Speculation at the moment, but precast structures like this often have stability issues before everything is tied together. Or, as there are some pictures of cranes which seem a bit askew, it could have been a lifting failure?

It looks perhaps like at least one of the 'cranes' may have slipped or sunk into something. It seem to be sitting pretty low on the job site. Could there have been a foundation or retaining wall collapse resulting in some earth moving under the equipment?

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
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Irvine, CA
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OSHA inspectors were on the site today with a drone. Both ends of the structure are now propped up with temporary supports. The question is whether the structure will have to be taken apart and re-erected.

Those precast beams seem have rotated.

the outer one being a spandrel and the inner one seems to have the floor spanning on one side only... with the plank on the LHS spanning the other direction.

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

And that looks like a might split at the top of that one column.

Damn precast. Again.
Precast is great in concept, at least.
The robustness of the connections is what gives me the most heartburn.
My strong hunch is that partial collapses during construction occur with precast structures (like the one in this post) far more than cast-in-place concrete or structural steel erection.
Can't prove it, that's just my sparse data set in the framework of my biases.

Aside: Does anyone know of a national database - say from OSHA or similar - which tabulates and logs these events, and makes available to the public?
OSHA has a lot of very good after-incident detailed reports, but I have not seen a comprehensive database.

Quote (Damn precast. Again.)

If done right, precast is great... attractive finish, and can be economical... I've done numerous precast buildings, including those in seismic areas.

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

Quote (ATSE)

Aside: Does anyone know of a national database - say from OSHA or similar - which tabulates and logs these events, and makes available to the public?
OSHA has a lot of very good after-incident detailed reports, but I have not seen a comprehensive database.

I haven't dug into it myself, but I did find this:

https://enforcedata.dol.gov/views/data_summary.php

Quote (And that looks like a might split at the top of that one column)

any suggestions why the column would be split? I cannot think of any, not with the large wide precast beam over.

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

Honestly no I don't have any idea why the column would split like that. Normally I would say a split like that in a concrete member would be due to localized rebar corrosion causing expansion and tension splitting. But a barely loaded, brand new column, doesn't strike me as a candidate for either corrosion or overloading.

Maybe torsion from the beam cause a pry-out type failure of whatever dowel type fastener they had into the top of the column? That's my best guess. You'd think there'd be enough ties near the top of the column to prevent that however.

Quote (Honestly no I don't have any idea why the column would split like that.)

Don't feel bad... I couldn't think of a good reason, either...

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

My guess is that on the left side in the yellow circle, water has been accumulated between the elements and then frozen and expanded so that the roof beam has been pushed to the right.
Maybe that is what has made the crack on the right pillar or the pillar has not been completely dry inside, due to the water inside the pillar, the water has frozen and expanded until it cracked.

BR A

“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.“
Albert Einstein

I don’t think that’s a crack. There are drip stains from water or something all over the structure.

Good catch, you may be right that it's picking up something from the bearing pads and staining the surface.

Also, in looking at some of these pictures, there appears to be a significant lack of erection bracing in place. Hollow-core diaphragms rely on the grout and all the tie-bars being in place. So even if they started erecting next to the shear walls, there's nothing bracing any of the columns away from the shear walls until the grouting is complete and cured.

bones... that explains the 'crack' I couldn't think of a reason for... thanks

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

Quote (bones206)

I don’t think that’s a crack. There are drip stains from water or something all over the structure.

Okey you can be right, it is not easy to see in that picture

Then my guess is only that on the left side in the yellow circle, water has been accumulated between the elements and then frozen and expanded so that the roof beam has been pushed to the right.

Best Regards A

“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.“
Albert Einstein

I thought it was a crack at first too. Perhaps it was grout dripping down? Looks like they utilized grout sleeves:

to secure rebar, likely...

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

We get several reports per year of these precast monstrosities collapsing, either during construction or after. What we seldom get is a comprehensive report as to why. Perhaps because they are tied up in lawsuits, and settlements include keeping the reasons confidential.

This is an expansion of Bones reference to OSHA Data

on line with search engine
https://www.osha.gov/data

same data in flat file form
https://enforcedata.dol.gov/views/data_summary.php

This search will pull a list of fatality accidents involving collapses, most are either building or excavation collapses. The list is shorter than I expected, perhaps many collapses do not result in fatalities?

https://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/AccidentSearch.searc...=

Fred

To respectfully counter the comment: "...If done right, precast is great..."
This comment could be applied to almost any domain, like, "If flown right, the 737 Max has no problems." But most construction failures are a combination of designer and contractor frailties, and lack of anticipating what might go wrong when humans and randomness are involved.

Possibly a better question is, how likely is this system to exhibit construction problems (like partial or complete collapse) as compared to other structural systems.
Some designs seem to demand CJP welds on intersecting thick steel plates, but I avoid them because of the inherent problems, and the lower probability that the final construction will perform like my FEA; so instead, I bias my designs toward PJPs on thin steel plates.

To reiterate, "If done right, precast is great..."

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik