Engineer Warned of 'Major Structural Damage' at Florida Condo Complex

[paleotn]

49. Sorry, but major structural damage of the nature called out is not minor

and unless the inspecting engineer(s) was a lunatic, I doubt seriously if the conclusions were minor in nature. Certainly not from the pictures I've seen this morning.

In a reinforced concrete structure, the problem is what you can't see. Visible spalling and corroded reinforcing steel are just the tip of the iceberg and give some clues as to what's going on inside, but concrete and steel deterioration isn't linear. It's exponential. Add the fact that unlike steel frame construction, ubiquitous concrete slab, beam, column has an Achilles heel. Though cheaper and quicker to build, they're not as durable and losing one or two columns or beams can easily cause such a catastrophic shift in loads that they "pancake". Other construction types can suffer a similar fate, but it's much more acute in modern reinforced concrete, unless it's well designed and well maintained. The last part being the kicker. A bad design can sometimes be mitigated through increased maintenance, though that's not the recommended path. Developers often ignore the costs of long term maintenance and focus only of the cheapness and quickness of initial construction. Some structural engineers have been "crying in the wilderness" about this for years. Maybe some will be listened to now.