Are Birmingham-area buildings safe?
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - As the search for survivors continues near Miami after a condominium complex collapsed there early Thursday morning, some are wondering about the structural integrity of buildings here in our area. Professor of Civil Structural Engineering for UAB, Dr. Fouad Fouad said buildings are a lot like human beings: they breathe, expand, contract, and have a lot of movement due to the elements. He said thats why they need to be monitored carefully especially as they get older. One has to be very attentive to buildings because, yeah...high usage, safety wise theyre very, very serious. We see anything unusual, corrosion, or water leaking from certain locations, we attend to it right away, Dr. Fouad explained. Hes been a Professor of Civil Structural Engineering at UAB for about 40 years. He said its natural to be a bit more cautious and anxious when a tragedy, like the building collapse in Surfside, Florida happens. The older buildings are also built on codes and requirements and specifications that may have been now abraded at this time because of hurricanes, because of other things, so the older ones really require more attention, Dr. Fouad said. He said people in the Birmingham area can rest assured their buildings are inspected regularly and thoroughly. He said it could be a while before we know exactly what happened in Surfside, Florida, but there were plenty of telltale signs the building was unsafe. It was sinking, it was on the Barrier Islands, it had cracks, several of the owners have sued for cracking in their walls and so forth, so thats some issues and recently they say that they were building close by and the vibrations were shaking the building or causing a lot of movements in the building, so there were some issues to it. I dont think it was just likeit just happened you know, Dr. Fouad explained. Dr. Fouad said rust may also have played a role in the Surfside building collapse. He said even the tiniest amount of rust can be a recipe for disaster in certain structures. Copyright 2021 WBRC. All rights reserved.