An inspection in October 2018 found "abundant" cracking and spalling of the columns, beams and walls in the garage beneath the Miami-area Champlain Towers South, which collapsed Thursday killing some 160 people. An engineer also flagged a "major error" in the building's design.
The town of Surfside posted a dozen documents to its website late Friday night relating to the collapsed Champlain Towers South, including a required 40-year inspection report that was posted as "unverified" and received 16 hours after the Florida condo building's catastrophic failure.
"The report was not formally submitted or authorized by the property owner Champlain Towers," the note said, adding that it was "as required by" the Miami-Dade County Code.
None of the documents, which date to 2018, appeared to contain details that would explain the beachside building's collapse but do reveal multiple potentially serious issues.
The picture emerging from the documents seems to be that the the slow sinking of the building was not likely the problem. Instead, the concrete under the pool deck (and over the garage) was unsloped, which allowed water to collect there and deteriorate the material over the years. Early days.
