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"

 

[hpaircraft]

Serious question: How likely is it that there is already a team of engineers working on a disposal plan for the building? It would seem to be prudent to have a variety of contingency plans at the ready, up to and including disposal.

 

[dik]

Is that before or after it falls... if they have contingencies, from a legal point of view, they were planning for the collapse and may be more liable in the event someone is hurt and they didn't do very much. They may already be in that situation. This is already a lawyer retirement project...and you have lots of rich people with lots of 'big' lawyers.

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

-Dik

 

[dik]

and what happens at 29-1/4"? I'm not into seismic designs other than a few simple projects... but, the current structure does not look really great. That 'bowl of soup' it's sitting in doesn't look particularly nice, to me.

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

-Dik

 

[epoxybot]

San Francisco Business Times: Engineers think they have a fix for the Millennium Tower retrofit. They'll start testing it next week.

One problem for SG&H is that Slate does not have experienced field personnel. As far as I have been able to ascertain John Egan's career has been more policy wonk than working geotechnical engineer. At least they have Legacy.

 

[dik]

oops... 24"

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]

Here we go again. Why would victaulic type connections not be even faster than bolting (if indeed the time to splice the casings is actually the problem) only 4 bolts does the job and its water tight; I assume they would be attached above ground level so victaulic type couplings using collars welded on the thinner casings should not be a problem unless the casings are so thin that distortion would be a problem. Victaulic couplings are available up to 255 in. diameter. In the end the casings probably don't have to cary any compressive load.

Bolts, collars or couplings sticking out may in fact all be a problem by enlarging the hole outside of the casing. Even bolts will protrude about 1/2 in.

They still obviously have no real clue if this will work and they are quickly running out of acceptable added settlement. Hamburger will be dead meat if he is wrong again.

 

[Walnuts]

Another update on NBC last night Link I don't think it says this in the clip, but the text on the web site says "Patrick Hannan, spokesman for the Department of Building Inspection, said the drilling expert, Dan Brown, was hired last week to evaluate the testing plan. “He’s been providing feedback and insight on the planned proposal going forward,” Hannan said." Which is good, but if the design team had any sense of their limitations, they would have done this before they started! And, it doesn't address the fact that the perimeter pile upgrade is nuts.

 

[dik]

From the link, you almost wonder if they know what they are doing... I'd be meeting with a 'bunch' of good geotekkies and engineers and see what suggestions they can offer and see what information is still required. This is urgent; you want to have spare time 'at the other end'. It doesn't seem that the hamburger has a clue.

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

-Dik

 

[epoxybot]

Ron Hamburger didn't waste any time chiming back to Geotech Robert Pyke's criticism about 'responsible engineers'

San Francisco's sinking Millennium Tower work was halted 'months' too late, expert says

 

[dik]

You'd almost think the hamburger has a vested interest in the outcome...

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

-Dik

 

[hamjohn]

The Millennium Tower Association that represents homeowners is still not commenting. Interestingly though, we found an online presentation that Hamburger did in February for students at the University of Minnesota that seems to confirm property values are at the core of all this. In it Hamburger points out “[highlight red]There is no reason structurally that the building needs to be upgraded. Homeowners needed a major retrofit to ‘revalue’ their units.[/highlight]”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/rea...tional-sinking/ar-AAPdC9V?ocid=BingNewsSearch

 

[epoxybot]

You'd almost think the hamburger has a vested interest in the outcome...

I think Hamburger was trying to get his two cents in for the evening broadcast. SF Gate & The SF Chronicle are sister organizations and frequently coordinate with KPIX/CBS.

 

[dik]

didn't know that... thanks. Don't you hate it when you did a deeper excavation for yourself?

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]

...trying to get his two cents in ...

What is the cost these days of a couple of billion in professional liability insurance; a bit more than two cents I will bet. Oh, I see, you just declare bankruptcy and move to the East coast where bedrock is closer to the surface. This just gets more insane every day.

 

[Walnuts]

I think Hamburger is a bit disingenuous in suggesting that the pile installation was finally stopped on his recommendation: "On the day that I recommended that the 36 inch pile installation stop, the Millennium Tower HOA instructed the contractor to stop, in line with my recommendation." Surprisingly, I think it was actually the ERDT who showed at least a little backbone and forced both the halt of the 36-inch casings and the subsequent halt of the 24-inch casings/piles. The history is: July 29, Greg Deierlein sends an e-mail to the DBI complaining that the suggestion that work be halted, with which they agree, has not been acted on. August 2, they put the 36-inch casing on hold. August 19, there is a meeting at which the design team offers nonsensical responses to ERDT questions about the causes of the enhanced settlements. August 22, the 24-inch casings/piles are put on hold.

 

[hokie66]

apper.42,

That wouldn't work well, as SGH is based in Massachusetts. Besides, with the possible exception of this building, their record is outstanding.

 

[epoxybot]

I'm a bit confused about the start date for this project. AECOM entered an agreement to sell Shimmick Construction in December to a small-mid sized private equity firm. It completed the transaction in January. I can't tell if Legacy Foundation was part of the sale.

AECOM bought Shimmick in July 2017. So did AECOM bail on a $2B+ liability and did Sage Geo, which was purchased by Gannet-Flemming, do the same? Or does AECOM still hold the liability?

AND this is an ironically fun read: An Unsuccessful Urban Deep Excavation in Soft Soils

 

[Walnuts]

Shimmick and Legacy now have the same address in Irvine so I assume that Legacy escaped from AECOM along with Shimmick. I did not realize that AECOM had bundled the remnants of MK and the Washington Group in with Shimmick, but I had assumed that AECOM would end up losing their shirt like MK did. But I guess the accountants who run AECOM were smart enough to get rid of the construction entities before that happened. I don't think that John Egan and the people who left to join Slate when Gannett Fleming bought SAGE were there long enough to incur much liability, but I hope Slate and SGH have good insurance! More than the standard $5 million E&O insurance that I understand Treadwell & Rollo had. But the key thing is that MSD (the Millennium Partners subsidiary that was the developer of 301 Mission St), as part of the mediation agreement, took out insurance to cover satisfactory completion of the fix. I wouldn't want to be holding that policy!

 

[dik]

Hehehehe... but, that was in SanFrancisco...

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

-Dik

 

[epoxybot]

dil - I found most of the bullet points, as to what went wrong, to be strikingly similar to the issues at 301 Mission.