Update: Construction Flaw in North Carolina Parking Deck Collapse

An engineering report says a construction problem more than 20 years ago caused the May collapse of a part of a parking deck in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Charlotte Observer reported July 10 the four-story parking deck was designed so its concrete columns and beams could move slightly as the structure expanded or contracted when temperatures changed.

The report says the structure didn’t move properly because a steel slot used to hold pieces together was made in the field during construction, rather than at a steel fabricator’s shop. That didn’t allow the bolts to slide properly.

Thomas Koning with the Zapata engineering firm in Charlotte says that put excessive strain and two of the four bolts were damaged, causing the collapse.

No one was hurt in the May 13 incident.

The parking deck is still closed.
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Information from: The Charlotte Observer,
http://www.charlotte.com