Facebook Twitter Linkedin

  • Home
  • News Center
    • Latest News
    • Events
  • Publications
  • Education
    • Education Home
    • Calculation Examples
    • Online Historical Database of Civil Infrastructure
  • Networking
  • Jobs
  • Software
  • Maps
  • Advertising Services
  • Home
  • News Center
  • Latest News
  • News on Natural Disasters / Failures
  • Building partial collapses in Houston: 3 casualties

Building partial collapses in Houston: 3 casualties

Written by  TheCivilEngineer.org
Published in News on Natural Disasters / Failures
  • font size decrease font size decrease font size increase font size increase font size
  • Print
  • Email
  • Media

Three people have been confirmed dead after a building partially collapsed in Houston, Texas.

Building partial collapse in Houston Building partial collapse in Houston NBC/KPRC
08
October

The 15-story building that was under construction, is located in the 990 block of Town and Country Boulevard, West Houston. It partially collapsed on October 5, 2020, at around 1:30 pm local time. 240 construction workers were present at the time of the incident.

According to the Fire Department of Houston, the failure is associated with a stairwell collapse that occurred within 13 floors of the structure. In particular, the stair shaft failure initiated on the 13th or the 14th floor and persisted till the 1st floor of the building. The debris reached the ground floor. The stairwell was also under construction at the time. 

Unfortunately, three workers are confirmed dead. Their names were not released. One more was hospitalized with severe injuries and his current condition is stable. The other laborers that were at the site during the collapse are safe. “Out of nowhere, I hear a loud banging sound. It sounded like a building was collapsing. All you see is a bunch of smoke,” Chris Mercado, one of the construction workers, said.

The causes of the collapse have not been identified yet and an investigation has been launched. The police and crime detectives are also assessing the conditions under which the failure occurred as the protocols suggest in every fatal industrial accident.

Experts are not warned about the integrity of the building but they are concerned about the stability of the remaining stairwell. A subsequent collapse may be imminent, therefore, the Fire Department did not allow anyone to enter the structure. "It is far too early to determine what's the structural cause. But I can tell you anytime there's a primary collapse, our biggest concern is a second collapse. That's why we're not permitting any other rescuers until we can confirm the stability of the structure," Assistant Fire Chief Ruy Lozano, stated.

The building had undergone inspection some days before the incident but engineers did not find any structural faults. “As far as our structural team was concerned, Harvey Builders (the company in charge of the construction) was doing everything they were supposed to,” Alanna Reed, a spokeswoman for Houston Public Works, stated.

The current works include the utilization of a crane to remove the debris. The crane will remove the collapsed parts through cavities from the roof of the building.

The structure is part of a larger project for the future headquarters of Marathon Oil, a U.S. oil and natural gas exploration and production company, in Houston. The facility was planned to be completed by 2021.

Sources: Independent, Dailymail, Click2houston, NYtimes 

 

Media

3 killed, 1 injured in partial building collapse in west Houston KPRC 2 Click2Houston
More in this category: « Hammersmith Bridge in London closes after propagation of existing cracks High tower in South Korea engulfed in fire »
Read 1497 times Last modified on Thursday, 08 October 2020 19:54
Rate this item
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
(0 votes)
Tweet
  • Social sharing:
  • Add to Facebook
  • Add to Delicious
  • Digg this
  • Add to StumbleUpon
  • Add to Technorati
  • Add to Reddit
  • Add to MySpace
  • Like this? Tweet it to your followers!
Tagged under
  • United States
  • Texas
  • Houston
  • Building partial collapse
  • Stairwell collapse
  • Casualties
  • Inspection
  • Investigation
  • Criminal investigation
  • Houston Fire Department
  • Marathon Oil
  • Subsequent failure
TheCivilEngineer.org

TheCivilEngineer.org

Latest from TheCivilEngineer.org

  • Major flood defense project in UK completed
  • Partial building collapse in North Vancouver, Canada
  • Removing left turns to increase safety and reduce congestion on roads
  • Using biometric data to make urban infrastructure safer
  • Iceberg wall collapsed in Titanic Museum

Related items

  • Partial building collapse in North Vancouver, Canada
  • Removing left turns to increase safety and reduce congestion on roads
  • Iceberg wall collapsed in Titanic Museum
  • Control building energy demand to preserve the electrical power resources
  • Multistory building collapse in Miami
back to top
Place your ad here - Reach throusands of Proffesionals!

Search News

Filter By Category

More News On

China Climate Change Earthquake Environmental Engineer Infrastructure Landslide Newsletter Structural engineer UK USA

Facebook Twitter Youtube Linkedin

Our Resources

Contribute

Services

Advertising Kit 2022

Contact Us

Copyright © 2002-2022 Elxis s.a.
Powered by ARGO-E LLC. All rights reserved.
Disclaimer - Copyrights & Permissions - Cookies

TheCivilEngineer.org uses third party cookies to improve our website and your experience when using it.

To find out more about the cookies we use and how to delete them visit our Cookies page. Learn more

I understand
Latest News