In the weeks following the June 24, 2021, partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Florida, NIST National Construction Safety Team members conducted remote sensing of the site using lidar technology, which sends out rapid pulses of light and records the reflections to create a spatial map of individual points reflected from surfaces on the ground. This image was captured on July 14, 2021, and provides important information on the post-collapse geometry of building components. Red points represent data on the south basement wall, and yellow points represent data on the privacy wall above.
NIST
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has submitted to Congress an update on its investigation into the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Florida. The update is included in a report submitted to Congress on NIST's activities under the National Construction Safety Team (NCST) Act.
The report notes that the team has completed all experimental work on the physical evidence from the building's structural elements. This includes mechanical testing of concrete cores and steel reinforcing bars, and measurements of slab, beam and column cross sections. The team also completed a study of historical wind loads on the building, as well as 3D simulations of the subsurface conditions beneath the building site.
In a video released today, investigation lead Judith Mitrani-Reiser and associate lead Glenn Bell, explain how the work completed so far is informing their understanding of what caused the collapse, and how it could make buildings across the U.S. safer.
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