161 Maiden

[XR250]

I just started reading about this.

161 Maiden Lane - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I just don't get it. Wow, they save $6 million going with a risky jet grouting procedure. How could anyone think this was a good idea? With an aspect ratio of 15:1, only 0.2" of differential settlement is required to produce a lean of 3". I can't imagine engineers being that confident in their modeling to sign off on this type of foundation for this project.

 

[Sym P. le]

From New York Magazine's Curbed,

... the building hadn’t settled on its foundation properly and was displaying “a bowing or curve in its verticality,”

so it sounds like the trouble became baked in during the course of construction.

Also, from another item on Curbed,

Work on the 670-foot tall structure progressed, but in April 2018, concrete subcontractor RC Structure reported “structural issues, unusual settlement up to three inches, and the building is leaning three inches to the north,” court records show.

Two months later, the subcontractor handling the non-structural curtain wall—an outer covering on the facade of the building—noticed that the frame already installed on the east side terrace was leaning “approximately two inches difference to the north from Floor 11 to 21” and that the building is now “exhibiting a bowing or curve in its verticality,” according to the complaint.

From Google, it looks like a construction error (above the 10th floor) that someone tried to make disappear.


Google Street View

Street View from relevant time frame.



Another possibility is a weather event (weathergamut.com), of note May 2017, about the time they might have been constructing the 10/11th floors.

In terms of precipitation, May was unusually wet. In all, 6.38 inches of rain were measured in Central Park. Of this impressive total, 3.02 inches (47% of the monthly total) fell in just a few hours on May 5, setting a new rainfall record for the date. Another 1.61 inches came down during an unseasonable nor’easter on May 13.

According to the NWS, 3.02 inches of rain was measured in Central Park, setting a new record for the date. The previous record of 1.55 inches had been in place since 1871.

 

[dik]

That's nothing compared to Millennium Towers in SF...

 

[XR250]

That's nothing compared to Millennium Towers in SF...

For sure. It is a similar situation though. Try to save money by not going to bedrock.
Who knows how bad this one will get if it ever gets occupied.

 

[IRstuff]

This subject got zero replies a year and a half ago

161 Maiden Ln. in NYC - Engineering Failures & Disasters

I never did realize until this morning that New York City also had a Leaning Tower and in ways it's even worse because it's never been completed! Here are some links discussing the situation. https://youtu.be/7QrvbUxOamo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/161_Maiden_Lane

www.eng-tips.com

 

[XR250]

I saw that. I was surprised.

 

[MintJulep]

The Manhattan tower of the Brooklyn Bridge is maybe 400 meters away.

Its foundations never got to bedrock, and it's been fine for long time (finished in 1876).

I guess that means nothing.

 

[XR250]

The Manhattan tower of the Brooklyn Bridge is maybe 400 meters away.

Its foundations never got to bedrock, and it's been fine for long time (finished in 1876).

I guess that means nothing.

I think it does mean something. I wonder if it is on fill like 161 or residual soils? Looks like they just sunk some caissons and called it good.

 

[dik]

Is the area seismic?

 

[FacEngrPE]

Manhattan is seismic, https://www.eng-tips.com/threads/nyc-earthquake.518017/
https://apnews.com/article/east-coast-earthquake-7d03f7a44a6c1a1ea877820515808bee
See attached asce 7 report.

 

[dik]

Thanks...

 

[Smoulder]

3" in a skyscraper? Is there a reason this isn't a triumph?

 

[TugboatEng]

It sounds like the window contractor is annoyed because their own design was too rigid.

 

[GregLocock]

3"? SF's Millenium Towers shrugs https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/millennium-tower-san-francisco-leaning

 

[dik]

and problems in Florida...

Research finds 35 sinking skyscrapers on Miami barrier islands

Skyscrapers such as Porsche Design Tower are in the barrier islands of Miami have sunk as much as eight centimetres since 2016.

www.dezeen.com

 

[TugboatEng]

I thought subsidence was normal for skyscrapers.

 

[JStephen]

Texas had its own example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_Tower