A San Francisco skyscraper tilts 7.5 centimeters a year

If the descent and tilt continue at the current pace, the building could reach the point where the elevators and plumbing are no longer operational in a few years, Ron Hamburger added.

The Millennium Tower was inaugurated in 2009, with more than 400 luxury homes sold out quickly, reportedly for a total of $ 750 million.

By 2016, however, the building had already sunk 40 inches into the soft ground of San Francisco’s crowded financial district.
The tilt of the building, which did not stop despite an ongoing repair of $ 100 million, was compared to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Homeowners have sued the designers and builders of the tower, and developers and city authorities have shifted responsibility.

In the first phase of the lawsuit, residents claimed that the value of their property, purchased for up to $ 5.1 million, had dropped to almost zero. In 2020, a secret agreement was reached that included a $ 100 million recovery plan and compensation for the estimated losses to residents.

Repairs began, but the subsidence and tilt continued. They also stopped in the summer after discovering that the building had sunk another 2.5 inches. The 2.5-centimeter tilt at the foundations already meant an additional 7.5 centimeters at the roof, kicking up to a total of almost 56 centimeters above, according to NBC’s local tax news last year.

Now the roof has been tilted 66 inches.

Hamburger told the city authorities at a hearing last week that the best way to stop the building from stopping and sinking, or possibly reversing it to some extent, was to insert 18 steel columns into the bedrock, KNTV said.

“The tower sinks about 1.74 centimeters a year and tilts 7.5 centimeters,” Hamburger added.
The building, inhabited by wealthy employees of famous athletes and techies, among others, features a wine cellar, a screening room and a button that promises "engineering" help within 15 minutes.

(Source: hazesotthon.co.hu; marmalade.co.hu; MTI | Image: pixabay.com)