Probers Eye Expansion Joint in Pittsburgh Slab Mishap 2/8/2007
Investigators, including members of the original design and construction team, are trying to determine why a 60 x 20-ft section of a 6-in-thick concrete floor slab collapsed at the nearly five-year-old David L. Lawrence Convention Center, in Pittsburgh. Although the cause is not yet known, investigators are focusing on how rapidly falling temperatures may have affected an expansion joint. No injuries were reported as a result of the Feb. 5 incident.
The break in the slab occurred in the second-floor loading dock, outside the footprint of the exhibit halls and above an underpass and the main entry thoroughfare—where the building straddles Tenth Street. The collapsed section of slab held a trailer-truck, which was unloading for a now-cancelled auto show.