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Building or infrastructure collapse happens everywhere ...

Mexico - Miami - Italy - Egypt - India - Sri Lanka ...

Why complain? The president just signed a Bill for expenditure ... first major federal infrastructure investment since the Great Depression.

Amnesia and Gaza Genocide

by Oui (Oui) on Sat Jun 26th, 2021 at 09:50:15 AM EST
Inspection raised concerns about a `major error' in Champlain Tower design, records show | Miami Herald |

The concern was laid out in an October 2018, "Structural Field Survey Report," produced for the condo association by engineer Frank Morabito of Morabito Consultants. Morabito wrote that the "main issue" at Champlain Towers was that the pool deck and outdoor planters "laid on a flat structure" preventing water from draining. The lack of waterproofing was "a systemic issue" that traced back to a flaw "in the development of the original contract documents" 40 years ago, the report said.

...
The parking garage under the pool deck and planter slabs also "revealed signs of distress/fatigue," according to Morabito's report. "Several sizable [cracks in the concrete] were noted in both the topside of the entrance drive ramp and underside of the pool/entrance drive/planter slabs, which included instances with exposed, deteriorating rebar."



Amnesia and Gaza Genocide
by Oui (Oui) on Sat Jun 26th, 2021 at 01:47:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Voluntary evacuations of collapsed condo tower's `sister building' have begun, mayor says

No mandatory evacuations of buildings close to the South Champlain Tower, including of the North Tower, have been ordered, said Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett Saturday night.

Residents have been given the option to relocate if they wish, and FEMA funds will be allocated toward that effort. It was not immediately clear how resident would be able to access those funds.

...
The collapsed Champlain Towers South Condo at 8777 Collins Ave., just north of Miami Beach, was built in 1981 by a group of developers, Champlain Towers South Associates, that included the late philanthropist Nathan Reiber.

About a block away to the north is its slightly smaller sister building, Champlain Towers North Condo, which was built at the same time and is also 12 stories tall.



Amnesia and Gaza Genocide
by Oui (Oui) on Sun Jun 27th, 2021 at 07:13:58 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Biden's Build Back Better Jobs Bill d/b/a the "infrastructure bill" to end all infrastructure bills is still tumbling in the dryer. The WH has mobilized press corpse to translate Joe-speak
Biden hopes infrastructure deal reflects the Senate he remembers
and splain top line shrinkage from $6T to (checks notes) $1.2T, maybe, ahead of "traditional" FY 2022 budget mayhem.

Twin idiots separated at birth, Chuck and Nancy, had a plan to by-pass constitutional constraints, Jim Crow Fusion filibusters, and the part-time Parliamentarian: spit appropriations procedure into two parts originating in the senate

  • a "bi-partisan" earmark bill ($597B guarantee)
  • a blank check "reconciliation" resolution
returned to the House where confirmation vote stipulates total "additional funding" provisions ($4T-$6T) for FY 21 budget. This way an enrolled endless infrastructure bill ends up in a bi-cameral conference committee -- to conform bill texts without pesky rules. This is how H.R. 2, introduced by Jim Yarmuth, became H.R.1319 American Rescue Plan or Public Law 117-2).

Some moderate Democrats oppose Biden spending package, as progressives feared

by Cat on Mon Jun 28th, 2021 at 01:18:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Today RT America is running a segment "MIAMI BUILDING COLLAPSE 'Surveyors fearful of lawsuits over housing prices'", that relies on some D-list British "expert" (who apparently escaped Grenfell scrutiny) in US liability law or wtf. I'm not listening closely, because litigation is the NEW! retirement plan for decades...
Lawsuit seeking $5 million says victims of Florida condominium collapse deserve compensation, 25 June
A class-action lawsuit on behalf of Manuel Drezner, a nearby property owner, and other victims was filed at 11:29 p.m. against the Champlain Towers South Condominium Association Inc., Local10 first reported. ... The court filing alleges the condominium  did not provide adequate protection for residents and visitors to the building, did not repair structural problems and failed to prevent the "catastrophic" collapse of the building.
Condo [association] board [president] warned of worsening damage before collapse, 30 June
The April 9 "Dear Neighbors" letter from Champlain Towers South Condominium President Jean Wodnicki hinted at an ongoing debate over the repairs and a reluctance by some condo owners to pay for major work that would cost at least $15.5 million.
[...]
The condominium association pegged the total repair and restoration cost at $16.2 million -- counting items added since the 2018 Morabito inspection -- that would be defrayed in part with about $707,000 the association had in cash on hand. That left the owners with a bill of $15.5 million, with individual assessments ranging from $80,000 for a one-bedroom unit to more than $300,000 for a penthouse.
[...]
"A lot of people were complaining, especially the old people living there," said condo owner Rosalia Cordaro, who was in New York when the building collapsed. "It was a lot of money. I was complaining."

Another owner said the assessment was the talk of the pool when she last visited a week before the collapse.

"It was the theme of most of our conversations," said Nieves Aguero. "`Are you going to pay it? Are you going to refinance?'"

"The number kept getting bigger, bigger and bigger," said owner Alfredo Lopez, adding that the board did a good job of communicating and keeping the process transparent.

... but incorporation is not well understood. Soon shareholders will be suing themselves.
by Cat on Thu Jul 1st, 2021 at 01:52:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]
meanwhile ...
Trump Organization [LLC and CFO Allen Weisselberg] to Be Indicted as Manhattan DA Delivers on Long-Running PROBE, tax evasion
Reports from people familiar with the case say it accuses the Trump Organization of flouting tax obligations by allowing top executives to collect nonmonetary "fringe" benefits, including free or basically free use of apartments in the Trump real estate empire.
[...]
In 2018, federal prosecutors reportedly granted immunity to Weisselberg for his cooperation in a separate [BWAH! no.] investigation of former Trump fixer Michael Cohen. ... Linking Weisselberg to the crimes beyond the ["]hush-money["] payments, including campaign-finance ["]violations["] and to misleading the banks that lent Trump money, Cohen maintained that Weisselberg knew about falsified financial statements that Trump used to dupe insurers and investors.
The TO's D&O policy waiting in the wings ... for subpoenas?
by Cat on Thu Jul 1st, 2021 at 02:35:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Exactly 😬

Understood one owner had written a cheque of $98K a fortnight ago as their part of repairs advised in 2018 report of building flaws. 20/20 vision looking in the mirror.

Amnesia and Gaza Genocide

by Oui (Oui) on Thu Jul 1st, 2021 at 06:30:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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