SF Tower settlement Part II 18

[1503-44]

"Appreciation has dropped to 2%"
Well that's less than inflation, but more than interest rates.

Although as I said, probably nobody bought in for either of those reasons.

“What I told you was true ... from a certain point of view.” - Obi-Wan Kenobi, "Return of the Jedi"

 

[dik]

The four basements and the 10' thick slab may have 'pushed' the pile end tips into the old firm clay to help a little bit.

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

-Dik

 

[apper.42]

Lots of amazing facilities at UWO...

Thank you for the post great pictures of the facilities, had never seen good pictures of the 3LP and the WindEEE Dome even though i've been to every reunion but one since '66. Facilities such as these for wind, wave tanks that can duplicate any kind of sea state, snow drifting test facilities, soils research facilities, technological advancements and others leave the weakest link as the clients and the engineers and architects trying to balance clients goals with financial constraints and too often forgetting their duty to the public.

 

[spsalso]

"...forgetting their duty to the public."

And to themselves.



spsalso

 

[Student Forever]

I had missed this news report on how stoppage of pile operation actually was forced on the project while Ron Hamburger, the EOR of pile retrofit was downplaying the importance of the sudden settlement. Read the full report:

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investig...partial-work-stoppage-documents-show/2641422/

 

[apper.42]

I had missed this news report...

Amazingly incompetent, in my opinion, do more of the same thing expecting a different result, until things are even more screwed up than when they started. Never screw with the soils on the side that the building is sinking the most; worst possible thing to do. They should have used the solution proposed by Karp-Karden in their report of 2019, much safer and apparently about the same cost as the Hamburger group fix.

 

[epoxybot]

Why is it that the media..., NBC mostly, can get access to communications between the parties to the Perimeter Pile Upgrade but they can't ask tough questions about the number of perimeter piles being reduced from 52 to 42 and why have they advanced the production pile installation, if they haven't achieved a successful indicator pile?

 

[dik]

not being political, but it seems that reporters aren't interested in news or critical reasoning, anymore.

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

-Dik

 

[SwinnyGG]

Why is it that the media..., NBC mostly, can get access to communications between the parties to the Perimeter Pile Upgrade but they can't ask tough questions about the number of perimeter piles being reduced from 52 to 42 and why have they advanced the production pile installation, if they haven't achieved a successful indicator pile

I'm no fan of the current level of truth-seeking in today's journalists... but I think expecting them to very clearly understand the highly engineered pile system, at a level where they can criticize the design or implementation, is a huge ask. They aren't engineers, and reading drawings and understanding what needs to happen are not second nature to them.

 

[TugboatEng]

Journalists are being fed information from an insider. We don't know who this insider is or what their intentions are. The journalist is not knowledgeable enough to properly vet this information, they can only pass it along.

 

[dik]

I'm pretty sure you're correct, Tug...

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

-Dik

 

[FacEngrPE]

More sensationalism
Millennium Tower is Sinking Faster Than Rate ‘Limit' Set by Fix Engineers Sep 1, 2021 at least this is on the side of "if it is not working, find somthing better to do".
Interview with Rune Storesund Center for Catastrophic Risk Management,

 

[hamjohn]

Permit application 202107194668 filed on 7/19/2021
Revision to PA# 201812047402,to reduce the quantity of piles from 52 to 42,to reduce the vault extents accordingly,to relocate the piles 8" farther from the building face,to modify the locations of piles to avoid existing utilities,to increase the pile diameter in the rock socket form 20"to24".

Permit application 202107194670 filed on 7/19/2021
Revision to PA# 2018-1207-7828. To abandon Indicator Pile No. 1 and to add Indicator Pile No. 2, with a rock-socket diameter of 24 inches, located 8 feet to the north along Fremont Street.

Permit application 202107194671 filed on 7/19/2021
Revision to Permit Application No. 2018 12 07 7819, to revise the excavation and shoring extents due to the relocation and reduction in quantity of permanent piles, to avoid conflict with the indicator pile, to relocate the shoring struts, and to modify the corner waler connection detail.

 

[epoxybot]

More Hearings..., Maybe.

NBC: SF Supervisor Calls for Hearing Over Troubled Millennium Tower Fix

“The sinking and tilting tower Millennium is back,” Peskin told his colleagues Tuesday afternoon, “and it is time to reopen investigatory hearings on that matter, particularly in light of continuing and ongoing revelations at the Department of Building Inspection.”

SFDBI is under investigation by the FBI..., again. This time for former SFDBI Director Tom Hui accepting 'gifts' for permitting. The investigation of SFDBI & Director Hui, sprung from an investigation of the Director of the SFPUC for a number of corruption scandals that has seen the SF City Administrator, Naomi Kelly, resign after her husband, who also works for the City was charged.

Just a recap: Back in September 2016, one month after news broke of the settling & tilt of the Millennium tower and after SF Supervisor Peskin had held the 1st of 11 hearings on the settling of the Millennium Tower, Peskin noted with skepticism, that all of the reports being prepared are being paid for by parties that have an interest in the high-stakes legal cases that are sure to ensue.

At the 2nd hearing on October 28, 2016: “It looks like it’s been extremely lawyer’ed,” Peskin said of SG&H’s 2016 report, “which I hope gives you all some amount of concern.”

This 2016 report had omitted SG&H's earlier concerns about the mat foundation & degree of potential damage to the Outrigger Super-columns during a seismic event, noted in the 2014 preliminary report.

Then in mid 2017 Supervisor Peskin signed the authorization to commit City funding for the "Supplemental Report for Foundation Settlement Investigation" prepared by SG&H. SG&H, author of the two previous reports, to which Peskin had made the dubious attributes, was hired by Millennium Partners legal representative, Paul Hastings, LLP.

The City commissioned report, according to Peer Review chair and Stanford Professor, Greg Deierlein, was the first report that was to include an examination of the piled foundation. The description of the piles and their reinforcement/fixity to the mat contained gross errors. Errors that are hard to afford the suggestion of being a mistake. No one picked up on the error and as SG&H had been working on the so-called 'cheaper' Perimeter Pile Upgrade scheme simultaneously to the report; settlement of the Class Action proceedings swiftly followed.

On October 21, 2020 following settlement of the Class-Action case, Supervisor Peskin had this to say about the court proceedings. “Not a penny of city general fund money went into the settlement,” Peskin said.
At least not directly.
“No money is coming from the city general fund, but a lot of money is coming from Uncle Sugar — the United States of America,” Peskin said.

The entire Perimeter Pile Upgrade scheme was reviewed by SFDBI's EDRT panel of 2 Structural & 2 Geotechnical engineers, Greg Deierlein, Chair, Marko Schotanus, Craig Shields & Shah Vahdani. SFDBI gave approval to the 'Voluntary Structural Upgrade' PRIOR to settling of the class-action lawsuit. One has to wonder who at Paul Hastings, LLP & Millennium Partners made the decisions about what SG&H was allowed to know & access while preparing the Perimeter Pile Upgrade scheme?

What's that expression about doing the same thing over & over again and expecting a different outcome?

 

[epoxybot]

NBC: Millennium Tower Officials: Fix Work to Resume ‘Shortly' (video)

Millennium Tower Manager, James Zaratin assured residents they’re working with the fix engineers and the city’s engineering design review panel to refine drilling methods to minimize the ground disturbance.

But San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin is skeptical. He said Wednesday he will summon experts to assess the plight of the building during the as-yet unscheduled hearing that he called for Tuesday.

“There’s a lot under this rock and I’m about to shine some light on it,” Peskin said, adding that he no longer trusts the current engineering review panel. It was that panel that vouched for the fix back in 2019 and has continued to support the fix team’s efforts.

 

[TugboatEng]

Peskin is such a terrible person to get behind. However, he knows lawyers and I think he sees this as a chance to promote his image. He knows the lawyers are wrong and the truth will surface. (I don't like using speculation in the professional forum so please accept that I am labelling this comment as pure speculation).

 

[dik]

Concur... and without speculating, I don't think that Peskin will come out of this 'lilly white'. The Karp-Kardon report of a couple of years back makes a lot of sense, and the City was well aware of it, it would appear. I think they have just bought a very expensive fix, by ignoring it... without speculating. To reiterate, that the professional association is silent, speaks volumes.

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

-Dik

 

[hamjohn]

Link to the 9-9-2021 interview with the former President of the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California (SEAONC), Emily Guglielmo.

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/v...san-francisco-sinking-skyscraper-put-on-hold/

The current President of SEAONC, Kevin Moore, is a senior principal at Simpson Gumpertz & Heger

 

[apper.42]

So the Millennium Tower building managers and presumably the residents have been SOLD on the fix by Hamburger and company while things just continue to go downhill. At least three apparent "experts" in the field never have agreed with the approved fix and the City previously ignored them (shame on them??) so will they listen now?? Is this just a ploy to get the City off the hook for ignoring the previous warnings. I have no idea but what they are doing so far has made things worse. We all know what crazy is!! Give credit to Hamburger for being a great salesman, but is he a good engineer, I have no idea but in my humble opinion the stakees are too high to not check it out.

 

[hokie66]

The other proposal, by Karp-Kardon, also had some unknowns/complications. It relied on jacking in piles within the perimeter, using the building mass to jack against. Buildings don't much like massive loading applied upwards, so it was unexplained how that would be accomplished.

 

[dik]

I'm pretty sure that would be considered and with a 10' thick mat foundation, there is likely some latitude. I was curious about the manner of jacking and the equipment used. No matter how you cut it, it's still a bit of a mess, and still not fixed.

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

-Dik