What Lessons Will Be Learned from the Florida Condo Collapse?

By Henry Petroski

The deadly catastrophic failure has put a lens on building maintenance.

This Article From Issue

September-October 2021

Volume 109, Number 5

Page 278

DOI: 10.1511/2021.109.5.278

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The condominium complex known as Champlain Towers is located in the town of Surfside, Florida, just north of Miami Beach and about 10 miles north-northeast of downtown Miami. Until recently, it consisted of three 12-story buildings containing collectively a total of 342 apartments, ranging in size from one to four bedrooms. The building designated Champlain Towers South occupied prime oceanfront real estate and contained 135 condo apartments.

Champlain Towers South was one of the many high-rise apartment buildings that line the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in Surfside, Florida. At about 1:30 a.m. on June 24, 2021, a large part of the condominium collapsed suddenly, burying 98 occupants beneath a pile of rubble. Many theories have been proposed to explain the massive structural failure, but a final determination of the cause of the collapse will not be arrived at for some time.

**Photograph by Gerald Herbert / AP Images**

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