinforced concrete base is also very thick (perhaps 12 feet) so holes would have to be drilled in the base.

Ironically, the building itself (from the concrete base to the roof) is fairly well designed, but it cannot be supported by the pilings. One idea is to demolish the upper 27 stories and reduce the weight of the building to about 1/2 the original weight.

 

Anyone remember that old Super Dave Osborne show? ... there was a chapter in which he hired one of his buddies, who was an ordinary carpenter, to build him a mega-resort ... and his friend says that, to make the construction solid and robust, he had placed exceptional foundation piles in it ... when asked how deep, he says "well, most people go 30 feet ... but I went down a mile and a half" .... it was hilarious

 

The leaning tower of Pisa has been leaning for nearly 1000 years.

Hi,

I think they did work on that some time ago to keep it from falling over. Dont remember what they did now.

 

Hi,

I think they did work on that some time ago to keep it from falling over. Dont remember what they did now.

A pretty good story on the history of how they tried to stabilize it over the years and what the cause for the 'lean' actually was. http://madridengineering.com/case-study-the-leaning-tower-of-pisa/

Many people don't know the Washington Monument also had problems from it's beginning due to "leaning".
https://csengineermag.com/article/w...arly-americas-very-own-leaning-tower-of-pisa/

 

A pretty good story on the history of how they tried to stabilize it over the years and what the cause for the 'lean' actually was. http://madridengineering.com/case-study-the-leaning-tower-of-pisa/

Many people don't know the Washington Monument also had problems from it's beginning due to "leaning".
https://csengineermag.com/article/w...arly-americas-very-own-leaning-tower-of-pisa/

I've read that the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Vegas had some kind of differential settling problem where the core (that contains the elevators and mechanical risers) was sinking more than the rest of the building. That was fixed by placing hydraulic jacks under the core and raising it so it was even with the other floors.

By the way, the ground under Vegas is the floor of an ancient ocean and the upper several 100 feet is mostly sediment. A severe earthquake would cause wide spread liquifaction like what happened in Mexico City.

 

Another high rise building full of structural defects:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Opal+Tower+in+Sydney+Australia

This seems to be happening all over the world. What's behind all these engineering failures?