With regard to the Florida condo that collapsed yesterday - what are the chances that at least part of the cause will be tied to the Mafia?

It was determined before the building fell that it was sinking from one to three millimeters per year since it was built in the 1980’s. I suspect they may find faulty concrete. It may have also been a bit of sinkhole below the structure. Maybe. Sinkholes are known to exist in Florida.

@kritiper I also read that it was from the subsiding under-structure of the building. All of South Florida is built on swamp and with the depletion of the water reservoirs underneath the cities, the fragile limestone structures that were holding up the foundations are crumpling under the weight of what was build on top of them. This is a horrible result of building on areas that should have never had that many stories.

@sorry Yes. No forewarning, no issues before the fall. So sudden. Makes me think of sinkhole…

@kritiper The building was on beach sand with limestone was 20 feet down but not prone to sinkholes. The area has had rising ocean levels shrinking the size of the beach. Sinkholes occur with removal of water not added seawater.

I made a few dynamics calculations just using the estimated height of the building.
If the problem was corrosion in the roof structures, it would take 9.8 seconds to pancake.
If the problem was in the main supports at the bottom it would take 2.7 seconds to pancake. I’m sure there will be security videos of the fall. From those engineers will be able to predict the location of the weak link.

@elbanditoroso This is Miami. Of course there will be ties to the mob. There are potential payoffs for building permits, zoning an planning boards, inspections, construction equipment, materials, labor, etc. There are so, so many ways. Even the owners play a part.

Miami is sinking due to the use of underwater resources. It’s failure is called Recertification. https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2021/06/24/building-collapse-miami-structure-had-been-sinking-into-earth/7778631002/ and more importantly…. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/sinking-land-rising-seas-dual-crises-facing-coastal-communities

Sinking is not the same as sinkhole. That part of Florida is not prone to sinkholes. They aren’t impossible, but it is not part of sinkhole alley nor anywhere close to it.

A lot of the old buildings along the coast have been sinking a little mini bit over the decades. The newer construction has to perform more extensive weight tests before building, and I’m guessing the foundation is much different now.

As far as mafia, there definitely is mafia in southeast Florida.

When I bought a condo in South Beach six months after we moved in there, there was a red notice on the front doors that there was an engineering problem. They had to close off part of the parking under the building and shore it up or something. It had passed all inspections.

I am so thankful I said “Maybe.” Some kind of subterranean issue was my main point. Primarily not a structural failure.

@kritiper It very well might be. It’s definitely not impossible. I remember a fairly large sinkhole happening along I95 I think? It was some major thoroughfare either in Palm Beach County or Brevard When I lived down there. It’s rare in those counties, but it happens.

Looks like the video data is in. It took 3 seconds, not 10 seconds, for each block to fall. That means it collapsed at the bottom first.
Now for the hard work.

Virtually impossible that this was due to the mafia.

It is more likely to be found that the builders and/or architects cut many corners and used inferior building products in order to save money and make more profits.

This is what is very often the case

From what I’ve read, the Mafia are involved in the building trades, as well as lots of other enterprises. And they make money by cutting corners.
“The Mafia has long been involved in the rigging of construction contracts,” Jarvis said. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2010-03-20-fl-rothstein-south-florida-mob-history-20100317-story.html

I was just catching up on news reporting and they were saying this morning the underground garage had signs of cracking and other problems. I could barely focus on what they were saying because I was so stuck on the word UNDERGROUND?! What? In Florida near the shore? I don’t remember anything underground anywhere in all my years in South Florida. We do have parking under buildings, meaning the lobby, pool, or residences are above, but it’s not underground. Usually, ramps get you up to the main floor of the building, but you don’t go down into the garage like a basement.