Failures
Demolition Starts at Partially Collapsed Iowa Apartment Building
Davenport officials say they hired D.W. Zinser Commercial Demolition both to assist with the recovery and to demolish the remaining structure after the partial collapse.
Photo courtesy of Iowa Task Force 1
The owner of the apartment building that partially collapsed May 28 in Davenport, Iowa, pleaded guilty to an infraction of city code June 12 as crews began demolishing the remaining structure.
City officials said in a statement that demolition was cleared to begin after a review by structural engineers, regulatory authorities and the contractor, which they had previously identified as Walford, Iowa-based D.W. Zinser Commercial Demolition. The contractor did not immediately respond to inquiries from ENR.
Planning for the demolition included potential asbestos removal, according to city officials. Inspectors checked nearby buildings for any vulnerability ahead of the work, prompting them to order apartments vacated at two buildings on the next block north of the Main Street site.
The demolition is expected to last “several weeks,” according to Davenport officials.
Three people were killed in the collapse. The six-story building was an outdated masonry-and-steel structure with east-west beams. City records and a structural engineer’s reports released after the collapse show it had been the focus of concerns over its structural stability for at least several years. It had undergone repairs earlier this year, and more work had been permitted just four days prior to the collapse.
Officials ordered the remaining building’s demolition after a structural engineer hired by the city found it was dangerously unstable. The structure had been shored before search-and-rescue experts could recover the bodies of those killed in the collapse.
Guilty Plea
The building’s owner, Davenport Hotel LLC, pleaded guilty to failing to maintain a building in a safe, sanitary and structurally sound condition, court records show. A Scott County judge ordered it to pay a $300 fine plus $95 in court costs.
The size of the fine had earlier drawn criticism from residents, who said the fatal collapse warranted a more severe penalty. Mayor Mike Matson previously told reporters during a press conference that the move was necessary in order to prevent the owner from transferring the property in an effort to avoid a lien.
Several lawsuits are also pending against Andrew Wold, who records show is the owner behind Davenport Hotel LLC.
