Inspection Detail

Inspection: 283569.015 - Breeze National Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Manhattan Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 7:48 a.m. on March 22, 2012, during demolition of a two story building, a large crack developed in one of the three main steel beams (B girder) which supported the second floor. Employee #1, a laborer, was torch cutting the main steel girder that holds up the second floor. The crack was at a weak point in the girder known as a splice connection which became overstressed when part of the girder was cut off. Though the splice connection itself was not visible due to concrete encasing and was not shown on the demolition plan, the large crack was in plain view and the girder beam was visibly sagging in danger of collapse. Then the floor area that collapsed was 50 feet by 50 feet area of concrete flooring that had been supported by the two main beams (C and B girders). After the floor collapsed, the 18 feet outer brick (west) wall tipped over and fell onto the collapsed floor. Employee #2 was killed when he was carrying scaffold frames across the second floor when the floor collapsed. Employee #1 and #3 were hospitalized with fractures and lacerations due to falling brick, steel, concrete, and debris.

Keywords: Beam, Collapse, Concrete, Laceration, Steel Beam