Balcony collapse (Berkeley) (Nice: 2015, crime, new home)

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Sad day in Berkeley.

The thing that's shocking to me is how new that building is.

I can see this sort of thing happening with older wood frame with the typical dry rotted balconies / decks.

No wood here.

I had (somewhat naively) thought we were getting really good with construction around here given our tectonically rich environment. Reality - boom times. Corners get cut. Look at the Bay Bridge.

In any case: It is sad, but also, it is probably a crime or series of crimes.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

Corners get cut.

Welcome the world of new home construction, corporate style.
McMansion, anybody?

[DriveNotCommute]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

Sad day in Berkeley.

The thing that's shocking to me is how new that building is.

I can see this sort of thing happening with older wood frame with the typical dry rotted balconies / decks.

No wood here.

I had (somewhat naively) thought we were getting really good with construction around here given our tectonically rich environment. Reality - boom times. Corners get cut. Look at the Bay Bridge.

In any case: It is sad, but also, it is probably a crime or series of crimes.

Here's a link to the story and pictures:

Balcony collapse kills six, most of them Irish students, in California | Reuters [reuters.com]

This is a wood frame structure, you can see the broken supports in the pictures.

In California, residential buildings 5 stories or shorter will almost always be wood because it's cheaper than steel. It's also easier to get permits for these "stubbies" over a much taller true steel-and-concrete high rise [due to local zoning, neighbors]. I think there may be some exceptions for wood going up to 6 stories with the right foundation and perhaps some commercial occupancy.

[Bulldogdad]

Well 10 plus crazy partying irish college students will do that for a balcony only designed for two people. Got to be some video of them partying on that balcony wonder if they were jumping up and down at all.

[cacio]

Originally Posted by Bulldogdad

Well 10 plus crazy partying irish college students will do that for a balcony only designed for two people. Got to be some video of them partying on that balcony wonder if they were jumping up and down at all.

Yeah, it's like they deserved it.

What a ridiculous statement to make. A balcony should not collapse under the weight of the amount of people that it can fit. I'm not an engineer and I'm not qualified to say what happened, but I will speculate that it was shoddy workmanship or someone trying to save money/cut corners that caused this.
Nice work California.

[Bulldogdad]

Originally Posted by cacio

Yeah, it's like they deserved it.

What a ridiculous statement to make. A balcony should not collapse under the weight of the amount of people that it can fit. I'm not an engineer and I'm not qualified to say what happened, but I will speculate that it was shoddy workmanship or someone trying to save money/cut corners that caused this.
Nice work California.

Officials have said it was holding 13 people and engineers have been postulating with that many people even if built to code it would have collapsed. Especially if they were jumping or dancing.

No way in heck that balcony was designed to hold 13 partying college students.

They didn't deserve what they got but they got what was imminent.

[Podo944]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...icle-1.2260785

The balcony may have been "meant" to be more of a decoration, but it was a party with young people who didn't know better, and there were doors that led out to the "decoration".

Sure, maybe the students were having fun and getting rowdy, but for all we know there may have been designated drivers in the group or calls for Uber so no one would drive drunk. The possibility of a collapsing balcony was most likely not on anyone's mind as something to be careful about.

Just so horrible and sad.

[ServoMiff]

Originally Posted by Bulldogdad

Officials have said it was holding 13 people and engineers have been postulating with that many people even if built to code it would have collapsed. Especially if they were jumping or dancing.

No way in heck that balcony was designed to hold 13 partying college students.

They didn't deserve what they got but they got what was imminent.

This. Sadly.

We complain about the high cost of rents here, but imagine the cost if we had to build every single outdoor balcony to the code of holding up to the weight of as many adults as you could squeeze onto it.

This was likely a "decorative" balcony, which means it's likely capped at 3-4 people - the total number of people who could be on the balcony comfortably along with furniture. 13 people on that balcony had to have been like sardines. That just seems like common sense, but many 21 y/o kids don't really have common sense yet, especially drunk ones.

[convextech]

Originally Posted by Bulldogdad

Well 10 plus crazy partying irish college students will do that for a balcony only designed for two people. Got to be some video of them partying on that balcony wonder if they were jumping up and down at all.

Yes, there were 13 people partying on a 4x6 balcony. Not surprising that it didn't hold up under their combined weight and jumping around. Dumb to blame the contractor for this.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by Podo944

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...icle-1.2260785

The balcony may have been "meant" to be more of a decoration, but it was a party with young people who didn't know better, and there were doors that led out to the "decoration".

Sure, maybe the students were having fun and getting rowdy, but for all we know there may have been designated drivers in the group or calls for Uber so no one would drive drunk. The possibility of a collapsing balcony was most likely not on anyone's mind as something to be careful about.

Just so horrible and sad.

A building constructed in 2006 with a "decorative" balcony? I thought they stopped making rubbish like that back during the 1950s or worst case, 1960s. Really need to look into the developer here.