Hard Rock Hotel Collapse (New Orleans, Sun: house, new construction, contractor)

[sconley9922]

Looking at the damage from the Hard Rock hotel, is it possible to save the building and eventually begin construction again? Or is it a total loss and would it have to be demolished and started over ?

[benzadmiral]

The problem is that any new construction is likely to have just as corruption-ridden a management, and just as incompetent a labor force, as the current one.

Funny how, 50-60 years ago, even around here, buildings were built solidly. The local news mentioned how the last bit of the headquarters of the defunct newspaper Times-Picayune, the clock tower, was demolished this Sunday, and from what I hear they had a time doing it, the building was so well constructed. And that was from 1968.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by sconley9922

Looking at the damage from the Hard Rock hotel, is it possible to save the building and eventually begin construction again? Or is it a total loss and would it have to be demolished and started over ?

I hope they don't save it. There was clearly something wrong with the construction before the collapse. Now with the structure damaged, it's obviously been severely compromised. After the search and rescue and the investigation is complete, the building should be imploded as soon as possible. If they let the developer, repair that mess, all I can say is I'm happy I don't live in New Orleans. Because I wouldn't get with in a block of that death trap.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Engineer weighs in on Hard Rock Hotel collapse: 'Logically it doesn't make sense'

NEW ORLEANS - On Saturday morning, structural engineer Walter Zehner’s phone rang with news of a devastating construction collapse on a site he once worked.

The plan for 1031 Canal St. had completely changed since Zehner left the project approximately three years ago, moving from a mixed use retail/residential design to what was planned to be a Hard Rock Hotel.

“It was a lot worse than I could have imagined,” Zehner said. “And I’ve seen the videos of the collapse and it’s kind of hard to figure out exactly what was going on there."

"The one thing I find hard to understand is the collapse started at the rear of the building (by Rampart and Iberville streets) but it wound up, you had collapsed slabs all the way on the front end of the build which is 300 feet away (on Canal Street)," he said. "So I don’t know how that progression worked like that. I guess that’s part of what the investigation is going to reveal.”

Hard Rock Hotel New Orleans collapse_ Former site engineer weighs in

[sconley9922]

The collapse came from the top....so the foundation is intact....I'm hearing that the cranes collided and the load of one fell onto the roof causing it to fall, but I'm hearing other stories also...all are saying it had to do with the crane, and something up top.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by sconley9922

The collapse came from the top....so the foundation is intact....I'm hearing that the cranes collided and the load of one fell onto the roof causing it to fall, but I'm hearing other stories also...all are saying it had to do with the crane, and something up top.

The construction looks like a giant House of Cards. Either the design and/or the construction is defective. This type of thing should never have happened. The building is now unstable. Trying to stabilize and salvage part of this shoddy construction, would be a really bad idea. Like I said, if that do that, I'm just glad I'll never get near it, if they do that. But you never know. Developers usually get what they want, even terrible criminal ones like this.

[Rickcin]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

I hope they don't save it. There was clearly something wrong with the construction before the collapse. Now with the structure damaged, it's obviously been severely compromised. After the search and rescue and the investigation is complete, the building should be imploded as soon as possible. If they let the developer, repair that mess, all I can say is I'm happy I don't live in New Orleans. Because I wouldn't get with in a block of that death trap.

It’s possible there was not any faulty construction issues and the damage slabs could be the result of a load that was dropped due to a crane issue. It will be throughly investigated by engineers who should be able to determine the cause and extent of the floors and areas that were damaged. At this point in time it’s just idle conversation and speculation.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by Rickcin

It’s possible there was not any faulty construction issues and the damage slabs could be the result of a load that was dropped due to a crane issue. It will be throughly investigated by engineers who should be able to determine the cause and extent of the floors and areas that were damaged. At this point in time it’s just idle conversation and speculation.

I don't believe that is possible. 1. The pictures I have seen show the load still hanging on the crane, right where the crane operator abandoned it. I haven't seen any evidence that the crane dropped anything. 2. But even if the crane did drop a load on the building that should not cause a catastrophic failure of half the building. Have you ever seen a wrecking ball being used to demolition a building? One impact doesn't collapse half the building. This building was a House of Cards, waiting to come down.

The only real possibilities are either poor design, or construction, or both.

[Rickcin]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

I don't believe that is possible. 1. The pictures I have seen show the load still hanging on the crane, right where the crane operator abandoned it. I haven't seen any evidence that the crane dropped anything. 2. But even if the crane did drop a load on the building that should not cause a catastrophic failure of half the building. Have you ever seen a wrecking ball being used to demolition a building? One impact doesn't collapse half the building. This building was a House of Cards, waiting to come down.

The only real possibilities are either poor design, or construction, or both.

All I’m saying is that it’s all guess work until it’s investigated and fully determined as to what happened.

A little premature to suggest the structure should be implored, IMHO❗️

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by Rickcin

All I’m saying is that it’s all guess work until it’s investigated and fully determined as to what happened.

A little premature to suggest the structure should be implored, IMHO❗️

No investigation is even needed. This building is complete garbage, or it wouldn't have collapsed the way it did. This type of construction wouldn't even be allowed in Third World countries that have no standards. The building must come down. The contractor must be prosecuted. The city officials who approved the building permit for this deathtrap must be prosecuted too.

The building was already at the point of collapse two days before it finally came down. The building will need to be completely torn down, and I doubt it will even be rebuilt. At least not this design.

'This is seriously bad' Video shows concerns days before Hard Rock hotel collapse
The video was shot by a worker on Thursday, two days before the structure pancaked from the top Saturday morning, killing at least two.

[b]NEW ORLEANS — A video posted late Tuesday on Facebook by a local contractor purports to show the concrete slab above an upper level of the since-collapsed Hard Rock Hotel sagging to the point of bowing the temporary posts supporting it.

Randy Gaspard, a local concrete contractor, said the video was shot by a worker on Thursday, two days before the structure pancaked from the top Saturday morning, killing at least two.

“Look, Papo, 'the best engineering!' Look at these large stretches (between supports) and s**t beams! (unintelligible) They’re already to the point of breaking," he says in the video.

"Look at this, Papo,"he adds, pointing the camera at a bent support jack. "Look at how it’s bent already! They couldn’t remove it because it's too bent and it has too much pressure. The huge spaces without beams – look! What a very s**t structure these architects and engineers are building! Little gringos! … This is seriously bad, Papa!”

'This is seriously bad' Video shows concerns days before Hard Rock hotel collapse _ wwltv.com