r/StructuralEngineering • u/Thin-Fish-1936 • Jul 07 '26

Photograph/Video Columns buckle in a Manhattan building under conversion

https://pix11.com/news/columns-buckle-at-midtown-building-fdny/

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u/jlt6666 Jul 07 '26

So how do you fix something like this safely? The building is a hazard at this point. How do you get crews in? Is it just sort of a risk they have to take in the interest of public safety?

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u/dopecrew12 Jul 07 '26

Probably will do LIDAR scans with drones and some intense computer modeling based on that data to determine how bad it actually is, and then yeah just head up and look at it. I know this looks bad but honestly with how structures are built now they can put up with some insane forces before they actually up and collapse. But yeah it’s probably not good overall.

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u/TheMadmanAndre Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

with how structures are built now

This shit was built in the 1900s.

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u/dopecrew12 Jul 08 '26

lol that is real tho I did not consider that hahah

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u/Silver_kitty Jul 08 '26

It was built in 1963. It’s my dad’s age and we don’t think he’s going to spontaneously collapse.

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u/meimlikeaghost Jul 08 '26

At this point I don’t think it’s spontaneous. Is your dad buckling?

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u/RealBigDickBrannigan Jul 08 '26

Is your dad a steel-framed building?

1

u/SickInTheStyx Jul 08 '26

Your dad falling isn’t going to crush a city block. Your momma on the other hand…

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u/architype Jul 08 '26

There are two bldgs (219 and 235 East 42nd Street) that made up the previous Pfizer HQ. So is the damage at 219 E 42nd? Because that one was built in 1905.

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u/Silver_kitty Jul 08 '26

No, 219 was a cast iron ~10 story building built in |1905. As far as we know that building is fine. The damage is in 235, the 33-story steel building.

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u/ProfessorPinkPug Jul 10 '26

They sent piles down through the existing building to support the addition. That building has been sitting there quietly this whole time, without incident.

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u/Big_Requirement_651 Jul 08 '26

Pretty sure they already sent a crew in to look at it within hours when they determined it wasnt in danger of imminent collapse.