# Hotel collapse in New Orleans **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 12, 2019, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686 "2019-10-12T17:30:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686/1 "2019-10-12T17:30:40Z")
[AP story here](https://apnews.com/9a7cbdc454ed4690b7ad58eccc7a21da). The Hard Rock was/is under construction and a whole side of it just collapsed. [Dramatic 8 second video here](https://twitter.com/WWLTV/status/1183032346032922624). Initial reports were no injuries but now they’re saying 1 dead and 3 missing. From the video I kinda wondered if the people in it were okay; it looks like they got caught in the debris if not outright fallen on. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2019, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686/2 "2019-10-12T20:01:50Z")
Drone footage up close of the damage: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ZP4tbb8omHc/maxresdefault.jpg "10-12-2019 New Orleans, La Hard Rock Hotel collapse drone shots fom multiple angles") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP4tbb8omHc) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686/3 "2019-10-12T20:40:34Z")
[Trying to rush the concrete?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyline_Towers_collapse) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686/4 "2019-10-12T21:50:49Z")
Oh! The Humanity! ---
**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:** [October 13, 2019, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686/5 "2019-10-13T04:01:47Z")
> [@](#): > > A large section of a Hard Rock Hotel under construction beside New Orleans’ historic French Quarter collapsed Saturday amid blinding dust and flying debris, killing one person and injuring more than 20. **Rescue workers searched the largely unstable building until nightfall for two people still unaccounted for.** > > Nearby buildings were evacuated. A 270-foot construction crane — one of two still looming over the multistory building — also was dangerously unstable, fire officials said. The hunt for the missing was suspended at nightfall over safety concerns. A statement from the project contractor said its representatives would work “throughout the night” with emergency officials on a plan to stabilize the building. > **[2 dead, 1 missing and more than 20 injured after part of Hard Rock Hotel...](https://www.dailypress.com/2019/10/13/2-dead-1-missing-and-more-than-20-injured-after-part-of-hard-rock-hotel-under-construction-in-new-orleans-collapses/)** > > A large section of a Hard Rock Hotel under construction beside New Orleans’ historic French Quarter collapsed Saturday amid blinding dust and flying debris, killing two people and injuring mo… ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686/6 "2019-10-14T00:16:09Z")
[2 dead; 1 unaccounted for](https://apnews.com/9a7cbdc454ed4690b7ad58eccc7a21da) now. More than 20 injured. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686/7 "2019-10-14T10:53:32Z")
Huh? This happens in the US? Since when? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686/8 "2019-10-14T13:07:46Z")
Seriously? You’re shocked? This sort of thing used to be even more common in the past. Construction is hazardous and bodies buried under tons of debris take awhile to find and extract. The US is not some paradise where such things never happen, in fact, over the past decade there’s been more than one construction collapse in the media. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686/9 "2019-10-14T14:24:00Z")
As of this morning, there is still a rescue crew looking for one more worker in the debris. Listening on the local (New Orleans) radio news this morning, someone indicated that they knew about where the last worker is, but have to work to safely clear enough debris to get to him. The last person rescued alive from the 9/11 rubble was found 27 hours after the towers fell. Since the Hard Rock Hotel collapse, roughly 48 hours have elapsed. Still, [there have been some miracle rescues after earthquakes several days out from building collapses](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-32485586) … so there’s hope. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686/10 "2019-10-14T16:43:07Z")
Working on college campuses means seeing new buildings going up quite often. And that means the occasional death which gets more widely reported than most sites for some reason. It seems like 1 death every 2-3 large buildings but that can’t be the actual ratio. But still it happened so many times over my career it really sunk in how dangerous construction is. It was always odd to think in terms of “That building over there cost $6M and one life.” We also knew of such things more personally. One woman we knew lost her husband when he fell off the roof of a house under construction. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686/11 "2019-10-17T13:09:27Z")
Looks like a few days before the collapse workers could see what was bound to happen: “Look, Papo, ‘the best engineering!’ Look at these large stretches (between supports) and s–t beams! (unintelligible) They’re already to the point of breaking,” the worker says in Spanish in the video. “Look at how it’s bent already! They couldn’t remove it because it’s too bent and it has too much pressure. The huge spaces without beams – look! What a very s–t structure these architects and engineers are building! … This is seriously bad, Papa!” > **["This is seriously bad": Video purports to show concerns days before Hard...](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hard-rock-cafe-hotel-collapse-new-orleans-video-purports-to-show-concerns-days-before/)** > > "This is seriously bad," one worker is heard saying in the video purporting to show the condition of the half-built Hard Rock Cafe hotel in New Orleans before it collapsed ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686/12 "2019-10-17T13:29:15Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Huh? This happens in the US? Since when? Since like forever. We try to keep major disasters rare, but we can’t eliminate them. Every now and then a flawed plan gets all the way through to fabrication, or a good plan gets implemented incorrectly, or [a good plan gets changed in the field in a bad way](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyatt_Regency_walkway_collapse), or the [construction process gets rushed,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_crane_collapse) or an unfinished structure gets subjected to a load that nobody really considered. According to the article **bobot** linked to, there may have been several of those factors involved: a questionable design (corrugated metal configuration), rushing the concrete, and/or the presence of a heavy scissor lift. Will be very interested to hear the final report when it comes out. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2019, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686/13 "2019-10-17T14:36:32Z")
They have abandoned hope for finding the third missing person; death toll now at 3: > **[At Hard Rock Hotel collapse site, officials abandon hope for survivors; death...](https://www.nola.com/news/article_44454652-f057-11e9-8a07-5fd08398d1a5.html)** > > After five days of fruitless searches by rescue crews working in risky conditions, New Orleans officials on Wednesday abandoned hope that a missing construction worker survived the Hard Rock Hotel’s ---
**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:** [October 20, 2019, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686/14 "2019-10-20T21:04:30Z")
They took down (via explosives) the cranes today: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/emzCGAnGhmU/maxresdefault.jpg "Raw: Crane implosion at Hard Rock hotel collapse") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emzCGAnGhmU) ---
**Author:** ![Allecher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@Allecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Allecher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686/15 "2019-10-22T15:51:58Z")
And they couldn’t even implode the cranes successfully: [Crane implosion at Hard Rock Hotel collapse site in New Orleans: raw video - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjclkwiGUkI) After the detonation, one of the cranes remained up with parts of the crane dangling near Canal Street. The top portion of the other crane fell onto Rampart Street. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686/16 "2019-10-22T18:19:25Z")
Wow; they really fucked that up. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686/17 "2019-10-22T19:35:26Z")
> [@Allecher](#): > > And they couldn’t even implode the cranes successfully: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjclkwiGUkI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjclkwiGUkI) > > After the detonation, one of the cranes remained up with parts of the crane dangling near Canal Street. The top portion of the other crane fell onto Rampart Street. According to one article I read, they intended to hook the one crane over the building, so no mistake there. and I’ve seen no admission of mistake with respect to the crane that fell onto the street; not sure why landing crane parts there would be a bad thing, as long as there are no people or vehicles in the landing zone. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686/18 "2019-10-22T20:44:24Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > According to one article I read, they intended to hook the one crane over the building, so no mistake there. and I’ve seen no admission of mistake with respect to the crane that fell onto the street; not sure why landing crane parts there would be a bad thing, as long as there are no people or vehicles in the landing zone. Given that it impaled itself into the road and so it needed to be taken down _again_ and right away. (They were worried about TS Nestor.) If it was made to land on the building then it just adds to the junk pile. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686/20 "2019-10-23T18:15:47Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Given that it impaled itself into the road and so it needed to be taken down _again_ and right away. (They were worried about TS Nestor.) If it was made to land on the building then it just adds to the junk pile. [From this article:](https://www.wdsu.com/article/city-demolition-at-hard-rock-went-as-good-as-it-could-have-next-phase-is-search-and-extraction/29522865#) > [@WDSU News](#): > > According to New Orleans fire Chief Tim McConnell, the implosion went as well as it could have. > > One crane impaled Rampart Street and damaged a sewer line, which the city said it expected. Sewerage and Water Board crews are on the scene now rerouting the line. On any demolition job big enough to involve explosives, I suspect any consequent damage tallying up to a few thousand dollars is probably not considered a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2019, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686/21 "2019-10-25T18:44:17Z")
> [@Allecher](#): > > And they couldn’t even implode the cranes successfully: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjclkwiGUkI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjclkwiGUkI) Safe demolition of anything that’s already been compromised is always a challenge. They just can’t know exactly how a damaged thing will behave unless using MOAB-level explosives that will also destroy neighboring buildings and blow out every window for seven blocks in all directions. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-collapse-in-new-orleans/841686.md?page=2)