“This is a highly unusual [progressive] collapse, the first being the extent of it,” says Glenn Bell, a forensic structural engineer and director of Collaborative Reporting for Safer Structures (CROSS-US), a division of the American Society of Civil Engineers Structural Engineering Institute. The building pancaked “very quickly,” adds Bell.
Champlain Towers residents started sending payments
Several building owners started sending paperwork to start the payments a day before the tower collapsed. There is no information if the same issues that the engineering discovered in 2018 resulted in the collapse. However, experts believe that a structural failure at the bottom of the building has contributed to the disastrous collapse.
Furthermore, a pool contractor who visited the Champlain Towers South two days ahead of the collapse stated that there was unusual water damage in the building’s garage. He added that a staff member told him that he thought its a waterproofing issue.
The 2018 report said the building’s design was flawed and didn’t have proper pool-deck drainage.
