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Demolition paused after debris falls from Related, Swire’s Brickell development site
Video shows excavator knocking large chunk of concrete into road below
Demolition is on hold after a large chunk of concrete fell from the site of Related Companies and Swire’s planned supertall office building in Brickell.
An excavator knocked building fragments from several stories up into the street below, with pedestrians and drivers looking on, according to a video posted by @OnlyInDade. No injuries were reported. The contractor and representatives of Related and Swire met with the city on Monday, CBS News Miami reported. The city is requiring a detailed report of the incident, proof that OSHA was notified, and a list of new safety measures, according to a statement. The city is also requiring demolition only occur at night with lane closures and police and inspectors on site.
“Anyone walking under that could have potentially been very, very injured, it could’ve been fatal,” Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Pete Sanchez told the outlet.
The city of Miami posted this response under @OnlyInDade’s video of the incident:
“We immediately deployed Building Inspectors to the site, red-tagged the site and stopped all demolition activities. An emergency meeting has been scheduled for Monday with the demolition contractor and ownership to discuss the unsafe manner in which this site had been conducting demolition activities. Demolition activities will not be allowed to resume until we fully understand what transpired, what safety measures were overlooked that lead [sic] to the incident and what polices, site conditions, and activities will be amended to ensure this does not occur again. Jobsite will not be allow [sic] to resume with demo activities until these activities are approved by the Building Department and fully implemented.”
“The incident is under investigation and we’re grateful that there were no injuries or significant property damage. Safety is our absolute top priority, the site has been secured and work is stopped while we continue to assess what occurred,” a spokesperson for the developers said.
The Brickell Avenue site has a planned supertall office tower, dubbed One Brickell City Centre. At 1,000 feet, it will be the tallest commercial tower in Florida when it is completed.
Related, led by billionaire Miami Dolphins owner Steve Ross, and Swire, a Hong Kong-based developer helmed by the British billionaire Swire family, received approval for the building designs in June. Designed by Arquitectonica, it will span 1.6 million square feet.
The planned tower is one of the five supertalls recently proposed by developers in Miami. Related and Swire are hoping to attract high-profile finance and tech firms to the building, which is part of Swire’s billion-dollar multi-use Brickell City Centre development.
It is unclear when demolition and construction will resume.
— Kate Hinsche