Church steeple collapse | caught on video and simulated in 3d

[@dbaider9467]

This was analyzed almost as fast as it fell. Kudos.

[@patmcbride9853]

We need to start analyzing collapses before they happen.

[@davidaugustofc2574]

💀

[@ollllj]

ur was slowly falling since 1952

[@J6A6Y]

Hi! Current New London resident here. The slight tilt was definitely a thing for as long as I've lived here. There was some discussion about an increase in tilt in the weeks leading up to the collapse. While it was not overly windy that day it is windy in general as we are right on the ocean. Also, another factor to add in was the snow, sleet and rain we received. The night before the collapse there was freezing rain through the night.

[@DonnaChamberson]

I think it’s despicable that the town just let it fall down.

[@johncamara3497]

There was also a lot of rain that fell all through December and January that may have been a contributing factor. I copied an observed weather data report (see below) for Hartford, CT for January 26 and you can see from Jan 1 there was 7.31 inches of rain where as normal is 2.79. And since Dec 1 there was 15.35 and the normal is 6.87 or > 2.2x normal. The ground has been heavily saturated for at least the last 6 months. If I remember correctly we started the first few months with below normal precipitation but then for the rest of the year we had well above average with a couple periods of major flooding. I believe we ended last year 18 inches over normal. ...THE HARTFORD CT CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 26 2024... VALID TODAY AS OF 0400 PM LOCAL TIME. CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1904 TO 2024 WEATHER ITEM OBSERVED TIME RECORD YEAR NORMAL DEPARTURE LAST VALUE (LST) VALUE VALUE FROM YEAR NORMAL ................................................................... TEMPERATURE (F) TODAY MAXIMUM 43 1244 AM 65 1950 35 8 47 MINIMUM 37 726 AM -8 1948 18 19 35 AVERAGE 40 26 14 41 PRECIPITATION (IN) TODAY 0.67 2.00 1986 0.11 0.56 0.78 MONTH TO DATE 7.31 2.79 4.52 5.81 SINCE DEC 1 15.35 6.87 8.48 10.31 SINCE JAN 1 7.31 2.79 4.52 5.81

[@jwalster9412]

​@@DonnaChambersonit would have been as expensive as anything, to assess and fix the issue.

[@Lunth-yl2mk]

@@jwalster9412 Yes well now the possible lawsuits could cost more. Peoples lives were put in danger - essentially, due to negligence. But hey, we'll see.

[@sebastiaodavila9747]

Belgian here (we have a lot of beautiful churches in Belgium) I think it's very saddening. I mean, it's not an exaggeration to say that it was a beautiful church. Perhaps not the most complex architectural style of all time but I think the shape of the spire was pretty.

[@loopwithers]

I am restoring a French barn dating from around 1700. Its roof had already partially collapsed. Through watching your video, I have gained much valuable structural loading information and I am grateful to you for taking your time to upload this video. I really appreciate your efforts.

[@PhilJonesIII]

Good luck with the work. I did the same for a similarly aged building in the French Alps. No stranger to renovation but those meter thick stone walls (interior and exterior) I left to the experts.

[@loopwithers]

@@PhilJonesIII Ha! Thanks. I know the feeling. I quite enjoy doing the stonework but the cats cradle of repaired rafters and trusses above my head does add a frisson of excitement I'd rather not have...

[@SofaKingShit]

Doing structurally significant work while learning as you go from You Tube videos is always a great idea. Why get in expensive builders or electricians when anyone with half a brain can do their job. What could possibly go wrong.

[@PhilJonesIII]

@@SofaKingShit I did the work when the word 'KZbin' might have been considered a euphemism. You are right though. Translating 'knowing how' into 'doing' is a step taken with caution. Professional workers also have a little thing called 'insurance' so, if the unexpected happens, you are covered.

[@Snitram19]

That's not worrisome at all, you learned valuable infornation for your barn roof restoration project from some random youtube video... I wouldn't enter your barn, that I can tell you for sure.

[@RollercoastersatUK]

Already a video? Wow! The efficiency and quality of videos without the need for a subscription, thank you so much for making content for us Mike, your dedication deserves more appreciation.

[@HelloKittyFanMan]

Ya might as well subscribe to him anyway, since it's free and then you might get better notified.

[@Mandy7D7]

Subscribing does nothing but good things for the creator and doesn't cost you a thing. Supporting creators helps them continue to grow & create.

[@RollercoastersatUK]

Did you think I’d post this comment without subscribing?

[@HelloKittyFanMan]

Yes, @@RollercoastersatUK, I did think that, actually. A lot of people do that. Nothing wrong with that, of course; we just suggested the subscription along with it. No big deal either way, of course.

[@RonSkurat]

excellent work, thank you. I used to live in New London, and the one degree tilt was widely known. Unfortunately as these congregations dwindled there was no funding for maintenance, and we don't have a National Trust to take up the slack. There's a similar but younger church building up the hill from this one - one hopes that it gets the attention that it deserves.

[@Mike-Bell]

Thanks Ron for again confirming local were aware of the tilt. It does seem like a failure at multiple levels. Buildings cant look after themselves...

[@gaborbata8588]

The modeling really complements the commentary; more evidence, less speculation. Nice.

[@joemcorbett]

I would guess water infiltration and ice expansion compromised the tower at the flashing where the tower met the church roof.IMO

[@MmmHuggles]

I'm guessing water damage as well. It's also possible acidity of rain from pollution could have contributed over time. Things like this take a long time usually to develop. This has probably been slowly progressing towards failure for decades.

[@johnvenier4011]

Wow, such great analysis so quickly! Thanks!

[@richardmcleod1930]

Thank you for the first video explaining what really happened at this very Historic Church. Unfortunately unlike Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, this Church will not be restored.

[@hypsyzygy506]

Development plot is more valuable.

[@richardmcleod1930]

Seems such thinking is typical especially in the United States of America. I wish we were more Historically oriented and appreciated our past in buildings than is the case where we just tear them down. Those towers could have been saved and used in another building.@@hypsyzygy506

[@fu2201]

They should have kept the smaller towers. Thanks for your work Mike

[@richardmcleod1930]

I felt the same way. the existing towers should have been kept.

[@HelpICantThinkOfACleverName]

Agreed.

[@richardmcleod1930]

In France, Notre Dame Cathedral was completely restored. A much bigger church building. The towers could have been kept if they truly cared for the History of the building. It will be interesting to see what the lot is eventually used for?@@HelpICantThinkOfACleverName

[@lorettavanhaasteren2776]

Very easy to follow and understand! Thanks! 👍🏻

[@TheTeddyGuy28]

Wow, quick post from when this happened! Great video as always.

[@Mike-Bell]

Thanks!

[@jimterryh1983]

Thank you for sharing your insights into that collapse.

[@kurthoelter3495]

thanks for the detailed look at the collapse. as a restorationist and mason, now in my mid 70s, ive seen many off vertical structures, and many seem to have several things in common. (in cold climates) you will invariably find that a tower or chimney will lean toward the body of the building. in the case of chimneys on each end of the building, they will lean in opposite directions, ie toward each other to effect this lean toward the main structure. one theory of mine is that rising heat in winter from the building and roof softens the mortar on the building side of the structure, while the cold and freezing temps act on the mortar essentially lifting the exterior side. these tiny increments accumulate with time becoming permanent. also many budget repointings on soft stone buildings were done using a portaland base which is too hard for the expansion and contraction the stone goes through. this to some degree limits settling and movement on the sides where it is used. only a high lime mortar should be used on the lime based stones which this appears to be. also if the back was south facing the sun on that face in winter would have played a part. regards and best, k

[@Mike-Bell]

Hi Kurt Thanks for your comment. It is interesting what you say. Thses were granite stones.

[@alainaaugust1932]

Makes sense. States with their building inspection laws should have laws requiring special inspections for 100, 100+ year old public buildings. We’re 247 years old now-never had to worry about old stone buildings before. Time to start.

[@kurthoelter3495]

a further example comes to mind, ask any northern farmer which way his fence posts lean after a decade and he will tell you they go south, toward the sun or heat. dealt with it myself for 46 years at my ny farm.@@Mike-Bell

[@hypsyzygy506]

Freeze/thaw damage would presumably be greater on the side nearer the heat source (eg a facade facing the sun, or the heat from an occupied building) as every day that would thaw what had frozen the previous night. Joints not exposed to daily heat would freeze and remain frozen for the winter.

[@kurthoelter3495]

am stating what i have observed from 50 years of masonry and restoration work. while your opinion or theory makes sense, it does not prove out in the real world. was not talking to freeze damage, but to the tilt and eventual collapse of a masonry structure in freezing climates.@@hypsyzygy506

[@cosmefulanito5933]

It is sad how buildings fall down due to lack of maintenance in underdeveloped countries, like the United States.

[@hpruijs]

That is why most episodes of, for instance, Massive Engineering Mistakes cover incidents in the United States, I'm afraid. Love your classification as an underdeveloped country, priceless!

[@Renville80]

So what top tier socialist utopia do you call home?

[@feraynironmane8101]

TL;DR: Don't ignore an architect's suggestions. Absolutely great analysis.

[@martentrudeau6948]

A great presentation Mike Bell that shows from a professional point of view of what happened. That was powerful graphically well done.

[@pcno2832]

From what I heard, the architect complained that the wythes (inner and outer layers) of stone were not tied together properly, and suggested the steeple tower be taken down and rebuilt. Instead, metal rods ending in square plates were installed to pull the wythes together. That held for 170 years; not bad, considering the circumstances.

[@furripupau]

I was looking at photos of the church on flickr, and found one from 2012, taken from a distance (so less liable to be distorted by perspective) which when measured shows the steeple leaning back at an angle of 1.45 degrees (measured against the flanking towers). Looking at several other photos, the right wall of the steeple (when viewing the front of the building) shows a perceptible concavity at about where the steeple joins the roof.

[@MmmHuggles]

This collapse has likely been slowly in the making for decades.

[@HyenaBlank]

@@MmmHuggles Often how it goes, either overlooked, dismissed, or just no budget to even address it. And then it's too late.

[@billglenney8252]

Great video Mike! Kudos from CT, I live a town over from New London. Btw I visited South Africa for the World Cup in 2010, you have a beautiful country!

[@Kagarine54]

Thank you so much for giving your time to publish such an interesting analysis ! I'm not even an Architect, Engineer nor a citizen of New London, but I love learning random fascinating things from around the world. Very educational 🙂

[@Mike-Bell]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Robspranjer9740]

An 1853 historic landmark that no one tried to save?! Now it is gone, so sad

[@theemissary1313]

Shame when old buildings fall. Looks like the tip of the fallen steeple landed JUST in front of that car parked behind the adjacent building. Still caked in dust that could have damaged it, but still pretty lucky, especially the woman inside the church at the time. Excellent work on the video by the way!

[@sandis52]

Finally a new video from you!

[@parrotraiser6541]

Extraordinary luck that there was only one person inside, and she escaped injury. The mess in the interior suggests that had a service been in progress, casualties would have been horrendous. The stone slide at the front could have killed anyone passing at the time, too. Just after lunch on a weekday might well have had passers-by.

[@MmmHuggles]

That's the craziness of the chaos of life. A few birds or a slight change in earth loading or any number of tiny little factors could have altered the timing and caused a lot of death, but this time it didn't. It takes a lot of mistakes for an issue like this to make it to the point of collapse too. I think humans seem to think that things like this just don't happen, but they do.

[@hypsyzygy506]

Apparently the survivor was in an office in the 1970s extension at the rear, not in the church itself.

[@rustymotor]

Great content! Luckily that Woman was not injured once the trouble started.

[@eltamarindo]

In images of the steeple before it collapsed, if you look closely, you can see that the steeple is studded with steel bolts and cross tie reinforcements designed to keep the lower front section of the wall from bowing out. The 2011 engineer's report essentially dodges the subject of earlier stabilization efforts, other than noting that repairs had been conducted previously and that "These corrective actions appear effective, as by all visible accounts, the tower is structurally sound." A question that I might have is whether the same level of concern was given to all faces of the tower? -- or whether over the years, more concern had been given to inspecting, bracing, and grouting the exposed stonework and rather less attention was given to the interior facing sides of the wall that may have been hidden behind plaster?

[@deanberolzheimer2658]

Wow Mike, thank you, super intereting as usual !

[@deanberolzheimer2658]

and interesting too!

[@Mike-Bell]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@lindseydejesus1877]

sad to hear such a beautiful building fell and will be demolished. thanks for the analysis

[@alanagnew3451]

Beautiful to men that building was, but it was disgusting to God. He doesn't want people worshiping in "church" where do you find that in the Bible?

[@DrTheRich]

@@alanagnew3451 He also doesn't want people to not worship in a church lol... Where do you find that in the bible... Maybe you're the secret last prophet that knows what God finds disgusting or not?? Can you read Gods mind? or maybe you're a false one? who's to tell, only he knows...

[@alanagnew3451]

@@DrTheRich The best kings of Judah were the ones that tore down the high places so that you may only worship in the Temple of Solomon, as God commanded. But if you want to scoff more, go for it, miss out on learning.

[@DrTheRich]

@@alanagnew3451 Ah yes, you mean that Temple of Solomon that got destroyed because of the sins of the children of Judah... You pretend to know the bible, yet you add your own meanings to things. Every time these high places were destroyed, it was because the people were worshipping someone or something else there instead of God (for example the snake staff of Mozes, Baal or Moloch). There is no example in the bible of God having a place of prayer destroyed that was specifically dedicated to praying to him. Secondly, the covenant of sacrifice and worship was only made by the children of Israel and their descendants. Why should non-Israelites be held to a promise they never made? Hypocrites like you have made my question my religion over and over. Every time i see people making up rules that were never in the bible, and then judging others based on those false believes. You believe yourself so wise, and more knowledgeable, and closer to understanding God than anyone else. You feel yourself so great that you gave yourself the right to judge others, just like a false prophet would do. The ones warned about many times. It disgusts me.

[@pawelzielinski1398]

@@alanagnew3451 Yeah, sure go to iSSrael to do the worshiping you sick fuck!

[@thelegendinhisownmind7038]

I live in Southeast CT, about 15 minutes from New London. This was a terrible shame.

[@AlyxForest]

A bit of a shame the rest of the building couldn't be salvaged and repaired. I'm not religious, but I do still feel bad when things like this happen.

[@schitthe]

Thank you so much for this great explanation! Best regards from Germany

[@Mike-Bell]

Glad you enjoyed it! Greetings from South Africa!

[@channelsixtyeight068_]

The collapse was largely self-contained, so no harm done.

[@maudessen573]

Thanks, Mike! I had no idea a church steeple for any church was constructed of stone up to the very top. What a lot of weight and force, and how expensive to maintain! Where I live, there are so many churches in neighborhoods that cannot afford to maintain them that most have had their steeples removed. And they were framed and clad, not made of stone. The cost to lower this 150’ steeple would have been very high…I doubt the congregation could have afforded it. In the US, we don’t have federal assistance in maintaining privately owned historic buildings.

[@Mike-Bell]

Hi Maud The previous congregation could not afford the upkeep and sold the building in 2015 to the current church. But its a cost and responsibility they can’t carry. It’s so sad that god doesn’t chip in 😆

[@EpixAndroid]

Oddly enough, the congregation that owns the building had been fasting and praying for nearly 3 weeks for a “breakthrough”. I guess that answers their prayers then…

[@DrTheRich]

@@Mike-Bell You could say he did in a way, because this could have been a catastrophe if this happened while people were inside..

[@Mike-Bell]

@@DrTheRich I think it just boils down to probability with the church only being occupied 5% of the time.

[@Mike-Bell]

@@EpixAndroid It would be interesting to know how they interpret their breakthrough…

[@petermacander5039]

The steeple leaned over and fell in the direction in which it was deviated from its center of gravity, just like a heavy leaded organ pipe collapses off its weight after many years when it is not standing vertically at the center of its axis of its gravitational pull. It begins to lean when it is deviated off-center from its center of gravity. The longer it leans the increasingly more off-center the lean becomes with time. If, in addition, if the tower lacks the underlying vertical support on the side of the roof to counteract the off-center lean, it will reach a point at which the weight of the progressively leaning tower is so far shifted from the tower's center of gravity that the tower will fall, collapsing of its own weight. This tower was likely "top heavy" due to the stone construction of its steeple, but had the steeple been built of wood, the collapse could have eventually occurred. There may have been inadequate vertical foundational structural support for the weight of the tower from the nave side of the church. One must also consider that the foundational support inside and under the church may have shifted or been inadequate to maintain upward vertical support required to maintain the tower's vertical position on its center of gravity. Ultimately, what happened here: Progressive inward lean off-center of gravity + gravity = collapse when limits of off-axis weight shift were exceeded. Simple physics. Gravity exists.

[@patmcbride9853]

Never leave the safety of your structure up to God.

[@alainaaugust1932]

Or, God helps those who help themselves with building inspections.

[@patmcbride9853]

@@alainaaugust1932 He gave you a brain, but you have to actually use it.

[@EmilyTienne]

Is that supposed to be a slur against God?

[@patmcbride9853]

@@EmilyTienne "...but you have to actually use it."

[@465maltbie]

That was a wonderful description, amazing you could get that all from Google Maps and use it like you did. Charles

[@Mike-Bell]

Glad you liked it!

[@tolbaszy8067]

7:30 Obviously, the clock faces were out of sync. This discrepancy would cause extreme temporal torque that imbalanced the load bearing symmetry of the clock section and made the belfry develop harmonics incompatible with verticality. Many old barns were torqued into the ground by slate roofing and compact hay bales densely packed in hay lofts designed for loose hay. The stone steeple probably was the cause of the failure. Great video! Thanks!

[@billhosko7723]

Good grief. Plenty of stone steeples in UK. Lack of maintenance, not this building having a stone steeple.

[@tolbaszy8067]

Are they designed similarly- with voids for clocks and bells at the transition of roof and steeple? There is a hinge here.@@billhosko7723

[@hypsyzygy506]

Going up you generally have entrance, ringing chamber, clock chamber, bells, steeple. You're not going to waste space.

[@zackjay71]

@@billhosko7723from its beginning the original Architect wanted it torn down and redone

[@beardy4831]

I'm suspicious the original mortar was not adequately batched on the one side, using too much sand or perhaps dirty sand. That in combination with acid within rain would over time degrade the mortar. You end up with a honeycomb like structure, similar to a loaf of bread, as the sand remains. Eventually the weight crushes the honeycomb structured sand and the whole tower is off balance.

[@0hellow797]

Wow, amazing and extremely interesting. Definitely following for more :)))

[@Mike-Bell]

Welcome aboard!

[@Daytona2]

From their website - “It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.” ―Annie Dillard you just couldn't make this up.

[@sue_downing555]

excellent analysis and vid proof thanks for sharing

[@Mike-Bell]

Glad you liked it!

[@johncamp2567]

A remarkable presentation!! 😯(new subscriber, Virginia)

[@Mike-Bell]

Thanks and welcome

[@Killerean]

My guess would be that the binding of the tower gave at some point. The whole thing was tied up with metal bars since the tower was built poorly right from the start. My guess would be one of the end plates on the bars holding the thing together was either snapped off or was pulled in to the wall. That would leave the walls with no support, allowing them to expand and collapse.

[@Phantom_kz]

Good afternoon! What is the name of this simulation program?

[@Mike-Bell]

It is Blender

[@r0ckt3hc4sb4h]

Great analysis. It makes one wonder if the tower could have been retrofitted with some internal support structure, to transfer the steeple load directly into the ground.

[@chrisdaniels3929]

I imagine if poor maintenance were to cause problems such as rotted roof beams near the tower, then the lean could preclude the first choice for remedying it. Whilst the building isn't very old the defect is a weakness that seems to have taken a toll over time. The building is gone after other things also went wrong. Strangely the missing steeple brought out the beauty of the adjacent 2 side towers. They look like the romans could have built them at town gates lol. I can't help but think these old buildings are a money pit.

[@Thanos_Kyriakopoulos]

That's why the lean in the church must be corrected early even if it seems slight.

[@emdxemdx]

The Christ Church Cathedral in Montréal also had a steeple completely built of stone, and it was far too heavy and eventually, it was rebuilt with an aluminium structure in 1939. In the late 1980’s, a shopping mall was built underneath the cathedral. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Church_Cathedral_(Montreal)

[@mtnman1984]

Was the backside of that heavy steeple supported by the roof structure and not built like the facade with a base to the ground?

[@petermacander5039]

The tower (belfry) and steeple are leaning. If there was roof damage where it connects to the tower, it is possible that over time water damage with frost weakened the tower structure resulting in increased inward leaning. Your simulation appears to indicate this as the increase in deviation from the vertical of 1--->6 degrees is associated with a collapse of support on the nave side of the tower where it meets the nave roof below the belfry..

[@sfdntk]

I'd really love to see your 3D workflow, is there any chance of you recording a session where you model a scene like this and then do your frame by frame analysis to match the model motion to a source video? Doesn't need to be a properly edited video, just a raw stream of you working would be utterly fascinating.

[@stabojert]

Very interesting video, but the "s" sound is very very sharp and unpleasant. You should try an equalizer or de-esser. Leaning tower of Suurhusen still standing strong :)

[@rassuncion]

Great video as always. But tell me, how were you able to export the Google Earth map into Blender? How to do this?

[@Mike-Bell]

Hi. It takes a couple of steps described in this video. If you have 2 monitors you will need to do everything in one screen for it to work and it must be the primary monitor. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJC7pKClj6-gfZo

[@Greippi10]

I can understand not having the funds to maintain the building, but to think it was was not closed to people is shocking!

[@peteralthoff6920]

Unbelievable, did they still ring the bells? The effects of this large swinging/oscillating mass and the resonance effects when ringing are often underestimated.

[@kimmanning2913]

"1:30 on Jan 25, it all came tumbling down."

[@petermacander5039]

YOUR description of the sagging roof on one side of the nave aspect of the church should not necessarily affect the tower and spire (but rather the roof itself) if the tower had adequate foundational vertical support itself.

[@danquaylesitsspeltpotatoe8307]

If only they asked their imaginary friend to save its church!

[@matthewmosier8439]

How do you know God's imaginary?

[@euroschmau]

This could have been a horrific catastrophe, thank god it wasn't. I live in Philadelphia and the city is full of old churches, many of which are in horrible physical condition. Churches deteriorating beyond repair is not uncommon here, thankfully nowadays, most are caught before becoming disasters. This, however, more often than not results in demolition. It is painful to see our built heritage becoming heaps of rubble. It says a lot about our society how we neglect works of beauty. It goes beyond churches, where much of our historic vernacular architecture is left to rot. This is the sad reality in this miserable hyper consumerist hell we call America.

[@JerryFisher]

Bingo. If something can't earn it's right to exist financially, too bad so sad, goodbye. It's not until after it's gone that suddenly there is clarity and regret. The concept of our federal government taking on the cost of repair and upkeep tends to be so unpopular because of our mythology of having always been self sufficient. Not to mention the nightmare of red tape that any bureaucrat would gush over with love. It's eye-opening that the Statue of Liberty has generally relied on handouts from corporations and public donations. If even she doesn't have the full support of the government, what chance do any landmarks and historic sites of only local renown have if the money can't be raised in the community, county or state?

[@billhosko7723]

Classic p/a post. Good grief. @@JerryFisher

[@JerryFisher]

@@billhosko7723 I don't understand? Please explain?

[@ingvarhallstrom2306]

Even with shoddy construction work it has been standing for over 170 years, the questions what happened with it *now* ? I believe bad maintenance is the cause of this, most likely water ingress that erroded the structural walls. Probably damaged gutters on the inside wall between the tower and the main building, leading to water eating up the mortar along the inner wall. The structural failure seems to have affected one of the corners, therefore the sideways collapse. One can clearly see the large and dark visible stains from the excess water running down the sides of the building all the way from the roof down to the ground, all the water that should've fallen down the gutters.

[@envitech02]

I concur with you.

[@MmmHuggles]

Water damage possibly mixed with acidic rainwater most likely. Could have been prevented I'm sure.

[@billhosko7723]

Good grief all of you keyboard Kariens.@@MmmHuggles

[@billhosko7723]

Gee. No one else thought of that - including the video author.

[@ingvarhallstrom2306]

@@billhosko7723 Boy, you must be fun at parties?

[@Gggggggggg7772]

Amazing analysis!

[@SB5SimulationsFerroviairesEEP]

Merci du partage! Stéph.

[@jmenter1]

If anyone saw it, considering it is a church, they probably did what they know how to do. Pray

[@Mike-Bell]

Thoughts and prayers…

[@artysanmobile]

And pointlessly.

[@MisterRoyd]

Was it while the 1:30 bells sounded?

[@arailway8809]

Very nice work. Thanks

[@George-bc7ej]

He posted this video less than a week after the event.

[@bobroberts6155]

A spire collapse by someone called Bell, nominative determinism strikes again.

[@danielm4436]

I don't consider myself religious but man could they pull funds and labor to build beautiful things. I's a shame that modern precautions weren't taken. Why?

[@baneofbanes]

Because people are lazy

[@RMCMichigan]

That was absolutely fascinating.

[@Mike-Bell]

Im glad you think so😊 I got hold of the original hi-res secrity footage and finding further interesting information. Hope to post the follow up soon,

[@proto57]

I find it sickening and frustrating that the two remaining towers of this church were also demolished. I understand it would have been difficult and very expensive to try and rebuild this steeple, but to destroy what was solid, and remained, is a tragedy. At least one of those towers could have been easily incorporated into a new church, or some other structure at the site. And if no building was put there, one remaining tower, by itself, would have been a wonderful architectural artifact, and should have been preserved.

[@Sashazur]

Those other towers would need maintenance to keep standing too. Nobody had the money to do anything with them.

[@proto57]

@@Sashazur Perhaps you are correct, but it seems to me that those towers were quite secure in their foundations. In fact, even the collapsed spire had a good foundation... the failure seems to have been in the stonework up high, about where the roof peak joins. I just feel as though the remaining towers were very solid, and would have been just fine.

[@matthewmosier8439]

​@@proto57I sadly assume the collapse gave certain non-religious people the opportunity to remove the building without going through the outrage from the public

[@proto57]

@@matthewmosier8439 ... probably true. And I'll bet some speculators have their eye on an upcoming "land deal".

[@JerryFisher]

Basically money. If a structure or place can't earn its right to exist financially, it's not if, but when, it'll be gone, whether an act of God, or being neglected to death and demolished so something profitable can take it's place. It's only when something is gone that we have clarity and regret.

[@rannyacernese6627]

The building passed a structural inspection ten years ago!

[@kcnmsepognln]

Chesterfield Parish Church says "hello". 👋

[@Mike-Bell]

South Africa says hello 😊

[@hypsyzygy506]

Chesterfield: 70m spire built c1360, twisted to 2.5m from vertical.

[@Mike-Bell]

@@hypsyzygy506 Oh wow. Didn’t know about that twisty leany spire. Worth mentioning in a follow up video. Thanks for highlighting

[@kcnmsepognln]

@@Mike-Bell Oh sorry Mike, I assumed you got the reference. 😁

[@DougGrinbergs]

Good info👍 sad story☹️

[@Mike-Bell]

Thanks Doug 👍

[@oldbird-zm8qt]

Very interesting. Thank you,

[@parttime9070]

22' is a lot for that kind of stone building.. Good work with this video..

[@jasons8479]

I believe it was 22" not 22'. Still a significant amount.

[@jbonegw]

How sad. They just don’t make them like this anymore.

[@MisatoBestWoman]

I hope this is rebuilt, the architecture beauty in this stone building is amazing

[@Mike-Bell]

The church certainly doesn’t have the money to rebuild it in stone. So it is gone forever.

[@officerdonut7066]

It can't rebuild it they can't

[@warrenSPQRXxl]

As someone else has pointed out, there are metal plates evident on the facade in modern photos that indicate several iron tensioning rods were placed at some point to strengthen the tower. Did one or more of them rust out owing to water infiltration. Was there a ground shift caused by recent heavy rains? Poor construction and maintenance too? Often multiple factors line up in to cause many catastrophes.

[@billhosko7723]

Novel idea, 'Often multiple factors line up in to cause many catastrophes'. 1 Reply

[@abpccpba]

Great job Thanks

[@teemulehto81]

Aleksanterin kirkko Tampereelta päässyt esimerkkikuvaan. ❤

[@ildocorrea]

Fiz uma pesquisa sobre este incidente e nao ha nenhuma mencao a LGBT, voce postou uma fake news. Nao se deu ao trabalho de pesquisar ou esta mesmo mal intencionado/a?

[@ethanspaziani1070]

Maintenance and upkeep is important people

[@billhosko7723]

thanks karien

[@jam96attnet]

#MikeBell : there is a video which shows two years ago a quote for roof air conditioning units. This, if actually installed, I would speculate the position of the easiest venting into the roof of the church would place the AC/Heating unit in the exact position you hypothesized the start of the collapse originated from. Did they in recent time add weight?

[@janwitts2688]

So.. wtf wasn't it dismantled and rebuilt decades ago...

[@subman721]

When you flaunt the word of GOD, this is what happens.

[@BigRift]

If only there was a magical being they coulda worshiped or something and asked for this not to happen. Oh well.

[@seymoorepoone9512]

Is this something that occurs frequently?

[@billhosko7723]

troll

[@hypsyzygy506]

Chichester cathedral spire collapsed at 13;30 Thursday 21st February 1861 while work was ongoing to repair bulges and cracks in the 700 year old tower. Fortunately the workers were at lunch. The spire was rebuilt. Beauvais cathedral - the tallest Gothic Church - had three significant collapses: - 1225 of which little is known - 1284 (20;00 Thursday 29th November) when the recent choir vault collapsed - 1573, when the 150m tower collapsed four years after completion Between 1315 and 1332 the central tower of Wells cathedral was heightened and a timber and lead spire added. The base of the tower had to be internally braced in 1338 by the unique solution of three massive 'scissor' arches. The spire burned down in 1439. The church in Chesterfield has a 1360 spire that is famously crooked - 228 feet tall (70m) it twists to 8 feet (2.5m) off vertical. The prosaic reason is that it was built shortly after the Black Death using easily-worked green timber, and at a later date was clad in lead with a pattern that happened to impart a twist as the sunlit side expanded more than the unlit side. Another explanation is that it was twisted by the devil's tail as he fled the ringing of the bells. The cheeky legend is that a virgin was married in the church and the spire was so surprised that it twisted to get a good look; rumour has it that if another virgin should get married there the spire will straighten out.

[@DougGrinbergs]

1:24 architect was concerned in 1851 - 2 years before it was finished! WTH 1:50 professional eye spots damage of concern 5:17 6⁰ steeple tilt!

[@billhosko7723]

karien

[@Etienne_H]

A bit weird how often buildings just collapse like that in the USA. Like are structural engineers and renovations not a thing over there?

[@billhosko7723]

idiot, karien troll

[@organisten]

Thank you for this. Could I ask you to shed some light on how the side galleries were destroyed? I can understand the organ gallery, being right at the very back where the tower was, but I think I have seen pictures showing that this church had side galleries? If so, from the ruins pictured here, it is apparent that they were destroyed in the collapse. What was the mechanism of this?

[@Mike-Bell]

The east gallery survived... sort of and you can see lots of roof timbers lying on it in the drone shot. The west gallery was taken out by the falling spire..

[@organisten]

@@Mike-Bell Thank you. I had not noticed the East gallery, and the question of what had happened to these kind of bugged me because I couldn't make sense of it. Thank you for clearing that up.

[@rebeccamyott7041]

But the church never had any maintenance.??

[@baneofbanes]

Guess not any proper to ensure that the steeple wouldn’t fall over.

[@kirishima638]

Impressive work

[@kacperwoch4368]

I have not found any pictures showing the inside but my guess would be the tower's side facing the roof rested on two pillars and those two pillars subsided slightly during the original construction and after 170 years they started to sink even more, dragging the tower with it. I doubt the collapse has anything to do with defective masonary near the roofline, the failure must have happened much lower in the structure. The tower was basically like a chair that has two legs placed on concrete and two on sand and the load put on the chair results in uneaven sinking and tilt.

[@danikmcintyre2068]

a huge organ was located between the tower and sanctuary, i figure vibrations from the organ may have caused cracks in the structure also.

[@billhosko7723]

Keyboard Kariens are out enforce... good grief. @@danikmcintyre2068

[@josephpiskac2781]

I lived in New London from 2013 to 2016 and parked across the street from the church to use the Post Office. I felt the entire city center should be rebuilt and modernized. I sent a proposal of this to the mayor's office.

[@kcgunesq]

They certainly know how to condemn properties.

[@billhosko7723]

karien

[@timbergdtedt3492]

Leaning from the beginning? Accelerating lean? Didn't hear that on the evening news. Good work. How come there's only video of video and from just one camera? There's got to be more cameras around that caught this.

[@billhosko7723]

No, there does not "got to be".

[@hypsyzygy506]

Surely there were twenty or thirty security cameras monitoring the building just to catch its collapse?

[@MrBruinman86]

the 6 degree list was new info for me.

[@tarawhite4419]

So much for the next thousand yrs

[@stefanwild326]

[@tommymcelroy4156]

Was there a lot of vibration from the construction area?

[@Mike-Bell]

Construction was minor works.

[@laurafoote6943]

In the past year, there had been major and significant construction driving piles for building the new State Pier for the Revolution Wind energy project in New London. This was half a mile away. Could that have been a factor?@@Mike-Bell

[@billhosko7723]

JFC... it is academic and needless at this point. Good grief you 20/20 kariens.