3 ms·

Does anyone here have any knowledge of how something like this gets resolved?

SilverElfin 3mo ago
Given all the bad press around things like the millennium tower, I think once you have an issue like this, the building is done. No one will want to live there. And given structural problems with load bearing beams, I would expect the building has to be demolished. But maybe they can demolish it top down partially and rebuild up from the compromised area if the city and engineers deem that safe.
- fiatpandas 3mo ago
  Knocking down a building like this will be a huge pain, extremely expensive, and very dangerous. I think you can assume the developers will try desperately to retrofit the building before demo. There’s good precedence for this even in New York City. Look into the Citicorp case study.
ErroneousBosh 3mo ago
Tie every helicopter you can find to the roof, gas the bent bit off, haul it away and drop it somewhere? They'll likely shore it up with hydraulic props - probably going through the floor and ceiling to floor slabs above and below - to stabilise it, and then start demolishing the building bit by bit.
- kylehotchkiss 3mo ago
  When you run the mental model of picking up a building with a bunch of surplus Hueys, do they not all collide together once they start bearing weight?
  - ErroneousBosh 3mo ago
    Not if you make the strings different lengths.
    - hagbard_c 3mo ago
      In that case the helicopters lower in the pecking order will chop off the strings for the higher ones. I thing seagulls is a better idea, if it worked for a giant peach it should work for a building. Plenty of those around and they'll work for peanuts.
      - tonyedgecombe 3mo ago
        Balloons should do it.
  - singleshot_ 3mo ago
    “spreader bar”
    - ErroneousBosh 3mo ago
      But not one made out of the same stuff as those beams, they're like chocolate.
Anon1096 3mo ago
Most likely the building gets stabilized and then anyone involved gets embroiled in lawsuits and it stays standing half finished for years. One Seaport is a famous recent example of an under construction skyscraper getting halted for structural issues. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/161_Maiden_Lane https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/161_Maiden_Lane
- dlcarrier 3mo ago
  They have something like that in San Francisco (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/301_Mission_Street https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/301_Mission_Street) but they key to finishing it is to not tell anyone it's crooked until after you've sold all of the units.
- IAmBroom 3mo ago
  As flatpandas[0] points out, this might in fact be the best possible practical outcome. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48820971 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48820971
onlypassingthru 3mo ago
Yes, sometimes gravity resolves the problem for you.

Given all the bad press around things like the millennium tower, I think once you have an issue like this, the building is done. No one will want to live there. And given structural problems with load bearing beams, I would expect the building has to be demolished. But maybe they can demolish it top down partially and rebuild up from the compromised area if the city and engineers deem that safe.

fiatpandas 3mo ago
Knocking down a building like this will be a huge pain, extremely expensive, and very dangerous. I think you can assume the developers will try desperately to retrofit the building before demo. There’s good precedence for this even in New York City. Look into the Citicorp case study.

ErroneousBosh 3mo ago

Tie every helicopter you can find to the roof, gas the bent bit off, haul it away and drop it somewhere? They'll likely shore it up with hydraulic props - probably going through the floor and ceiling to floor slabs above and below - to stabilise it, and then start demolishing the building bit by bit.

kylehotchkiss 3mo ago
When you run the mental model of picking up a building with a bunch of surplus Hueys, do they not all collide together once they start bearing weight?
- ErroneousBosh 3mo ago
  Not if you make the strings different lengths.
  - hagbard_c 3mo ago
    In that case the helicopters lower in the pecking order will chop off the strings for the higher ones. I thing seagulls is a better idea, if it worked for a giant peach it should work for a building. Plenty of those around and they'll work for peanuts.
    - tonyedgecombe 3mo ago
      Balloons should do it.
- singleshot_ 3mo ago
  “spreader bar”
  - ErroneousBosh 3mo ago
    But not one made out of the same stuff as those beams, they're like chocolate.

Anon1096 3mo ago

Most likely the building gets stabilized and then anyone involved gets embroiled in lawsuits and it stays standing half finished for years. One Seaport is a famous recent example of an under construction skyscraper getting halted for structural issues. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/161_Maiden_Lane https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/161_Maiden_Lane

dlcarrier 3mo ago
They have something like that in San Francisco (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/301_Mission_Street https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/301_Mission_Street) but they key to finishing it is to not tell anyone it's crooked until after you've sold all of the units.
IAmBroom 3mo ago
As flatpandas[0] points out, this might in fact be the best possible practical outcome. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48820971 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48820971

onlypassingthru 3mo ago

Yes, sometimes gravity resolves the problem for you.