SURFSIDE, Fla. – The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provided an update Thursday on its investigation into the Surfside building collapse, as well as the impacts of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico.
The update was provided during a National Construction Safety Team (NCST) Advisory Committee meeting.
SURFSIDE BUILDING COLLAPSE
“Just six days after the June 24, 2021, partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium building in Surfside, Florida, NIST announced the launch of an investigation under the authorities of NCST Act,” a news release from the agency stated. “Since then, a team of engineering, geotechnical, social science, material science and other experts have been gathering and analyzing evidence to understand what caused the collapse.”
Last year, federal officials said the investigation into the cause of the collapse should be completed by June 2025.
A total of 98 people were killed in the early morning collapse.
The investigation led by NIST is looking into two dozen different scenarios that could explain why the 12-story Champlain Towers South building abruptly failed early in the morning of June 24, 2021, federal officials said in September.
Glenn Bell, associate team lead of the Champlain Towers probe, said last year that most of the intensive work on such things as concrete core samples, corrosion in reinforcing bars and evidence of subpar construction in the 40-year-old building will be done by this spring, followed by a final report and recommendations by June 2025.
On Thursday, officials said it was confirmed that the pool deck collapsed before the building.
They said both fresh and salt water flooded the garage, causing pressure on the slab.
Officials confirmed that a local contractor is helping to collect some samples that are being used for further testing.
Social science teams from Florida International University have been working closely with this investigation.
Investigators are rotated frequently — working 10 days or less per rotation — 10 hours a day. Outside partnerships are also being explored.
“We’ve really been doing a lot of that to try to make sure that we can move and be nimble when we need to do so, because we don’t want the data to disappear just because we’re not able to get there -- get the people in place, get the tools in place,” a woman close to the investigation said. “The pace that we are trying to move with these investigations does mean that we are crammed. We work very hard and we work as fast as we can, and I know there is a lot of demand from the public.”
Updates on the investigation into the collapse and preliminary findings can be found on the NIST website.
HURRICANE MARIA IN PUERTO RICO
NIST is also investigating the impacts Hurricane Maria had on Puerto Rico after it struck the island on Sept. 20, 2017.
Many buildings were damaged, which locals relied on for medical care, safety, communications and more.
“To better understand how the buildings and infrastructure failed, and how we can prevent such failures in the future, in 2018 NIST launched a multiyear effort to study how critical buildings performed during the storm, as well as how emergency communications systems worked,” a news release from NIST stated. “NIST is conducting its research under authorities granted by the National Construction Safety Team Act and the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program.”
Additional information and progress reports can be found on the NIST website.