Warning Signs: Huge Cracks Days Before Miami Condo Collapse Champlain Towers

[@CoreyChambersLA]

Screaming is correct. There were countless warning signs years before, months before, days before and again minutes before the collapse.

[@jeffostroff]

Hopefully people will pay better attention going forward when they see damage at their building

[@garyrosie9475]

That's why it was empty and demo'ed.

[@Lmzip2]

Wow, I am blown away with this. All these serious signs were basically ignored and/or minimized. This is so heartbreaking since we all know the final result. Great detective work! Bringing these issues to light educates and empowers many people to question all warning signs that would otherwise not be acted upon. Plus, bringing attention to the concerns of simply adding weight from various remodeling projects. This is powerful information for prevention.

[@virginiaviola5097]

Knowing how the building came down, I find it incredibly hard to believe that a structural engineer wouldn’t have looked at that planter and the way the crack ran the length and it was so bleedingly obvious that the wall had dropped, moved and separated from the deck? Surely someone could have seen that and thought ‘gee, if this is happening here, I wonder what happening underneath?”. Engineers should have known that, and the building should have been evacuated. Similar happened in new apartment buildings in Sydney Australia, although the buildings were evacuated and emergency work commenced, before they were able to collapse. Just Just goes to show you that innocent people pay with their lives when the people whose expertise they rely on either don’t know how to, or are to lazy, cheap, to do their jobs properly.

[@mikelemoine4267]

It really looks like the building was trying to warn them for so long until it just didn't have the strength to keep standing. If only someone had paid more attention and taken action in time like they did in Sydney....

[@MajorCaliber]

For being such *oblivious morons,* Structural Engineers Morabito Associates (or their insurance company) ended up paying $16M into the total lawsuit "pot"... will anyone else be silly enough to hire them????

[@TWLogik]

No, I blve it. B4 a major disaster like this or a bridge or road collapse there is always signs. But what I notice anywhere is that ego is normally involved and businesses are hardly ever proactive. They pay people to manage the status quo. That's why when something major happens people runaround clueless and don't know what to do. And this engineer probably felt this novice is telling him what the problems are. Who is he to do that? And just went about his business. You see this in business all the time too. Where a person's opinion or insight is automaticalky discredited bcse their new or the experienced person assumes they don't know anything.

[@michellem7300]

That's true but another problem was that the tenants didn't want to pay out of pocket for all of the repairs. I think they were arguing back and forth with the HOA and the tenants couldnt come up with any kind of agreement.

[@charisma-hornum-fries]

We don’t know if engineers knew about it. I can’t imagine that no one knew at all.

[@moderncranerigginginc9181]

I was there. I worked that job for a couple weeks. this is the first time I've seen anything about it since it happened. and I was fine until the video was 3/4 the way through. then I wanted to throw up. because I could smell it again. and the last wall still standing, idk, 4 ft high before the beach.... I found someone's paperback lord of the rings book. on top of a bed sheet, on top of concrete. I dug a child's yellow rubber ducky out of thr sand. and I didn't have the heart to throw it away. so I still have it. this was one of the worst experiences of my life. I made friends with one of the cadaver dogs though. he didn't know how sad the jobsite was for some of us. he just wanted to play. for some people though it was just another job. it emotionally destroyed me though. I have some pictures, even though I risked immediate termination to take them. but I didn't want to be there anyway

[@jeffostroff]

Would love to see some of your photos, if you want to message me on FB: facebook.com/jostroff

[@ko7302]

I am so sorry just know it was not your fault. You just were hired for a job that probably was unfixable. The building should have been demolished. Greed caused this not you I just hope you don't blame yourself.

[@aquinna]

I am so sorry for what you had to go through and the pain you're still experiencing. I don't know if it helps at all, but the horrific work you did contributes to the understanding of the cause of the collapse, and that information will save lives in the future.

[@SantaFishes101]

@@jeffostroff love your work man, but your compassion needs work in this case...

[@SV7-2100]

It's been a year and every few weeks we get something like that. Truly sickening how preventable it was

[@jeffostroff]

I'm afraid what other before photos are lurking around the corner

[@Roholi]

Jeff, you and Josh provide such valuable information and insight into this tragedy and simplify your discussions in ways that a layperson like myself can fully understand. Thank you!

[@jeffostroff]

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!

[@matt63m]

Looking at the pictures inside apartment 611, I am genuinely surprised at just how small the structural columns are. I get that the pool deck collapsed, but there are definitely design issues here as well as there is no way that the collapse of the pool deck should have led to collapse of the building. The building design should have had enough redundancy for the possibility of losing one column.

[@jeffostroff]

Yes if I remember correctly those columns were 12" by 16" which is somewhat spindly.

[@matt63m]

I see there was a further article by the Miami Herald behind their paywall about Iliana Monteagudo just a few days ago. What does that say?

[@jeffostroff]

@@matt63m It mentioned that she was expecting to get $600000 from some of the settlements that were announced in March, but in light of the new one billion dollars settlement awaiting final approval, she is asking that they give out more. She paid $600000 for her condo, and how she wants to buy a house.

[@corydalus981]

The columns look more like pipe chases. Startlingly small far a building that height.

[@Phenrex]

@@jeffostroff Isn't it believed that the columns were originally supposed to be 24 inches, but were cut for cost?

[@richardmurray9204]

I'm not a conspiracy theorist but it is very strange that the security footage hasn't been released and that they failed to get the security system out before they demolished the rest of the building forever preventing the information being reviewed.

[@jeffostroff]

Yes I have banging the tables about this since day 1

[@DUBSTEP_KUSH305]

RIP to everyone that DIED My friend shamoka was the security guard there that survived in the building collapse

[@Kimbyrleigha]

So glad you came through with this information

[@jeffostroff]

Is always glad to help thanks for watching

[@devilsadvocate701]

​@@jeffostroff "god was watching out for her"? what about the other 98 people? which "god" are you referring to?... And how can you even consider that a "miracle"? seems to me that she got "lucky" because she was observant... no "god" needed.

[@jeffostroff]

@@devilsadvocate701 That day God chose to call the other 98 people home. Just like he calls thousands of people home every day. The fact that she ran to the other staircase instead of the one next to her unit Shows a divine plan. There really is no such thing as luck that's a word that non believers can talk non believers concocted because they don't want to admit there is a God in control of everything.. He chose to allow the other 98 people to remain asleep blissfully unaware of what was going on, yet she happened to wake up, And she happened to walk into the living room, and she happened to notice something was wrong with the sliding glass door and she noticed the crack on the wall, and she decided to get out of there, and she ran down the absolute correct Staircase to run down on the opposite end of the building. That was God's doing. That is our god.

[@devilsadvocate701]

@@jeffostroff I'm curious... if such a thing exists... how do you know it's the "god" you believe in?

[@devilsadvocate701]

@@jeffostroff seems like you follow the evidence... except when it comes to your "god". Keep up the good work

[@jackiesiebrass3321]

Building on sand in Florida is accidents waiting to happen..sink hole state...building condos next to ocean water you'd think it could eventually be a horrendous problem...

[@davewelch151]

Great information. I agree that M9.1 is the start of the building collapse. The reason I think is the builder not following the design for attachment of BMA to M9.1. The attachment was 11 inches deeper than it should have been. Therefore when the floor collapsed, the BMA tore 11" more out of M9.1, leaving it much weaker, holding another 7 minutes before collapsing. See drawing sheet 31, top left corner, view 'Beams Type A'. The floor had a step at the planters, BMA was supposed to follow the step, but the builder constructed the concrete shuttering straight across to M9.1, thus increasing the attachment depth by 11", with probably an increase of rebar depth. I have mentioned this before. Just reminding you because I am convinced that this build error caused the collapse.

[@maudessen573]

I’m glad the Timeline spreadsheet helps you, Jeff…that’s why I made it. And I appreciate the credit. I still maintain the spreadsheet, and will be updating it to reflect the fact that MDFR has completed an investigation to identify the woman in the garage rubble as Theresa Vasquez, who was visiting her parents in 304, rather than Valeria Barth who was with her parents in 204.

[@jeffostroff]

I was supposed to have that in the video last night but there's so much more to add to that story like the scamming that the USA Today reporter did to the firemen involved, so I was gonna wait and put it into the next video

[@pf5898]

Maud, Where do I find your updated Timeline spreadsheet. Thanks.

[@maudessen573]

@@pf5898 it’s a Google Sheet. Because KZbin won’t let me post a link, I cannot share it with you here.

[@pf5898]

@@maudessen573 Thanks for responding. There was a link to your timesheet on one of Jeff’s early videos (June-July 2021) but not finding it now.

[@abricO6]

@@jeffostroff It’s been 2 months, man

[@newcarpathia9422]

In the end, I highly doubt anyone will be able to point to a single cause. Bad design. Bad maintenance. Poor choices in renovations. Construction next door. Incompetent management.

[@jeffostroff]

Yes many cause son this one

[@newcarpathia9422]

@@jeffostroff What I wonder is whether it's even possible to pinpoint the "start." Say, some of the rebar in the retaining wall broke, but the deck holds, but that's enough to give a column the reduced lack of support necessary to initiate a punching shear. That starts happening, putting more stress on the retaining wall, etc. I have a funny feeling the final report will not have any black and white answers, the sort one can point at and go, "ah ha! It was that!"

[@clouddancerss]

Another awesome video Jeff! I couldn't wait to get home to watch it! Thank you for doing these, it is so interesting. I like Josh's channel a lot too, but you go the extra step and go back to the maps and drawings as you're talking, so we can remember how things went. I love that, it makes it all easier to visualize and understand!

[@jeffostroff]

Thank you so much I'm glad you enjoyed it and I look forward to making more of these detailed videos

[@aszthrotep4632]

you should do more videos like this, so informative, so simple and thoughtful in your reasoning and how you present it.

[@jeffostroff]

I have done several videos like these on the collapse

[@aszthrotep4632]

@@jeffostroff yes but other collapses, ive seen the bridge one and miami, love them. you should do more :)

[@Tee19691]

Maria wasn't an idiot. Maria knew the building was failing when she saw a 2 inch Crack running across her living room wall. The sound the building was making plus the shifting most likely woke her up. She is alive because she was smart, running away from her sagging building to the adjoining building stairwell. How are they allowed to build towering buildings like that in a hurricane prone area.

[@jeffostroff]

It was assumed to be a sturdy building when built, it has a large shear wall. Something went wrong on the smaller portion, now they say the shear wall for that smaller portion was too small

[@athgt6630]

How come they settled so quickly? Is it common? Seems like some people want to put this whole thing to sleep. Looking forward to your next video!

[@jeffostroff]

It is very uncommon and likely some very wise people in the insurance companies representing these Defendants knew this would be an unpopular troll for them and rather than be the bad guys they thought settling would save a lot of money just think all of that money would go to the lawyers after 10 years of litigation. This way here everybody wipes the slate clean it's finished, and nobody has to accept any blame.

[@Smart-Towel-RG-400]

@@jeffostroff from what I heard from doing research is everyone involved probly maxed out their insurance becuase they all know once the report drops it would become a 7-10 year lawsuit and they'd spend 100 million on lawyers between all the defendants and probly pay more then they settled for now.... Plus it buys good will not dragging it out even the lawyers on the victims side are not taking what lawyers normally would for a case like this the judge chased off the ambo chasing lawyers that wouldn't tried taking 30-40%

[@lindap.p.1337]

Josh’s channel Building Integrity is amazing. He is a great teacher. I have learned so much.

[@jeffostroff]

Yes, he is a smart engineer

[@billj5645]

The planter crack first shown is just south of the column at grid coordinates K and about 13.1, on your architectural plan this is the column between parking spaces 74 and 75. If you look in that area of the lobby level plan you see that the slab spans from that direction going to the south are abnormally large compared to any other slab spans on that level. In other words the span is the longest one in any of the slabs, and the slab along gridline K also has to carry the planter box. But on the plan you don't see any greater amount of reinforcing steel than in any other span on the drawings. That makes this a spot of interest with respect to where the collapse might have started- longer span plus more load without increasing reinforcing. If this longer span deflected more than other spans it could cause the slab to pull away from the underside of the planter box at this corner and cause the cracks visible in the video. If you look at the amount of deflection under the planter box, the slab deflection at mid-span of the slab would have to be much greater than it would be at the planter box near the column, this would be above the drive aisle between parking spaces 74 and 43. This would be very obvious both from the inside the garage looking up and from the pool deck looking at the slopes in the top surfaces of the pavers. This was not found or reported by anyone, so we have conflicting evidence here.

[@jeffostroff]

I believe that is the section where they were saying it was a 30' spin which is way out of control. Not only that the area of the planter is where there was a design change in the as built Drawings show that a reinforcement beam that was supposed to be under those planters was removed.

[@fixizin]

Come on now... every load of concrete and rebar NOT used for beams is more $$ in Reiber's pocket... have some sympathy for the developer... that lobby and driveway area with the massive transfer beams really put him in the hole... _rolleyes_

[@billj5645]

@@fixizin I'm very familiar with value engineering and developer games.

[@MyzelleJenkins]

Would be awesome if you could talk with Maria - that crack location I think could be a critical piece of info…and evidence… Great info!

[@jeffostroff]

That would be great Day to be able to talk to Maria

[@rufkutdiamnd]

@@jeffostroff She’s still living in Surfside in a condo I believe. She’s not in our group but several family members of others are and might have info. Also Mayor Shlomo might know her.

[@MostlyLoveOfMusic]

Maria was pure luck. Very insulting to put it down to "god"

[@jeffostroff]

There is no such thing as luck. Very insulting to thing to say that it wasn't a result of God.

[@MostlyLoveOfMusic]

@@jeffostroff you're joking, right? It's insulting because it implies that a god didn't want to intervene to save the other people, only her. Whereas the simpler explanation is that she just made a very lucky decision in our chaotic world

[@derek20la]

Was there any point to your comment other than a chance to be smug? 😑

[@jeffostroff]

@@derek20la Well God did allow other people to live that night, just not all of them.

[@derek20la]

@@jeffostroff I was replying to MostlyLoveOfMusic's sneering comment. Sorry for any confusion Jeff, I fully agree with you that God has a plan for us all.

[@teresacorrigan3076]

This is making me wonder about our old church. The abandoned house behind has collapsed so the water is coming in our basement presumably from the hole /basement hole. Our property manager will look into it. Thanks to you I knew to mention it. All those pools of water rang a bell for me.

[@jeffostroff]

Glad to help Teresa!

[@allurach1746]

Thank you mapping and illustrating the lady’s story. It would be great if you can get in touch with her. However, she’s probably sworn to secrecy for the time being by the investigators.

[@political-social]

Great video again Jeff . Thanks for sharing!

[@jeffostroff]

Thanks for watching again S G!

[@pl6035]

If the seriousness of the failing building integrity had been recognized in time (6 -12 months prior) could anything have been done to save the building from collapse?

[@jeffostroff]

Yes, shoring poles could have been installed everywhere, and a plan to add column capitals and drop panels on the ceiling where the columns meet the slab.

[@timrobinson6573]

@18:45 I can barely see your cursor. Most of the time I have no idea what you're pointing at.

[@oldpirate7434]

Sorry this had to happen, but all blame is from the beginning of the Towers were open to the all prior boards , management companies that were support to know the Condo Laws of Florida fell asleep or didn't care as long they got paid every month. Looks like prior boards may have been unable to overcome political resistance from the unit owners to raise money for maintenance which is why it's needed to do to maintain the building. May they RIP.

[@jeffostroff]

Well said!

[@sircampbell1249]

Where the Camera System Video's why are people that worked in or on that building not TALKING ?

[@jeffostroff]

I have been moaning about this since the collapse is where is the videos that they must have on this so many security cameras all around the

[@piyoweb]

I've to wonder how some of these people sleep at night knowing that hundreds of life could've been saved if they gave some serious warnings.

[@jeffostroff]

I think you'll see a lot of that change now going forward. Probably no engineer would have thought that the building was going to come down, and certainly more ruby though certainly more rubido was correct in 2018 by telling them they need to get these repairs dorepairs done or it will spread exponentially, comma but nobody can be psychic in psychic and look and see what's going on inside the joint.

[@rufkutdiamnd]

@@jeffostroff I wonder how our lawmakers can sleep at night knowing they couldn’t pass laws to effect change for all condo owners.

[@alro2434]

@@jeffostroff That 1 -2 inch gap in the patio wall is the first sign, a real sign, of serious structural changes that have affected its strength & integrity. All before this was superficial, signs of gradual deterioration and in no way 'imminent!'. The pool mech room is aesthetics, barely structural, just unsightly and a good indicator that left unchecked, the next 40 years will be more then twice as bad.

[@Mmullis0001]

I really wish they would release more footage of the actual collapse. Do you think that will ever happen?

[@jeffostroff]

Somebody somewhere has it and at this point in time there's no need for them to be holding onto it and not give it out to the public to see

[@Wild1995]

Wow, you put so much work into this. Incredible

[@jeffostroff]

Thank you very much!

[@ajtony1313]

Jeff, Thank you for another well done informative video. I placed an icon on my desktop that links me to your playlists site, and I usually click on it once a day in anticipation that you have added a new video about Champlain Towers, or other engineering fails. Your presentation skills are top notch.

[@jeffostroff]

Awesome glad you came back for more

[@trevorstewart8]

Jeff around 12.55 you talk about the weight of water causing deflection, but I think it more likely that the concrete being constantly wet would cause the rebar to spawl with rust. People forget the concrete itself is not waterproof, especially with pooled water which can seep by osmosis down to the rebar. Flexing is not the problem, osmosis is. The salts in the concrete are what forms the stalactites from the water ingress flowing through by osmosis. I'm a retired plumber with knowledge of water pathways on roofing and flashings, and I can tell you that Osmosis and Capillary attraction are both very poorly understood vulnerabilities of buildings and can power water travel for many, many meters to an unexpected exit.

[@jeffostroff]

Yes without a doubt in many places we know that moisture got in and caused spalling for sure. There's a whole lot of bad things happening at once here that all came together as one big perfect storm

[@s.masson8263]

Also. the trash can left a rust stain; indication of standing water in uneven surface of eventually collapsed pool deck.

[@jeffostroff]

Yes, that should have been inside an enclosure

[@williammcbrayer3277]

It's visible in just about every view Jeff showed - the pool deck view facing the building, the 360 view from 611, the pics of the planter crack, and so on. Certainly, all those pics could have been taken at about the same time, but it would be interesting to see how far back in time it does go.

[@rufkutdiamnd]

You will also note that the H beam that was supposed to be where that planter and parking spot 76 was missing and not seen in the collapse. Look at the original collapse photos.

[@jeffostroff]

That was covered months ago by one of the other channels building integrity, where they showed that sometimes the as built drawings can be different than the submitted design drawings and somewhere along the line that beam was removed.

[@rufkutdiamnd]

@@jeffostroff And that’s why that particular area was weak. Between the vibration from 87 park, the leaks, the weight of the wet sand and planters it creates the perfect storm.

[@Halloween111]

All the warning signs, going back for a few years, say this building was screaming long before it fell.

[@Alan_Watkin]

well done Jeff, yeah that Maria is one lucky lady, im not much of a religious man but her escape is so much more than lucky, it has to be down to seconds, i can never find my keys, so im guessing i'd have failed that test, thanks for revisiting this, i find it really interesting, but for all entertainment of the investigation of this story, its also important we dont lose sight of the loss of life, in many cases probs dying in there beds, i loved watching these but it is sad story really,,,,, thanks Jeff good work

[@jeffostroff]

Thanks and yes lol I am the same way as you I would be dead trying to find my keys you'll find my arms sticking up out of the rubble holding the keys in hand

[@gtaelement137]

Hello 👋 thank you so much for the update. I can't believe it seems long time the condo need a lot of work

[@jeffostroff]

I see condos get neglected like you would not believe. I have had 2 condos that I sold take over 6 months to sell just because of the property condition

[@erika8627]

Wow, this is so fascinating. On that ring camera though, wasn't the wall in the kitchen bowing and collapsing, making it more likely that Maria's wall was cracking on the other side? Meaning, looking into her window, not out of it, the wall issue would have been actually on the left? Just a thought. Thank you for the analysis! You and Josh have the best videos!

[@jeffostroff]

Any of the scenarios could be true yes

[@machtschnell7452]

The incompetence is just mind numbing.

[@jeffostroff]

It's easy to say that in hindsight, but before this the paradigm was that nobody would have ever expected a building to collapse including engineers unless you see a smoking gun. Now that we know things like this hopefully they will learn from this and pay more attention when they see large cracks develop

[@toddhupp]

Maria has a major guardian angel for sure

[@SleepingZombies]

Hey Jeff, just a tip you can right click to open a web image in a separate tab which let's you access the highest resolution version. Often times what you see on the page is just a low res "preview" of the actual photo. Still depends on the quality of the image they uploaded to the page, but opening it in a separate tab will allow you to see the most detail for your analysis

[@jeffostroff]

Yeah I find many of these articles that's the original size of the picture which is a bummer

[@neuropilot7310]

@@jeffostroff Sometimes you can adjust the URL to get a higher res version. A significant number of news websites use an image CDN and/or WordPress VIP. If you reply, I'll check specific articles if you'd like.

[@Johnysmithapple]

So grateful for your continued coverage of this!

[@jeffostroff]

Thanks for your continued watching John!

[@vinnylenci7311]

You've been doing great job on this next month June 24 will be one year memorable things to me have happened on my birthday! thanks Jeff! such a tragedy to those who have been personally affected 😢 family first responders and neighbors

[@jeffostroff]

Thanks Vinny yes and jaequally it's bad for one of my friends whose birthday is Sept 11

[@dennisnifong9086]

Your theory makes sense. It collapsed at night as things would have contracted.

[@jeffostroff]

Yes and next Friday is the one year anniversary of the collapse

[@ABSOLUTfiftytwo]

I just wanted to take a moment to tell you how amazing you are! I can’t thank you enough for your detailed and educational videos you have presented. The Marriott Video was amazing 😮You would think that EVERY Property up and down that beach should be immediately inspected and repaired at once and brought up to current code! You would think that they would have learned from the Champlain tragedy? I thank you!

[@wranther]

Great and very interesting video Jeff! At about 12:00 +/- in the video you are discussing the addition of a "reinforced sand trap" with its designed water retention factors not including drainage away from under the tiled deck. Is that a typical design feature incorporated into building design down in your area? Perhaps a broader question involves how widespread is the inattention to drainage details in your area? Thanks in advance! -Bob...

[@jeffostroff]

In attention to drainage is everywhere down here background I don't even think builders knew anything about water run off. I owned one condo on the 1st floor where the slab actually sloped inward towards the unit and it flooded every time it rained warm when the sprinklers came on. It is sure stupidity down here

[@johncoil1418]

Jeff, I know that Josh commented that the top of the wall was concrete, but I don't believe that is the case. It doesn't make sense that one would go to the expense of forming and casting concrete for the top foot of a planter wall. To me the real question is - was the weight of the planter accounted for in the original design?? Also it appears from the limited testing that the pool deck was covered with an additional layer of paving tiles or "stampcrete" without removing the original paving. These added loads could be the explanation for the failure. Anyway I enjoy your presentations, keep up the good work. A retired consulting structural engineer from California.

[@jeffostroff]

In house building when we do concrete blocks for the walls of the house, the top 12" or so are usually poured concrete all the way around they call it a tie beam. It's not unusual to To do the same thing with the planter as well.

[@MajorCaliber]

@@jeffostroff Seems like overkill for a planter box, not to mention SO HEAVY. #BlameSergioBreiterman #BlameReiber

[@Piccodon]

A generally piss poor building design by criminals trying to save 5 dollars. The "pool deck" is a misnomer, it should be called "garage roof". The sister buildings should be evacuated until reinforcements are done. The garage roof should be separated from the rest of the building. Added columns or complete support walls. 40 years of added loads and aging concrete points to the next disaster.

[@2kiona]

That's an astounding amount of water ceiling damage above column 76. You can see how the water ran down that column. And is that paint that's dripping down from the ceiling? That's a very large area of "paint damage", it even continues off the photo on the right, looking at it, so I don't know how anyone could see that stuff and not be totally freaked out.

[@mykofreder1682]

They don't show the slab underneath the sink in the garage. Probably would have shown the concrete resting on garage columns, holding up the pool side of the whole building, was punch through failing around 1 or more columns. The tolerances were so tight and damage was on multiple columns, 1 column punches through, shortly after a couple others join the punch through, the corner where it started is no longer supported, close tolerances on loading meant the remaining columns buckled. Started with punch through on several of the worst columns around where the crack was, that overstressed the design.

[@kneel1]

god there were a lot of nice condos that were in that building. Unreal

[@jeffostroff]

Yes the building looked a little aged on the outside but inside those remodels what some people did was absolutely gorgeous

[@creamdelacreme]

Very detailed analysis and helpful in understanding all of the details. I wonder why God was only watching over one woman that night and not the hundreds of others that died?

[@jeffostroff]

God was watching over all of them that night he decides who he's calling home and who stays behind. He was also watching over millions of other people that night around the world and some people he saved and others he allowed to be called home

[@leahacosta2908]

I’m so intrigued with your videos and your findings!! Thank you 🙏

[@jeffostroff]

Thank you Leah!

[@deepthoughtswithjessica]

Saying God was looking out for her indicates everyone else was abandoned by God in those moments. I do not subscribe to that logic. That is why God has the worst fanbase.

[@youtbe999]

The fact that Maria's front door was able to open at all, she is very lucky.

[@jeffostroff]

Yes great point!

[@maryjennings228]

Thanks Jeff. I like your videos and information. Peace🌎💞

[@jeffostroff]

Thank you Miriam glad you like my videos

[@Garth2011]

In hindsight, she escaped the best pathway because had she used those stairs nearest her front door, she'd still be in the structure that fell first until she got to the first floor and then still had to get to the lobby area. The way she went took her away from the structure that fell sooner even though she still had to get down those stairs on the other side of the sheer wall which was safer as well. The condo construction to the south had nothing to do with this CTS concern. My non professional opinion however, anytime you have lawyers, a whole bunch of them, suing everyone in sight for opportunities to get a settlement, most of them pay vs fight due to economic reasons. I'd fully blame the HOA, the board members, their attorney, the residents for opposing needed repairs for decades, the construction/contractors who messed with the design of the pool deck over the years and Morabito for not being astute enough when it came to the definition of "immediately" in his reports. I also put blame on the city guy who was at the board meeting with the residents who showed up and made the statement the building was "safe". BTW, no one is talking about him and where he went to. Bottom line is, the board should have been charging more for HOA monthly dues once they knew there were structures concerns a few years back. Even though the residents vote was no, the board should have simply told them they are highly mistaken to refuse to maintain the structure and raised the months fees. Had they, the work would have been in play by a good three years worth. If there is any criminal activity here, I'd have to place most of that on those who voted no on spending for repairs. I wonder if those who were doing the roofing and HVAC maintenance got paid...

[@jeffostroff]

Yes I was concerned that the homeowners association would try to use the fact that the city official told them the building was in great shape, And use that is their defense

[@ZiggyTheHamster]

You would think that there would be some law that would make "immediate major structural repairs required" non-optional, so it wouldn't matter if the residents voted it down or not. You fix it or the building is condemned and everyone has to leave. There's plenty of blame to go around. One positive thing I guess is that more average people now know that their instinct of "this doesn't seem right" is founded in reality. Like, "the ceiling of the garage is leaking, so we installed some plastic sheets so it doesn't stain cars" is a red flag.

[@Garth2011]

@@jeffostroff Very true plus, don't forget the HOA had previous inspections of the building that had warning signs. That is when residents were voting no for increased dues and under different board members. Just because board members got voted on doesn't mean they know the job !

[@Roholi]

So my understand with condos, having owned one, is that every unit owner owns a share of the building and whenever significant money is to be spent or HOA fees are to be increased, it requires the majority consent of the owners/shareholders. The HOA boards don’t have the ability to override a majority of the owners. In this case, many of the owners were absentee landlords who rented out their units for maximum profit. They had no motivation to pay higher HOA fees because that meant less dollars made on their investment therefore they would have surely been no votes, all the time.

[@Garth2011]

@@Roholi All true however, one power the HOA board has over the share owners is, direct property assessments. That is an override option the HOA can take to move forward with needed repairs and maintenance. This is actually what happened to those share owners just before it failed. They all got property assessments in high numbers, into the tens of thousands, or so and were given I believe three options to pay. This is what usually happens to an HOA that isn't run correctly and hasn't got the reserves built for future known maintenance such as new roofing, sewers or other expenses that can be rather expensive and with improper monthly dues in place to build their reserves, they have no choice except to assess each unit. This is part of the CC&R's, monthly board meeting minutes and one other set of documents that are given to the next buyer to review during their time periods to satisfy, usually 17 days or so from escrow opening. Most folks don't read them and those who do have no idea what is normal or abnormal when it comes to the health of the reserves, the HOA and so forth but its all there in the meetings documentation if folks would look at them. So, if all is in good health the buyer would consider the HOA worthy and if there were a lot of evidence of past or pending direct assessments, that would fall on the buyer if they closed before the assessments went out. Even if not, the buyer gets a good idea of how well the HOA is doing with their share owners and responsibilities with collecting enough dues to maintain the common areas and HOA. So, no the share owners cannot continue to vote no because of their profit minded spirit as landlords as there will be a time that the reserves are not big enough to take on legitimate maintenance etc. as the final say from the HOA is a direct assessment to all owners. CTS HOA was in that stage earlier that year it fell down. Folks, most of them, think they can control the HOA board, not so. Many folks believe the HOA and each condo owner have equal say...not true. Rental or not, it was less money for all in their minds but what it really is in reality, delayed special assessments if they continue to say no to higher HOA dues. It's more complicated because the "reserves" have to meet a minimum each year based on more facts and figures required by law and if they aren't in sync with minimum requirements the HOA can get into some legal troubles for mismanaging etc.

[@ado3616]

At 16:43 in your video -- check out the tile pavers in the spot by the trash can -- is this evidence of what you are saying -- massive sag before punching sheer -- or is it lens distortion?

[@jeffostroff]

It is not likely a length distortion so what is either the sagging Concrete deck below the pavers, or it is simply the pavers sloped on the sand to direct the water like they should be. So we normally want to get down to the concrete slow up to investigate

[@ryantorchia3202]

Looking at the Google Earth images from 11/2019, or at 17:30 in this video, what are the dark yellow/orange discolored spots that appear in a row across the middle of the deck, about half-way between the planters and the lounge chairs? There also seems to be stained line partially between the spots, and then running diagonally from the leftmost dot to the walkway between the There's another row of them running about 3-4 feet north of the pool, and a second diagonal line leading from them to the same walkway. They can also be seen in the 1/2021 image, but the historical images lack the resolution to see them. If they're not clear in that video, they're very clear in Google Earth.

[@chrisperrien7055]

IMO, the slab fractured first right where that crack behind the garbage can is. It was cause by water intrusion, the weight of that planter and the parking of cars on the back side ( variable active heavy loading over 40 years) , And when that slab area fell, it pulled on the adjacent thinner columns, fracturing them- where Jeff says the building collapse started (because of those thin columns being over-stressed already , from planter weights and along with added weight of remods in the building , and the fact those columns were also damaged by water intrusion causing concrete/rebar degradation/rust as well.

[@jeffostroff]

One other thing Chris that is the area where there was 30 foot spacing between a few columns, some say that is too much

[@chrisperrien7055]

@@jeffostroff Yes, there was some "odd" column spacing below that slab/area of the pool-parking deck. Your "friend" LOL Joe Pesci over at "Construction Engineering" notes the angles between some of the columns in that area , are "out of code" and he is right about that. I have also mentioned that behind that planter , the closest parking space , was often taken up by an over-sized van/minibus , it shows up in several pictures before and after the collapse . Could have been a Condo transport, but I haven't noticed/looked for any markings on it .

[@jeffostroff]

@@chrisperrien7055 The building should have been able to support even a minivan there with no problem, unless of course the concrete becomes degraded Or infected with spalling

[@chrisperrien7055]

@@jeffostroff Yea, but it is just one more thing. you can see the "Van" at 16:50 and 17:20 in your vid. 2different photos. Did you ever do any tile-work in the DC area about year 2000?

[@mvedda77]

Thanks for the update, Jeff - excellent analysis.

[@jeffostroff]

And thank you for being a loyal follower and watching all of these videos

[@garywheeler7039]

I think the added weight loads, the palm trees addition and the palm tree roots, the water coming into the old foundation when the walkway was removed next door and gravel added, all contributed. It seems the particular fertilizer used to feed palm trees is also rather corrosive. Palm roots are intrusive into any cracks in the pool deck and were probably very destructive, especially in a salt water environment which would increase rebar rusting. The pool deck was doomed to fail. And when the pool deck failed the columns to the building lost support.

[@SheezaPI]

And they were probably hosing off the deck a few times a week.

[@davidteiman]

I 100% believe that the weight of the pavers and planters on the pool deck and the excessive vibration from the construction that further weakened it, caused the pool deck to collapse. And then pulling the columns holding the building forward just enough until the pressure collapsed that middle section.

[@jeffostroff]

Yeah man! great minds stick alike

[@motorTranz]

Thank you for another intriguing analysis of this tragic event Jeff!

[@jeffostroff]

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!

[@daveo532]

Killer update Jeff, can't wait for more!

[@jeffostroff]

Glad you liked it Dave

[@nikibaroni9220]

I wish I was there. I have been around construction my entire life. I would have known what was going on months before this happened. I would have knocked on everyone’s door and told them get the hell out of there. This is so sad. 😢😢😢. How was this not stopped!!! 😡

[@jeffostroff]

Yes many of us feel the same way

[@chicagonorthcoast]

You can still do good for people in other similarly troubled buildings. Get thee out to Marina del Rey, CA, and take a good, long look at the Marina City Club complex, a gorgeous 70s vintage complex with 6 high rise condo towers, 600 condo unit, a 100 unit low rise rental fronting the marina, 3 swim pools and 6 tennis courts above an 8-story parking garage. The situation in that complex rhymes EXACTLY with that of Champlain South in the years preceding its failure. A 70s complex with sagging pool decks, a buckling beam in the garage, extreme concrete deterioration, and deferred maintenance throughout the complex-check. An inspection of the complex causes concern, and talk of condemnation and evacuation, but the city engineers declare the building safe after all-check. The cost of remediation is about $140 Million, or about $200,000 per unit, which would hit the owners very hard, so they do nothing-check. Yet some are very concerned, like a woman who noticed a beam buckling in the garage. Upshot, we have six very deteriorated buildings sitting atop an endangered deck over a garage with structural problems. I really wish I could talk to those people and persuade them that its worth deferring the purchase of their next Porsche or designer wardrobe and luxury vacation, to get their homes in repair, but do you expect them to vote for a monster special assessment after the city's own building authority declares it safe?

[@MoneyManHolmes]

Sounds like someone needs to do a walkthrough video on this building to document those issues. Sounds interesting!

[@mrwonderful2081]

Omg look at that hair

[@charisma-hornum-fries]

New to your channel. It’s a giant learning experience watching your videos as there’s so many details to dissect and you’re easy to understand while going through it all.

[@MajorCaliber]

Denial is NOT just a river in Egypt... after the NIST Engineering study is done, turn loose the PhD candidates in Clinical Psychology, to do their theses on the group-think that caused peeps to just keep putting band-aids on a broken femur... fall down go BOOM!

[@jeffostroff]

Yes I have seen this happen before churches and schools where they have limited budgets and they keep throwing band aids on it and then eventually it catches up to you and there's a major repair and you find yourself without the money too repair it and no band-aids will work anymore

[@shAnn0n1]

Josh Porter even saw a picture of the floor under pillar 76......and there was a huge puddle. Josh thinks that pillar 76 was constantly dripping. If Morabito was aware of all this....why didn't he put braces up??? Everyone seems to think that the condo board knew how expensive the repairs would be and that not every tenant wanted or could put out that amount of money to repair the building. So sad all around and enough blame to go around.

[@jeffostroff]

Constantly dripping just needs to have a small week, it does not necessarily mean there is damage to the ceiling. So the photo there doesn't necessarily show any cracks that I can see Although morabito's report did show that there was areas of previous repairs of ground injection that were done improperly and were not correctly finished. But they did not indicate where those were in the garage

[@hazelmaryjackson6389]

I am still interested in the movement of the retaining wall at the boundary wall with the "infill" new building.

[@hazelmaryjackson6389]

I mean boundary wall with 87 park condo

[@jeffostroff]

es a lot of people are focused there

[@liam3284]

Now newer information comes out. I want to know when in the collapse timeline the glass sliders exploded. The more I read, the more I get an impression the pool deck slab, with all its faults, was holding up a failure in the building.

[@jeffostroff]

This building was screaming for months

[@Paulburnard]

Hey Jeff, thanks for the update.

[@jeffostroff]

Glad to help Paul and thank you for coming back to watch another

[@matt63m]

At about 16:30 you can see the view of the pool deck from apartment 611. There is no cracking at that time in the wall behind and beside the black bin.

[@jeffostroff]

Write the cracking only showed up about 2 weeks before the condo collapsed. These photos were likely taken last October of 2020, As Maria purchased the unit in December of 2020

[@RYMAN1321]

It was like a frog slowly boiling in hot water

[@jameschandler3308]

Slab was bonded to main structure too.

[@monkeybusiness1999]

Fascinating analysis. Most sensible people understand that steadily moving & dripping water means erosion, corrosion & instability of sandy building bases to hard materials. Basic geo-science stuff. So it's mind-boggling that these obvious signs of decay were left ignored & unrepaired by professional property managers long enough to become this devastating. I can understand missing hidden problems but all this? No curiosity? No deeper look-see? Thankfully the general public can watch these videos & learn to recognize some possible or likely dangers. 👍

[@jeffostroff]

I hope they all learn from this

[@mariekatherine5238]

I’ve never formally studied engineering but much of it seems to be common sense-or the lack thereof.

[@jeffostroff]

yes lack thereof in this case!

[@toddhupp]

very logical Jeff .Who ever installed the sand and paver should have known better. Massive weight.

[@jonny-b4954]

19:56 What a terrible interior design haha. Should be a beautiful open floorspace basically but instead you walk into 2 hallways at odd angles. Weird

[@jeffostroff]

That is the way they designed the condos back in the 1970s

[@georgiazettakaragianni9832]

Great video. I can't wait for the future videos about Champlain!

[@jeffostroff]

We do have more coming

[@katerantsalot]

I subscribed to you after searching how to fix a leaky garbage disposal. I’ve been watching Josh Porter’s coverage of this, and I’m so grateful for your great content here. Excellent work thank you!

[@jeffostroff]

Thanks for the sub Kate, yes Josh is a smart engineer!

[@txdomino]

With your paver theory, it sounds like there are a lot of micro fractures that would be occurring throughout the years with all the expansion and contraction and deflection the water seep into those cracks and further degrading the structural integrity of the slab.

[@jeffostroff]

Yes especially in the garage ceiling right around that column number 76, where there was still our tights everywhere that means that water was just coming in through several spots.

[@youtbe999]

NIST should hire you!

[@jeffostroff]

NIST has tons of doctors and experts way smarter than me

[@redneon06]

Jeff, What caused the sliding doors to open in Maria’s apartment?

[@jeffostroff]

Other articles suggest she left them open.

[@Smart-Towel-RG-400]

Seems like it's going be a mix of bad design... Bad construction and bad management after it was built .....becuase building's don't fall over in America is what everyone thought to themselves

[@katiekane5247]

Well, we collectively accepted the collapse of the 3 towers on 9/11 from "fire", using inappropriate factors & no change in building codes. People wanted to believe the story so they did. Criminal!

[@jeffostroff]

Yes a lot of bads that added up to no good

[@cyphi474]

I think its exactly area where it all started. That planter sinking down. It could be sign some rebar at outside wall already gave up.

[@jeffostroff]

Yes, everything seems to point to this area

[@BEder-it4lf]

I've pretty much settled on the belief that the Pilings toward the beach didn't go down to bedrock. That's why that part of the building subsided and collapsed. It was the fault of the contractor that built the building.

[@jeffostroff]

No the part that surviced had much thicker 24 inch columns, and massive transfer beams all over the 2nd floor, you'll see me cover this in my next video premiere at noon

[@markbarret6836]

Jeff, your info actually helps people. I observe carefully now.

[@jeffostroff]

Thanks mark I'm glad you liked it

[@markb.1259]

Excellent video Jeff... Thanks!!

[@jeffostroff]

Glad you liked it!

[@juanmelendez8909]

Thanks Jeff for your information 👍 and video 👍 📹 I appreciate you 👍

[@markknister6272]

Always - WOW! They settled “early” to get tut of paying more.

[@jeffostroff]

They were ordered by the judge to enter mediation to settle, as the judge wanted this cases settled before the one year anniversary. Glad they came up with a generous number, because litigation would have lasted 5 to 10 years, with lawyers getting most of it.

[@garyrosie9475]

Staged events pay well.

[@karifredrikson-lr1mm]

NOBODY noticed this? Cracks, standing water, cracks off some balcony’s? Everyone who saw that should have reported it!

[@glennlittle1580]

Do you think the property will be rebuilt on or will it be a Memorial Site? Great video's

[@jeffostroff]

I think there will be enough pressure from the families that some type of onside memorial will be made.

[@georgiazettakaragianni9832]

The lot sale was just finalized- it will be rebuilt. There was a proposal for a memorial on 88th Street, the one adjacent (north) to CTS.

[@Smart-Towel-RG-400]

They are selling the site to recover money for the owners most the billion dollar settlement is a wonderful death for the people who died ... company is paying north of 100 million for the land

[@teresacorrigan3076]

Did the patio doors open in collapse? Or had Maria left them open? Not sure it matters but I keep wondering. I mean taking time to close the sliders. With noises.

[@jeffostroff]

The articles all say that she thinks she left the sliders open.

[@georgiazettakaragianni9832]

She couldn't close the sliding doors. The floor/walls had already moved out of place. The building was in the process of collapsing.

[@numeroVLAD]

Rusting of rebar due to excessive moisture, punching shear failure near slab column connection, dropping of slab with subsequent buckling of columns. EZ explanation. Plenty of warnings, plenty of ignorance, plenty of bad design decisions as well.

[@kathym5307]

Thanks for the great update!

[@jeffostroff]

Any time Kathy!

[@SparkyOne549]

You can clearly see the paving sinking down gradually heading to the right.

[@jeffostroff]

At this point it's hard to tell whether it's just from the sand layer below or if it was purposely sloped direct to the water. That's why in a case like this you want to dig down to see to see the slab beneath it. And you want to get underneath the planter in the garage and look up.