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another deck failure

mark handler

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Joined
Oct 25, 2009
Messages
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Location
So. CA
US balcony collapse 'kills five'

10 minutes ago

Janet O from ABC7News reports: ''A chaotic scene in Berkeley''

The balcony of a fourth floor flat in California has collapsed, killing five people and injuring eight, some seriously, police have said.

All five of those killed were Irish students, Ireland's Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan said.

Police found the structure smashed on the street below after an emergency call just before 01:00 local time (08:00 GMT) on Tuesday in Berkeley.

Officials are still unsure why it happened, a police spokeswoman said.

Many of those hurt have life-threatening injuries, said Jennifer Coats, a Berkeley Police Department spokeswoman.

He said it was "too early to know the full extent of this dreadful accident", but a crisis hotline had been set up.

"My heart goes out to the families and loved ones of the deceased and those who have been injured in this appalling accident," said Mr Flanagan.

A local ABC reporter at the scene said it is thought the Irish people involved had come to California to work for the summer.

The Irish consul general in San Francisco is helping those affected and there is an Irish helpline (+353 1 418 0200).

The building has shops on the ground floor and flats on the higher floors.

Are you in the area? Are you affected by the balcony collapse? You can share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

If you are available to speak with a BBC journalist, please include a telephone number.
 
Radio news report just a few minutes ago: building was built circa 2002, maintenance supervisor interviewed by reporter didn't have an answer for cause of failure but did say they only had normal maintenance at the building, no unusual things to deal with.
 
h. See Section 1604.8.3 for decks attached to exterior walls

5. Balconies and decks (footnote h) Same as occupancy served

Therein lies the problem

Call them assembly and require 100 psf. Snow drives the loads in my area and when you add in snow drifting we are close to the 100 psf number

1604.8.3 Decks.

Where supported by attachment to an exterior wall, decks shall be positively anchored to the primary structure and designed for both vertical and lateral loads as applicable. Such attachment shall not be accomplished by the use of toenails or nails subject to withdrawal. Where positive connection to the primary building structure cannot be verified during inspection, decks shall be self-supporting. Connections of decks with cantilevered framing members to exterior walls or other framing members shall be designed for both of the following:

1. The reactions resulting from the dead load and live load specified in Table 1607.1, or the snow load specified in Section 1608, in accordance with Section 1605, acting on all portions of the deck.
 
1150x647


i-JvpwrPH-L.jpg


Interesting.....
 
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Wish there was a shot of another part of the building with an intact deck,

And that one Bo wants a landing outside the Juliet doors?
 
mark handler said:
1150x647
i-JvpwrPH-L.jpg


Interesting.....
Looks like bad design/construction.

The joists are completely rotted. Looks like EIFS on the sides and bottom, water/moisture infiltrated the structure and couldn't drain out.

I would call for an investigation of the whole building
 
I agree with MJ...It is actually pretty difficult to "overload" a properly built deck with just people. Usually there are construction defects IMO.
 
I too feel the construction was inadequate, not necessarily the live load used.

Too often the attachment to the primary structure is simply not done properly. In the photos, deterioration appears to be the culprit.

Properly attached and maintained decks generally don't collapse.
 
Balcony collapse in Berkeley

As of this writing, 6 people dead, 7 cricticallly injured. That means there were at least 13 people on a cantilevered residential balcony - - looks to be about 4' x 8'. It looks like the balcony framing gave way, dumping occupants 4 stories below, then the railing flipped over and came to rest on the balcony below.

The construction looks fairly recent, and typical for this area. There was a major party going on at the apartment.

http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/content/kgo/images/cms/787821_1280x720.jpg

From the photo, it appears to me to be an F'b bending (moment) failure.
 
mjesse said:
Looks like bad design/construction.The joists are completely rotted. Looks like EIFS on the sides and bottom, water/moisture infiltrated the structure and couldn't drain out.

I would call for an investigation of the whole building
M Jesse:

I think you are right, building was 13 years old, I can't tell if it's EIFS but by 2002 insurance companies weren't insuring contractors that were building with EIFS, but it's possible that one got an exception here. Looking at the rotted joists I suspect OSB products, both joists and sheathing, that stuff can disintegrate with just exposure to humidity, so any leaks in flashings, membrane, or rail attachments could totally destroy it in 13 years.
 
Maybe the designer took a reduction in the rot potential because it doesn't rain in Cali? Anyone still think 5 story wood buildings are a good idea?
 
From the pictures I have seen here and a few others it looks like the floor joist were extended out from the floor system and the deck is just an extension of the floor system.

Either poor ventilation or water infiltration seems to have broken down the wood joists that with the weight shattered the joists and flipped the guard system around on a 180 degree pivot.

Looks like the front of the guard is now against the lower level door with the 2 sides extending back towards the street.

Basically a trap door drop to the street just let go.

The noise of the wood shattering must have been loud.
 
Not structural related, but FYI none of the student housing developers I work with want to have balconies on their projects. Too many accidents at parties and too many despondent freshmen who want to end it all.
 
steveray said:
Maybe the designer took a reduction in the rot potential because it doesn't rain in Cali? Anyone still think 5 story wood buildings are a good idea?
Maybe.

I've never seen a catastrophic, sudden failure in normal wood framing, even if it is overloaded. I strongly suspect rot. Other than OSB, you can't solve for rot in wood construction by any other method that adequate waterproofing and ventilation. FYI, I also like down jackets and down sleeping bags when I go backpacking - - but that's because I'm extra careful to make sure they don't get wet.
 
This is a 200% crop:
attachment.php
From what I see there is no wire coming out of the stucco so it probably is EIFS, there is also evidence of what appears to be OSB, maybe even PSLs coming out of the building, if that's the case the building should be red-tagged, vacated, and completely rebuilt. It also appears that the deck membrane is Bituthene, looks like the developer/architect cut corners every place they could.

\ said:
Berkeley officials said the building code would have required the balcony to hold 60 pounds per square foot, which in this case would work out to somewhere around 3,000 pounds — more than 13 normal-size people.¹
¹ http://www.aol.com/article/2015/06/16/police-5-dead-8-injured-in-balcony-collapse-in-california/21196597/?icid=maing-grid7%7Chtmlws-sb-bb%7Cdl2%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D1731462917View attachment 1199

View attachment 1199

/monthly_2015_06/berkeley_crop.jpg.c0bfa0e4f73412a93dfc55871327d460.jpg
 
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estimated deck size 8x5 feet = 40 sf

13 persons @ 150 lbs = 1950 total load / 40 = approximately 50 PSF

sleeping area live load 30 PSF, All other areas live load 40 PSF Table 1607.1 2009 IBC

is this a problem before the joist rotted possibly, after the joist are compromised by rot most likely
 
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