What do you think caused it ? It was built 40 years ago. Seems a long time for general strain to affect a building.
There's no indication on news sources that I have seen.
Any ideas ?
I was thinking a sinkhole, too. Another factor could be wear caused by wind from hurricanes. One report said the section which collapsed was on the side facing the ocean.
shareOn the BBC they had an engineer speculating about rust. Apparently a particular problem with older buildings near the sea. As the iron inside the concrete and the frame of the building rusts it expands, the concrete cracks and a component can fail dramatically. Once one thing breaks the building components around it fail and the problem expands causing total collapse. But I guess at this stage it's still just educated guesswork.
shareThanks, that sounds likely. Scary for anyone else living on the seafront though 😦
shareIt was this, coupled with the infamous escape in 1962, which led to the shutdown of the Alcatraz prison, less than a year later. But by then, it was also over 100 years old.
share“I think this is all tied to sea level rise and our overdevelopment,” said Surfside Town Commissioner Salzhauer.
Maybe there was a sinkhole, maybe the building was just incredibly shoddy.
South Florida has a reputation for corruption, specifically among building inspectors. If what I've heard is true, it's possible that the building was slapped together on the cheap, with materials that'd give way just from the strength of the Florida sun beating on the roof.