They're adding a hunch of floors to an existing building - it was the old Pfizer headquarters and they want to turn it into apartments. Someone either didn't do the proper engineering study, or the original specs weren't accurate.

Figuring out who to blame will probably take years in court.

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dlcarrier a day ago | parent | next [-]

More often than a faulty initial design, it's because of a something not being followed, e.g. the design called for one type of material or process and another was used during construction, either on accident or on purpose but without correctly doing the math to verify that it will work.

	▲	dehrmann 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		This makes a case for engineering margins, maybe even running the numbers assuming a worse grade of steel or bolts than specified. Also worth remembering this building wasn't special. If this was a design or construction flaw that surfaced with added load, a lot of other buildings from that era probably have a similar issue.

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asdefghyk 21 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Could also be incorrect materials used. than specified? Fake parts? or construction , used that not obvious