One would think they were “giving way” to future changes.
As the City Council voted in sweeping new reforms for construction sites Wednesday, two partial collapses occurred at area construction sites.
Officials said that no injuries were reported in either of the two wall collapses, which occurred at 380 Kings Highway near West 3rd Street and on Avenue U between East 2nd and East 3rd streets.
Officials at the city’s Department of Buildings said that their inspectors were brought to the Kings Highway location to investigate a partial wall collapse at a one-story auto garage there.
Inspectors determined that excavation work for a seven-story residential building next door to the repair shop led to the collapse.
The underpinnings the construction crew used, according to inspectors, “had been installed contrary to plans submitted to the Buildings Department.”
City officials said that inspectors issued an immediate emergency declaration which empowered the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to demolish the building at 380 Kings Highway.
The Buildings Department also required that the excavation site be backfilled.
As a safety precaution, the Buildings Department issued vacate orders for 380 Kings Highway as well as neighboring buildings at 1777 West 3rd Street, a three-family home, and 394 Kings Highway, a one-story laundromat.
Many of the vacate orders had been lifted as this paper went to press.
The Buildings Department issued a Stop Work Order for the construction site and handed the general contractor, Rybak Development, a violation for failing to safeguard public and property during construction operations, as well as six other violations.
Department of Buildings officials had no information about the collapse on Avenue U, which is believed to have occurred under similar circumstances.
Earlier that day, the City Council approved three construction safety items that was geared to improve conditions at work sites across the city.
The new rules determined that “housekeeping violations,” which can cover anything from loose materials to debris that can cause workers to trip, are immediately hazardous and created stricter penalties for those who don’t clean up their work sites.
The Council also approved legislation requiring annual inspections by a professional engineer of structurally compromised buildings, be it from fire, collapse or any other structural threat.
The Council also voted in favor of more stringent inspections of city retaining walls.
