Hard Rock Hotel - Part 2 1

[JAE]

A continuation of our discussion of this failure.
Best to read the other threads first to avoid rehashing things already discussed.

Part I
thread815-459166

 

[JAE]

Some new movement in the demolition (per ENR: ENR Link)

Some highlights:
A judge has set an April 30 deadline for the city of New Orleans and the developer of the Hard Rock Hotel to take action on a proposal to remove two bodies that remain in the partially collapsed building and bring its upper floors by July.

The developer favors a traditional, piece-by-piece demolition, whereas the city believes implosion is a safer option.

The developer indicated earlier this month it had worked out a deal with Kolb Grading to dismantle the building and applied for city permits on March 27 to move forward with its plans for a conventional demolition.

…the last stages of the demolition involve tearing down floors nine through 18 — the collapsed, unstable hotel structure – and then floors one through eight, which consist of a concrete parking garage that is believed to be stable.

If the new demolition plan for the hotel is approved, the upper floors of the building would be taken down by July 24, before the start of the 2020 hurricane season.

 

[RVAmeche]

Jesus those dead bodies are still there?

 

[JAE]

Ya that is exactly what I thought.

 

[NOLAscience]

I still don't understand why the city insists on demolishing the parking garage (Floors 1-8). If anything, that decision should be left for after all above has been removed and Floors 1-8 can be assessed. It is wasteful to remove concrete that is in good condition.

 

[hokie66]

Yes, you would think they could use the parking, even if nothing is built above.

 

[3DDave]

I suspect the city is going for total demolition as either a way to further punish the investors in this project by leaving them with nothing or it's some sort of favor that allows those same investors to walk away.

It's going to take a hard look to see which perverse incentives are really at work.

 

[waross]

The parking structure may have been inspected by the same drive by inspectors and be suspect.


Bill
--------------------
"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter

 

[LionelHutz]

After clearing out some of surrounding historic building to help with the demolition, the developer has a much bigger lot to work with so of course they want the old building gone.

 

[NOLAscience]

After clearing out some of surrounding historic building to help with the demolition, the developer has a much bigger lot to work with so of course they want the old building gone.

Yep, I thought of that, too, but it would seem that the developer would be happy to have the existing parking garage (previously thought of as guaranteed income) and also enjoy rebuilding the streetlevel access of the buildings to be gobbled up.

The parking structure may have been inspected by the same drive by inspectors and be suspect.

I don't blame the inspectors as much as the architect and engineer in this one. Also, we use buildings every day that were built before inspectors were even invented.

It's going to take a hard look to see which perverse incentives are really at work.

Perverse incentives may certainly be part of the problem.

Yes, you would think they could use the parking, even if nothing is built above.

I used to think of parking near the French Quarter as guaranteed income, but in post-COVID New Orleans, who knows? I'd feel terrible if the owners of these lots were unable to collect $40-%50 per night from visitors.

 

[JAE]

May 5, 2020; NOFD chief orders historic buildings near Hard Rock torn down, clearing way for hotel demolition: Article Link
New Orleans Fire Superintendent Tim McConnell issued a demolition order for three buildings surrounding the site of the partially collapsed Hard Rock hotel, removing the final hurdle to bringing down the hulking wreckage.
The order comes a day before the Central Business District Historic District Landmarks Commission was set to decide whether to allow the demolition of the buildings, two of which are considered historically significant structures.

 

[NOLAscience]

The site owner and demolition contractor claim they need the space of those buildings in order to stage cranes for the dismantling. Idk if I believe them 100%, but the demo has been approved.

 

[LionelHutz]

It's hard to believe them when they were claiming those buildings need to be demolished before even having a demo plan.

 

[OHIOMatt]

Every once in a while I do a search to see if there has been any news on the investigation into this collapse. I rarely find much, but last evening, I found this article

https://www.nola.com/news/courts/article_b4df24e8-a446-11ea-8baf-4b191b1241b4.html

The article summarizes a lawsuit filed by Citadel Builders LLC. Apparently they are wanting the release of police and fire department body cam footage from the day of the collapse. The lawsuit claims that there is no evidence of an ongoing criminal investigation into the collapse, so there is no justification for not releasing the evidence. A quote from the article

“Aside from subpoenas initially issued to allow seizure of evidence inside the building, it is believed that no interviews or other evidence have been collected or obtained in connection with the ‘criminal litigation,’” the firm’s attorneys wrote.

Does anyone know if there are ongoing criminal investigations?

 

[thebard3]

It seems that there has never been any significant entry made into the building yet, not even to remove the bodies of those killed. It's hard to imagine any investigation would proceed very far until there's something other than construction drawings and video that they can look at to determine the cause of collapse. I would guess every option is still on the table until then.

Brad Waybright

It's all okay as long as it's okay.

 

[OHIOMatt]

I guess that I would think that there would be interviews, document seizures, e-mail tracking, phone logs, etc. Maybe that has happened, but from the sounds of the article, the only subpoena was for evidence in the building. This happened 9 months ago, I would expect that the prosecutors would be digging into everything else and then validating with the evidence in the building. Surely they are not waiting for the building demo to start their process.

 

[NOLAscience]

A criminal investigation into the collapse is so far over the heads of the prosecutors that my guess is that they don't know where to start. But this news story, filed not long after the collapse, claims that the documents gathered immediately after the collapse could provide evidence for a criminal investigation.

https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/...eans/289-9a38b2ba-c6a5-477e-bbe9-c1d6da77514f

 

[TGHAN]

What's the latest update on removal of the bodies? I though they were supposed to be removed by July. I know that the red-zone buildings are being demolished now.
Thanks

 

[JohnRBaker]

Since you asked:

Recovery of bodies begins next week at Hard Rock Hotel site in New Orleans

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/10/us/hard-rock-collapse-bodies-new-orleans-trnd/index.html

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[JStephen]

I had just assumed the bodies were buried under rubble with exact locations unknown, but that seems to not be the case.