Misleading Article?

[dcStrucEng]

[URL unfurl="true"]http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/ct-nvs-naperville-carillon-repair-meeting-st-0818-20170817-story.html[/url]

By the headline of this news story you'd think the building has structural deficiencies caused by poor structural design. I've read the article three times now and the only cause of "possible" structural issues seems to be from bad waterproofing details.

I hope more details unfold regarding the actual cause of these problems. If it is truly not a structural design flaw, I hope that gets clarified.

 

[JStephen]

The current headline says "structural issues", but nothing to indicate "structural DESIGN issues".

 

[BAretired]

No one is saying it is a structural design flaw, but concrete crumbling, mortar joints deteriorating and embedded steel supports corroding certainly sound like structural issues.



BA

 

[dcStrucEng]

JStepehen - True, but a majority of us reading Eng-Tips forum posts are technical minded and could infer that maybe there are no design issues. But this is an article for the general public in a newspaper. Not everyone reading the article may realize as such and could easily jump to the conclusion of a structural design flaw if not clearly indicated. I just don't want structural engineers to prematurely take blame if not warranted.

BA - those could easily be structural deficiencies resulting from water infiltration occurring over a number of years. So not necessarily the fault of the original structural engineer of record.

 

[BAretired]

dcStrucEng,
I agree with you, but again, no one is saying it is the fault of the original structural engineer. I think you are being overly sensitive. Hopefully the investigation will reveal where the fault lies.

BA

 

[hokie66]

The article is written by a reporter, not an engineering professional. I think by now most of the general public realize you can't believe everything you read.

But it sounds like these are now definitely structural issues. Any design issues may or may not be structural in nature, but waterproofing, drainage, and facade engineering problems keep a lot of us structural engineers busy.

 

[bridgebuster]

The article look pretty run of the mill to me.

 

[dik]

I was doing fine until I came across the 'liquid concrete'... one of the worst articles I've encountered.

Dik