At least 16 people have been killed and more than 140 remain missing following the collapse of Champlain Towers South.
The Post interviewed more than a dozen experts and modeled the building to better understand the potential points of structural failure. wapo.st/3dtNjKr
An engineer in 2018 found “major structural damage” in the building's pool deck area.
Some experts doubted the pool deck was the main cause. But most agreed that the collapse appeared to involve a failure at the lowest levels of the building or in the parking garage beneath it.
The center facade's ability to maintain integrity as the building began to fall indicates a structural failure at the building's base or lower levels, some experts said.
The rest of the middle section appeared to fold into itself and drop straight down. wapo.st/3dtNjKr
The pull of the reinforcement steel connecting the slabs on each floor caused the downward slope at the top, according to experts.
The east portion fell seven seconds after the center. wapo.st/3dtNjKr
An aerial shot appears to reflect the manner in which each section fell.
On the left, several levels are visible, likely caused by the top-down sequence of the section’s collapse. On the right, the collapse occurred with such force that much of it is no longer recognizable.
Experts said the columns may either have suffered “axial failure,” meaning they suffered too much stress from compression, or “punching shear failure,” when a concrete slab fails under pressure and the column effectively “punches” through the slab. wapo.st/3dtNjKr
The standing columns here suggest the columns “punched through” the deck, according to two experts.
Though, other experts said falling debris may have contributed to this. wapo.st/3dtNjKr
Unlike the collapsed section, the surviving structure had the strongest part of the building — the elevator shaft — and was designed to withstand high winds from the east, according to experts. wapo.st/3dtNjKr
While some experts see building-specific circumstances as leading suspects in the Surfside collapse, the role of systemic factors such as sea-level rise remains unclear.
Experts said every possibility needs to be considered. wapo.st/3dtNjKr
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