It has been two years since the Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside, Florida, partially collapsed, taking 98 people with it. Now, federal investigators with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) say that construction and design flaws with the building’s swimming pool deck continue to be their “leading failure hypothesis” for why the 40-year-old, 12-story building fell in a matter of seconds.
NIST officials have called it one of the most complex investigations ever undertaken. Investigators say that the pool deck was weaker than required by building codes. They’ve found that the concrete columns that supported the deck had construction defects. One of the team’s leaders, Glenn Bell, said, “These additional construction deviations further reduce the strength of the pool deck slab-to-column connections from the already compromised conditions that I reported in June.”
In their $20 million investigation, the NIST team has moved tons of concrete from the columns and other rubble to warehouses, where it has undergone extensive testing. They’ve also reviewed surveillance videos and photos of the June 2021 building collapse and have asked the public to come forward with any videos or photos they may have.
NIST officials said in a September 7th statement, “ The team’s preliminary evaluation of physical and historical evidence … revealed how the construction of the pool deck deviated from design requirements … Specifically, the team found that the number of slab reinforcing bars centered over vertical columns was inadequate and that the reinforcing bars in the top of the slab in the vicinity of the columns were spaced farther apart than the design required … These deviations weakened the slab-column connections.”
Meanwhile, a new building has been planned at the site of the now demolished Champlain Towers South Condo, and relatives of the deceased are furious.
Martin Langesfeld, who lost his sister and brother-in-law in the collapse, said at the September 7th NIST meeting, “How can we even contemplate having a new developer build on this land when we have not come close to understanding why it collapsed in the first place, taking 98 lives with it?'
On September 1, Surfside city officials approved another 12-story building on the oceanfront property where the catastrophe occurred.
Families who lost their loved ones also met with the building’s developers on September 13 to discuss the placement of a solemn memorial as part of the new space. Developers have planned a loading dock and garbage collection area for the new building that the families say encroaches on the memorial site.
Speaking facetiously at the meeting, Langesfeld said, “Let’s put trash trucks where they died. Let’s put the loading docks where they died … We thought it was going to be very different.”
Langesfeld also said that the federal government should intervene and prevent any new construction from beginning on the site until the NIST investigation is complete.
NIST is aiming to release its final report on the collapse, including findings and recommendations, in June 2025.
Photo credit: Morabito Consultants Inc.
