SF's Millennium Tower now tilting more than ever to the west after early recovery

Despite initial progress in the first phase of the so-called fix earlier this year, the sinking and leaning Millennium Tower in San Francisco is now tilting more to the west than ever, according to monitoring data reviewed by NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit. Jaxon Van Derbeken reports.

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[shoersa]

I have an idea.

Relocate the Department of Building Inspection/permitting to the top floors of the Millennium Tower and insist that they work at the office and not at home.

[michaeln.]

It's time to start dismantling the building and everyone takes a loss.

[phillipkalaveras]

THIS IS HOW THE MILLENNIUM TOWER HAPPENED
In mid-2004, the Department of Building Inspection took the extraordinary step of ordering construction halted on a 52-story project at 80 Natoma St. The then head of the building inspection department, Frank Y. Chiu, said in a legal declaration in October 2004 that he ordered a work stoppage in light of their experts’ warnings that the 80 Natoma St. project would sink far more than the geotechnical designers estimated.

At this point in time, The Millennium Tower is still on the drawing board and has the exact same foundation designed by the exact same geotechnical firm – Treadwell and Rollo – that designed the much lighter 80 Natoma St. project that was just shut down by the Department of Building Inspection for having an inadequate foundation. Treadwell and Rollo are now undeniably aware that their foundation as planned for the Millennium Tower is inadequate and that it will be rejected by the Department of Building Inspection so they simply did not submit it for review and let construction begin. It is of record and is undeniable.

This is what happened and it can be easily fact-checked by anybody, everything else that is being thrown around is I suspect an intentional distraction from what is a simple truth so the next question will never be asked... How was the Department of Building Inspection sidestepped?

[rodwallace]

The original design of this building used much more steel in
the construction but costed too much. The owners told the
architects to use concrete. More than doubled the mass.

[tea]

They didn't want to listen to an old engineer's advise from the start. Now it's time to just prepared to dismantling this time bomb.

[Sugerskull]

I could never walk in that building and not feel anxiety.

[dontbanmebrodontbanme]

And to think, all of this could have been avoided when they were originally building this tower if they just spent $3 million more and actually sunk the foundation into bedrock. But the builders cut corners and here we are! There's no way you can be confident in this fix. Imagine spending $2 million for one of these apartments. Sure, some people are rich and it's not a big deal. For others, this is their life savings, tied up into this disaster.

[mrcpaddler]

The design theory of using friction piles is sound, provided your soil type is conducive. It was not; and for a building which has a live load - in a seismically active zone - using friction is tantamount to negligence. Driving to bedrock was unquestionably the competent design solution that real professionals would have employed. Increasing the load by substituting a concrete skeleton instead of the original steel frame should have necessitated a change to the a bedrock foundation.

[bluhammer]

A local news video was shown a number of years ago where they placed marbles on the floor and they easily rolled across the room! Can’t imagine how fast they’d roll now.

[paulman]

I wouldn't want to be in that in an earthquake.

[bredlo]

The marbles they rolled across the tower's floors years ago represent the ones officials have clearly lost. Take it down before it's too late.

[sharit]

Yikes! I'd hate to be anywhere near that! I'm no engineer, but the 'fix' sounds like too little, too late. Hope this doesn't end in catastrophic tragedy!

[tyzxcj]

They need to lock up the inspector or engineer who approved the original plans to build this building knowing they wouldn't pile down to bedrock.

[JoeRogansGutBiome]

Congratulations millennium tower for this new achievement. Gangster Lean Level 5 Unlocked!

[wz]

Why a building of this size never had it foundation tied to bedrock is bizarre. I am no structural engineer but even I know that the soil in SF is sandy, prone to shifting and putting a building of that mass on a slab, regardless of how thick it is, is a recipe for exactly this to happen.

[delmonicofarquhar]

You know you're in trouble when you arrive at the office and your boss announces that, henceforth, all coffee cups have to be set down in gimbaled cup holders.

[murraywagnon]

I wouldn't go anywhere near that building.

[tomhanson]

Someone needs to explain to me ( 30 years as a Union Ironworker ) how a building that is leaning, reverses the lean by adding piling. What a CROCK OF BULL!!!!

[Wythaneye]

If a tower falls in San Francisco, and all the businesses have already left, does it make a sound?

[haroldhenderson]

With only the pilings placed so far, I would expect the building to "change direction/amount" of tilt, but NOT stop moving. Like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, one corner of the foundation is "fixed", the rest rotates around that location. The compressive load on those piles will increase over time, bending and shortening them. Once bent, they will bend more (and faster) under a constant load. This is like putting a "Band-aid" on a broken leg.