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The Millennium Tower, Luxury Skyscraper in the USA, Sinks Every Day. Find Out Why This Iconic Building Is Leaving Engineers Alarmed.
The sleek Millennium Tower in San Francisco is sinking slowly, and as a result, the luxurious 58-story skyscraper in the USA leaned up to 7.6 centimeters both north and west a few years ago, according to the engineer in charge of resolving the issue. Check out how the skyscraper is currently.
Luxury Skyscraper in the USA Will Continue to Sink, Says Expert
Opened in 2009, the Millennium Tower project estimated at US$ 350 million comprises two buildings. The larger one houses 419 luxury apartments, including a lavish US$ 13 million penthouse (approximately R$ 72 million) and 511 square meters.
The residential structure is the tallest in the city, and the uneven settling of the tower has already caused cracks in the surrounding sidewalk and in the basement walls of the adjacent building, which is the shorter sibling of the luxury skyscraper in the USA, with 12 stories.
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Although engineers are working to stabilize the Millennium Tower, a city hearing revealed that the lean will continue for several more months. The luxury skyscraper in the USA is sinking, and experts blame nearby construction projects and a process called dehydration for weakening the soil beneath the tower.
The US$ 100 million repair, announced in October 2020 after years of lawsuits, was completed a few years ago. According to the chief engineer of the stabilization project, Ronald Hamburger, the luxury skyscraper in the USA continued to lean about 2.5 to 3 inches north (from 6.3 to 7.6 centimeters) and from 0.75 to 3 inches west (from 1.9 to 7.6 centimeters) in 2021.
Understand Why This Building Is Leaving Engineering on High Alert!
The Millennium Tower in San Francisco is leaving engineers alarmed due to its ongoing sinking and increasing tilt. Since its opening in 2009, the luxury building has sunk more than 40 centimeters and tilted approximately 5 centimeters per year, far beyond what was expected.
These structural issues are attributed to inadequate foundation, which was not anchored into the bedrock beneath the clay layer. This situation raises concerns about the safety and stability of the building, requiring urgent solutions to avoid greater risks.
Has the Lean Rate of the Millennium Tower Been Reduced?
According to city supervisor Aaron Peskin, the Millennium Tower started the year as it ended the last: sinking and leaning more and more. Although the rate of tilt has reduced in recent years as the building has settled, there have been concerning fluctuations.
Between September and December 2021, the tilt increased significantly, coinciding with a pause in construction due to concerns that stabilization efforts could be worsening the problem.
As of December 31, 2021, the building had tilted a total of 60.9 centimeters to the west and 20 centimeters to the north, in addition to sinking about 45.7 centimeters.
How Is Maintenance of the Luxury Skyscraper in the USA Done?
The luxury skyscraper in the USA is sinking and is expected to worsen over the coming months, according to Hamburger, as engineers install new support piles, concrete columns wrapped in steel that will reach over 76 meters into the bedrock below to anchor the building.
According to the expert, once the piles are installed using hydraulic jacks, part of the weight of the building will be transferred to these new piles.
This will reduce the excessive pressure on the silty clay, locally referred to as Old Bay Clay, that caused the initial settlement, halt the settling process, and allow the building to begin recovering some of the tilt that occurred.
The retrofit will not stop the sinking of the Millennium Tower until the piles are driven into the rock and anchored to the foundation. Since the stabilization is still under construction, it has not yet worked to help the building.
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