Projects

Building and Code History 

The objective of this project is to assess the entire history of the building from original design through the partial collapse, including relevant codes and standards, design drawings and other documents, construction records, inspections, maintenance, renovations, and loads and environmental conditions.

Evidence Preservation

The objective of this project is to use innovative tagging and data collection methods to catalog and organize evidence and ensure the integrity of its origin through proper storage, handling and sampling. This project will also include interviews of residents, first responders, family members or others with knowledge of the building condition and collapse events.

Materials Science

The objective of this project is to evaluate the strength, appropriateness, uniformity, and deterioration of materials used in specific building features and at different floors in the building. This project will compare these to the characteristics specified in the building design and the data will be used in the partial collapse analyses and simulations.

Geotechnical Engineering 

The objective of this project is to evaluate the foundation’s design, its as-built construction and its current condition. It will also assess geotechnical and soil factors that may have affected the foundation.

Structural Engineering 

The objective of this project is to use evidence collected from the collapse site, the results of the other projects, and structural engineering and reinforced concrete design knowledge to generate computer models that will simulate the failure initiation and progression.

Remote Sensing and Data Visualization

The objective of this project is to analyze data collected from the Champlain Towers South site after the collapse, as well as any available data on the building from before the collapse. The analyzed 2D and 3D surface and subsurface data will be compiled, organized, georeferenced, visualized and communicated as part of a geospatial data management system that will be designed to support the other investigation projects.