This is an update of events on the recent structural collapse of the under-construction repurposing of 235 East 42nd Street in New York City. 

 

The New York Times recently published a feature story after reviewing the structural engineering documents and interviewing several structural engineers, including GACE Consulting Engineers who provided the structural drawings for the project. It is speculated when looking at the documents and the images taken of the collapse (seen from multiple sources) that the plans called for the reinforcement of multiple columns throughout the existing building to support the loads of the new 16-story vertical addition. It is believed that this reinforcement was not added to the affected columns that failed.

 

R. Shankar Nair, a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a former chairman from 1997-2001 of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (renamed to the Council on Vertical Urbanism in 2025) stated in the article that, “Those plates [for reinforcement] that were indicated would have more than tripled the capacity of those columns… there is no indication that any plates were attached at those locations… Even with the fireproofing, if the reinforcing had been put in place, the columns would have looked like a box, which they didn’t.”

 

He is referring to the images where the collapsed columns appear to look like traditional steel I-beams, and an indication that the reinforcement plates specified in the structural documents were not added.

 

Asked how the error could have occurred, Dr. Nair said: “It’s impossible to say. It’s an obvious mistake.” Other engineers interviewed for the article state that the added reinforcements are clearly marked in the drawings.

 

Dr Nair’s career has focused on structural engineering for large architectural and civil engineering projects, including the structural systems of many skyscrapers. His building projects include the 90-story, 1047-foot-tall Waterview Tower and 900 North Michigan in Chicago, the latter constructed with the lower 30 levels framed in steel and the upper 40 levels in concrete. He has designed many major bridges, including structures for Interstate highways over the Mississippi River. His bridge designs included the longest tied arch in the world and the longest-span steel stringer structure in America.

 

Active as a researcher and lecturer, Dr. Nair has published numerous technical papers and has held positions of leadership in many professional societies and committees.

 

The New York City Department of Buildings is conducting a “full investigation,” according to David Maggiotto, a spokesman, which involves “a massive review of construction documents and reports held by the developer and construction team, interviews with witnesses and responsible parties, a hands-on sweep of the entire construction site and review of available video and photo evidence.”

 

It has been reported by the spokesman that Thornton Tomasetti will also be doing an “independent forensic assessment.”

 

Read more at The New York Times.