# Champlain Towers South in Miami has caved in {2021-06-24} **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** breaking-news\ **Created:** [June 24, 2021, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/champlain-towers-south-in-miami-has-caved-in-2021-06-24/944931 "2021-06-24T09:42:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 36
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2022, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/champlain-towers-south-in-miami-has-caved-in-2021-06-24/944931/705 "2022-12-10T04:02:56Z")
Go all the way in to where the street is blocked. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2022, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/champlain-towers-south-in-miami-has-caved-in-2021-06-24/944931/706 "2022-12-10T04:14:24Z")
Do you just want to _tell_ us what you’re seeing? ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2022, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/champlain-towers-south-in-miami-has-caved-in-2021-06-24/944931/707 "2022-12-10T04:19:30Z")
…I think that the shot at the end of the street is from before the towers fell: so its kinda like a “before/after” scenario. I think. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2022, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/champlain-towers-south-in-miami-has-caved-in-2021-06-24/944931/708 "2022-12-10T16:05:32Z")
The little chain icon above the reply box lets you post a link. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2022, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/champlain-towers-south-in-miami-has-caved-in-2021-06-24/944931/709 "2022-12-10T19:21:36Z")
This should be a link to the side-street view just to the south, showing the building. Go one move to the east and the building is not there. > **[Google Maps](https://maps.app.goo.gl/oXM8oPfahGYR8JvU6?g_st=ic)** > > Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2022, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/champlain-towers-south-in-miami-has-caved-in-2021-06-24/944931/710 "2022-12-11T03:52:10Z")
I wanted to see if others saw it, or if it was just my computer acting screwy or connecting to a server that was. As others said (or implied), if you go all the way east to the chain that blocks the street, the Champlain Towers building appears. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2022, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/champlain-towers-south-in-miami-has-caved-in-2021-06-24/944931/711 "2022-12-11T16:44:59Z")
It’s not uncommon to see buildings that have been demolished on views from a minor side street, which Google dont rephotograph as often as important main streets. They always used to put the last-coverage date on them, recently they dropped the date but now it seems to be back again. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2022, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/champlain-towers-south-in-miami-has-caved-in-2021-06-24/944931/712 "2022-12-11T22:43:38Z")
I suppose some of the points providing those view angles became just flat out inaccesible to the streetview vehicle after the collapse, cleanup, etc. so no update possible. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/champlain-towers-south-in-miami-has-caved-in-2021-06-24/944931/713 "2022-12-12T00:22:08Z")
That is plain nonsensical, though. The link I posted has the building present in the frame _closer to_ A1A and it vanishes in the frame farther east. The side street dead-ends near the beach so the shot where the building is gone would be _less_ accessible than the shot where it is still there. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/champlain-towers-south-in-miami-has-caved-in-2021-06-24/944931/714 "2022-12-12T00:46:40Z")
I notice that the two viewpoints are labeled “a year ago” and “4 months ago” > [@eschereal](#): > > This should be a link to the side-street view just to the south, showing the building. Go one move to the east and the building is not there. Look at it again, the sans building picture is west of the with building picture. Are you seeing a split screen? If so, you can watch how the position cursor moves west when you switch from the first to the second photo. I creepy-like how the building fades into a mist when you rotate your viewpoint to the west ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/champlain-towers-south-in-miami-has-caved-in-2021-06-24/944931/715 "2022-12-12T02:46:19Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > I creepy-like how the building fades into a mist when you rotate your viewpoint to the west I see that I got my geography backwards. But, ironically, the nice clear image, looking into the garage entrance, is the part that fell, while the part that “fades” (camera artifact) is the part that stayed up. Meanwhile, if you go down A1A toward 87th, you can see they put up a short wall with names on it. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2023, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/champlain-towers-south-in-miami-has-caved-in-2021-06-24/944931/716 "2023-06-15T19:58:53Z")
The investigation is still a couple years away from reaching a final conclusion (projected May 2025) but so far it seems like they’ve confirmed serious deficiencies in the pool deck area (which, as many may recall, was a early favorite as a possible cause—the pool deck collapsing in such a way as to put lateral force on columns beneath the building itself in the adjacent parking garage area, IIRC). Gift link to a brief NYT article: > **[Surfside Condo’s Pool Deck Had ‘Severe Strength Deficiency,’ Investigators Say](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/15/us/surfside-condo-collapse-investigation.html?unlocked_article_code=Yai4vVGIraBK2ZLCxnExrXz39UwV0IVHaEyXKzE2bpTZSZHPg263S-uFtwJ9TiMqYbw7ppVMpXwosUdxOgBxBJVi2Jp0d_7v3ZD_PWAfbfzJSuxo1NpLUeQGyVkBNvFM_gaXLHTYeyeppTLRjtpH15FdngtRriHrAfxj99U-i1cNcxgEepqSn-yolhvoLAd1HBANnKbigblZMH4OLXltA6-6Rf7OHTi-nw1Tnfq2rYmV-ptpT0H2dbzL16u8WsJ5E5Xoi7ag9U7Y6UrXC1Goxm9WOeosZ_2-EizUr69F-deDN3EIp259N3D7IenoyTAGD3oF2HzYH4TJoTzSTQSkF31OSH7EDFzU7CFj&smid=url-share)** > > Federal investigators released preliminary findings on the 13-story tower’s collapse in Florida but say more work is needed to determine what led to 98 deaths. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2025, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/champlain-towers-south-in-miami-has-caved-in-2021-06-24/944931/717 "2025-06-29T03:21:00Z")
Well now they are predicting a 2026 finish to the investigation. But they have released an hour and a half video update on the investigation: > Bell walks viewers through three hypotheses with higher likelihood, beginning with the failure of one of the typical slab-column connections in the pool deck. He describes factors that contributed to low margins of safety in the pool deck, including understrength of the building’s original structural design relative to the requirements of the building code. Additionally, he notes that steel reinforcement was not placed where it should have been, leading to significantly diminished strength of the pool deck slab and slab-column connections… > > The investigation team determined that there is a lower likelihood that the partial collapse was initiated by two potential problems beneath the building: voids known as “karst” or pile failure. > **[NIST Releases Extensive Video Update on Champlain Towers South Investigation](https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2025/06/nist-releases-extensive-video-update-champlain-towers-south-investigation)** > > The update reviews the investigation’s history, shares preliminary findings and highlights potential impacts [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/champlain-towers-south-in-miami-has-caved-in-2021-06-24/944931.md?page=35)