New Documents Provide Answers, Raise Questions About Troubled Millennium Tower

Newly-released documents tell a previously hidden story about the troubled fix of San Francisco’s sinking and leaning Millennium Tower. NBC Bay Area Investigative Reporter Jaxon Van Derbeken shows us why the documents provide some answers but also raise a very important new one.

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[matthewgroza]

At what point will they just cut their losses and decommission the building? It’s a beautiful building but it’s seemingly becoming more of a safety liability by the day.

[skyepicus]

This building is like a failed marriage. You can try to keep working on it for years with no improvement. And it will ultimately collapse and end up in a divorce anyway. Sometimes you just have to cut loses and move on.

[dinamurrayhoem]

I have a feeling this thing is going to come down during the next earthquake that hits that area.

[theheatinferno]

This is what happens when you value action, over planning.

[ScienceNotFaith]

After things don't go as expected, those in charge change their tune (2:00) and say "we expected this to happen." Yeah, I don't believe it for a second. They have no idea what's going on or how to fix it. This is what happens when you go cheap on construction. They knew better. They knew that pilings should have been to bedrock, but the contractors, engineers and builders wanted to save money. Well, how's that working for you now? They never learn - always thinking nobody will notice, that they can get away with it and if something does happen they can escape responsibility by blaming others. At this point, the tower should be brought down, rebuilt correctly and the developers should have to pay 100% of the cost.

[ShakespeareCafe]

Only highlights the fact the building was built on unstable soil. That used to be the bay there and was filled in

[joeyk]

I learned a song in childhood that went “ the foolish man built his house upon the sand ... “.

[davidcantor]

14 tons more than expected... that seems like an awful lot ahahah!

[Austin_Torres]

The power of greasing so many hands in the city to just look the other way. Hush hush money

[peteshen]

I am extremely concerned for the people and buildings around SFO’s newest added landmark of LEANING TOWER.

[GoodVibes-ievx]

The bigger they are the harder they fall . Funny how people vote to bring down buildings for less stressful reasons, And here we are with one with every god given right to be put down. Yet its like the blind leading the blind .

[booterone]

When insurance companies start cancelling tenants policies, its time to move out.

[gottahaveawawa]

Nothings goings to get done until an earthquake hits SF…

[Baasicstuff]

San Fran is an incredibly difficult place to build due to government regulations, ironically the place has the highest most unaffordable housing and now this happens ? Keep voting for big government and this is what you get.

[abuanwp]

Don't forget, SF is an earthquake hotbed. History proved this place can get up to magnitude 7.0.

[russell]

Amazing, there are ways to do this so that there is NO CHANCE OF SETTLEMENT. Other cities use it exclusively due to danger of settling. It costs more, alot more. KNOWN solutions are being ignored by city officials, the only possible excuse is early city corruption in allowing inadequately engineered building to be approved to begin with.
Here's how you do it
You fill the drilled cassion with bentonite clay slurry. Such a material is heavier than anything but solid rock. Maintain level at surface ensures that at all depth the slurry will have same pressure as surrounding soil. Any voids the drill hits is instantly filled with the slurry. Any excess material removed, the void is instantly filled w slurry at the same pressure as the surrounding soil. Material is removed from bottom carefully and selectively if necessary by a clamshell bucket dropped down through the slurry. Hence its expense. It's slow, it's insanely messy requiring extensive efforts to control, the clay ain't cheap, the skilled personal rare and costly. When done, concrete rebar cages are lowered into slurry and concrete pumped down to displace slurry, forcing it to surface where it has to be captured, recycled or disposed of.
However, this insane effort is DOOMED to failure. It is predicated on being able to sit 400 ton jacks atop each pile and LIFT not just the building, but the 10 foot city block sized concrete slab under it AND the 100's of piles attached to it AND break the bond between soil and slab and piles, which is equal the the weight of the entire building. 400 tons per jack won't be enough. Coordination of lift heights at ea pile is near impossible, especially for a developer, contractor, engineer and city oversight that have failed miserably every step of the way, Finally, as piles are installed along less than 1/2 of slab, assuming it lifts the part with no new piles will be forced to sink or the 10 foot slab and impossible as it might sound will simply crack with utterly unanticipated results. We'll ignore if you do mange to lift the 10 foot thick slab you'll be leaving a void under it into which soil from around your new piles will flood into, destabilizing your new piles or you'd have to pump grount under the slab carefully as it's raised via holes bored through the slab and the steel rebar, weakening the slab.. The only fix, short of 1000 6 inch micro piles through the 10 foot slab along w slab repairs to compensate for holes, was to drill sufficient grid of piles outward of building into street, pour new mat, connect to old, stabilizing sinking. Then cut all columns and differential jack them even. Which is impossible as there is no 'slip connection' economically feasible to hold all columns in place after they are all cut.
There was briefly when first discovered after top out when settling occurred a time to solutions, starting w immediate grout pumping under building from perimeter and side drilling under the slab, installing new piles around building, and maybe more. As that was not done and building sunk 16 inches before it became news, the only solution has been demo, one floor at a time, by hand.

[jamesyeung]

Why can't the constructor buy back all the units and just rebuild the whole God damn building.

[curtcollett]

Afraid those construction workers hard hats won't do too much good if there's an earthquake.

[alexalex]

As I understand it even through the Sales Force Tower next to it is taller Millennium Tower weighs twice as much because they switched from steel to concrete at the last moment to save money.

[stevejohnson]

Time to knock it down -- just get it over with.