Calgary, Canada Apartment Building

[dik]

From CBC, "Residents of an apartment block in Calgary's Kensington area came home Thursday afternoon to a sign on the door that said "do not occupy" and officials telling them they had 15 minutes to pack some belongings and evacuate the building.

Emergency crews were called to the seven-storey Kensington Manor in the 300 block of 10th Street NW for a call of a "possible imminent building collapse," a fire spokesperson said.

The building had previously known structural issues that had to do with its balconies."

Link:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/kensington-apartment-building-evacuation-1.4417194

Dik

 

[Shotzie]

I wonder if it's an issue with one of the columns the section of building supported above the drive through area. Not much redundancy if one of those columns gave way.

 

[Sparweb]

We won't know until photos of the problem leak out.
So far no photos or technical descriptions of the problem have been released/leaked.

The current Google Maps Picture shows construction workers and fences around the parkade. And a porta-potty so you know they were working there a while.

STF

 

[Sparweb]

Rolling back in the history of Google street view reveals some of the history of the work on the parkade.
But that may be a red herring: The news stories show pictures of people walking casually under this area.

2009 May, stuff peeling off the ceiling:

2012 September, ceiling has been refinished:

2014 April, ceiling peeling again:

2015 April, partly parkade fenced off:

2015 September, parkade ceiling cut away, workers on scaffolding busy under the second-storey floor:

STF

 

[Ingenuity]

According to City of Calgary website [www.calgary.ca] the building was constructed in 1969.

https://maps.calgary.ca/MyProperty/[/URL]]
Development Permits for past 3 years on 321 10 ST NW:

DP2017-0681 is Released. Permit issued on 2017-03-28. Job is Exterior Renovations: Dwelling Unit (front facade upgrades)

DCP2017-0759 is Pending Inspection. Permit created on 2017-04-24. Job is DP2017-0681 Exterior Renovations: Dwelling Unit (front facade upgrades)​

Building Permits for past 3 years on 321 10 ST NW:

Commercial / Multi Family Project (BP2015-07077) is Completed. Permit issued on 2015-07-09. Project scope was INTERIOR ALTERATIONS - SLAB REPLACEMENT.

Commercial / Multi Family Project (BP2017-06984) is Issued Permit. Permit issued on 2017-06-22. Project scope was Exterioir Renovations.

HVAC (Mechanical) Permit (MP2016-00179) is Completed. Permit issued on 2016-01-22.​

So in the last 3 years: exterior facade repairs, interior slab replacement...

In the 1970's and 80's, Calgary, like many North American cities, had a lot of residential apartment and condo buildings constructed with UNbonded post-tensioning, several of which suffered from extensive corrosion problems over the years.

Not sure if Kensington Manor is post-tensioned. IF it is, then the late 60's PT systems used rather crude methods of corrosion protection to tendons.

 

[Shotzie]

Some follow up comments from the building owner: Link