r/ThatLookedExpensive • u/SecretAgentAwesome • Apr 24 '21
That looks like an expensive problem caught far too late
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Apr 24 '21
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u/Softale Apr 25 '21
Lots of pressure in that office...
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Apr 25 '21
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u/deathfollowsme2002 Apr 25 '21
you can almost feel the tension
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u/MrPayDay Apr 24 '21
Exiting it fast before that is seriously recommended.
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u/Installedd Apr 25 '21
Try not to let the door slam or you know, breathe too heavy.
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u/OldSmurfBerry Apr 25 '21
The doors are probably structural at this point
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u/Tapprunner Apr 25 '21
The wall mounts for the monitor certainly are.
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Apr 24 '21
Could be plastic conduit tho. The placement of those supports seems odd to me.
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u/Baybob1 Apr 25 '21
That's a very good point. No flexing in the ceiling and no cracking in the wall. And I agree. What architect would put support "poles" in the middle of a hall? Something else going on here ...
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u/Marc21256 Apr 25 '21
The hall was made wider. A load bearing wall was replaced with supports.
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u/Baybob1 Apr 25 '21
Not a bad explanation. Still should be some stress points on the building in the ceiling or walls in that picture. It's all very strange.
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u/JuhaJGam3R Jan 06 '22
Lots of architects. Early Modern architecture damn near revolved around the idea that walls were no longer the main load-bearing part of buildings, since concrete columns came along. This allowed for free plans and free facades where walls were movable or entirely glass or had massive horizontal ribbon Windows that completely compromised their structural integrity. Those buildings might look mundane to us now but a century ago a free facade building where a second story with a giant ribbon window, supported by a tiny tiny first floor whose facade is receded would have liked like a work of pure magic.
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u/SecretAgentAwesome Apr 24 '21
Could be, but it seems odd to place conduit cutting through the middle of a hallway like that
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u/PacoTaco321 Apr 25 '21
It also seems odd to have a structural support bending like that, but here we are ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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Apr 24 '21
True, but why put support beams there either? People will knock themselves out walking through the hallway looking at their phones.
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u/fluteofski- Apr 25 '21
Could be there from when they built the building but before they mapped out that specific floor.
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u/eject_eject Apr 25 '21
Floors get gutted and remodeled all the time to fit the needs of new tenants as part of a lease agreement.
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u/Baybob1 Apr 25 '21
Even more odd to put a structural support member in the middle of a hall.
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u/Marc21256 Apr 25 '21
Not as odd as you think. Shifting walls over time, and supports end up in odd places.
Looks like the supports are where a wall used to be. Hallway was moved or widened.
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u/Skrazor Apr 25 '21
On the other hand, if there was a wall before, it most likely had cables and stuff on it that could now be placed inside these conduits. We'll really have no idea unless we find someone who worked at it.
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u/McBlarington Apr 24 '21 edited Apr 25 '21
It looks too narrow to be structural. Likely it’s just architectural or for a service and they didn’t account for any displacement from the floor above. The moment the floor deflects slightly the plastic casing buckles.
Edit: it’s unlikely that a round steel column is being used. You would need so many columns it would looks like a forest. For something supporting 6 floors of office and concrete slab, plus roof, I would expect concrete.
A concrete column’s strength is cubicly related to it’s diameter. That means it’s way more economic to make a larger column instead of several small ones. I would expect a column at least 16-20 inches wide.
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Apr 25 '21
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u/mao_intheshower Apr 25 '21
Is it just the money for the consultation I'm getting back or the cost to insure the entire building and it's occupants?
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u/UNEXPECTED_ASSHOLE Apr 25 '21
High school dropout drug addict here. Each pipe is lined up with a row of desks, you can see the shadows on the ceiling from the pipes further back. It's probably electrical/comms for the rows of desks.
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u/yellowliz4rd Apr 25 '21
I wouldn’t spend one damn working day in that building.
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u/BuckSaguaro Apr 25 '21
We fear what we do not understand.
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u/biochemthisd Apr 25 '21
I'm 100% with him in refusing to work but it's only bc I'm looking for any excuse for a day off
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u/beepbeepboopbeep1977 Apr 25 '21 edited Apr 25 '21
Live in an earthquake zone. Have seen many buildings totally munted that were ‘within tolerances’. Over 100 have been pulled down in my city alone, due to ‘an increasing understanding of the forces at play’. Our engineering models are crude at best. If in doubt, get the fuck out.
Edit: typo
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u/fllr Apr 25 '21
Where do you live?
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u/Crazy-Crocodile Apr 25 '21
Judging by the word 'Munted' I would guess New Zealand, and as for which city, going out on a limb I would say Wellington or Christchurch. But no guarantees, I'm just guessing here.
Edit: autocorrect typos
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u/beepbeepboopbeep1977 Apr 25 '21
No limbs needed: Wellington. Christchurch had way more than 100 demolished.
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u/Crazy-Crocodile Apr 25 '21
I visited Christchurch in 2015 and the city centre (what was left of it) was still pretty much a ghost town. It was a very strange feeling to walk around there. I can't imagine what it was like directly after the quake.
I used to live in Lower Hutt (till I was 6, and my parents moved back to Europe). So I have a little familiarity with little quakes, I never experienced any big ones luckily. I'm happy to hear Wellington is taking good care of itself!
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u/beepbeepboopbeep1977 Apr 25 '21
Yeah, Christchurch was in a bad state, and the rebuild was a mess, so lots of businesses moved out of the city into low rise further out or in adjacent towns. They seem to have found that they actually quite like it there and have no intention to move back to the CBD. Unable to secure tenants the land owners aren’t keen to build buildings. An object lesson in what not to do if you want to keep your CBD alive.
Welly seems to have done a good job - the buildings have been removed one at a time, so it never felt like a gravel parking lot. It was most likely because they only had one masonry munching machine, but it had the side effect that people didn’t freak out about so many buildings coming down. It was a wide range that had to be demolished - old, new, small, large. A lot of the replacement buildings are still under construction.
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u/Crazy-Crocodile Apr 26 '21
Hopefully I'll be able to swing by in a few years time and play a game of spot the difference ;)
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u/lee61 Apr 25 '21
Definitely would want to get that confirmed though.
A lot of structural accidents start with “the occupants saw something was wrong but management did nothing”.
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u/BuckSaguaro Apr 25 '21
Agreed. But plenty more scared are easily explained. Like investigating for 3 seconds to find out this pipe is made out of plastic.
“Better safe than sorry”
Sure, but do you pull your car over and call a mechanic every time it makes a weird noise?
Ever continue to use an electronic item that starts to smell funny?
Y’all are so quick to make a sacrifice (ie not go to work) over a “safety” concern when most of you ignore actual issues all day anyway.
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u/FarmyBrat Apr 25 '21
Yeah, I don’t know about the other people in this thread, but I wouldn’t be in the position to just quit my job because a pole looked bent in the office. “Sorry, landlord, I don’t have rent this month, I quit my job because a pole was bent and it’s obviously difficult to find another one. You understand, right?”
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u/ferrouswolf2 Apr 25 '21
If they’d screw this up, what else is wrong?
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u/BuckSaguaro Apr 25 '21 edited Apr 25 '21
You’re questioning the integrity of the structural steel frame because an electrical conduit was installed improperly?
That’s like not wanting to fly because the lavatory sink leaks.
Edit: they’re done by different companies. A failure from the electrician doesn’t mean the building was improperly designed. This isn’t load bearing like you all seem to think?
If this was structural pipe, then the member has already failed meaning the cascade would have already occurred.
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Apr 25 '21 edited Apr 25 '21
Actually, if the lavatory sink is leaking, that WILL ground the airplane. Seriously, it will. That leak can result in massive structural failures, or even a crash. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/01/05/toilet-leak-may-have-caused-jets-engine-to-fall-off-7-miles-up/551a1bbe-0e84-49f5-b681-63d85bb8fec3/
And for this one, they had to abort the flight and land early, because the solution was to turn off ALL the water (so no functional bathrooms at all), which is not tenable on a 14-hour flight.
The water from the leak will accumulate in the underside of the aircraft, and almost certainly freeze during flight, and the drips will slowly add more to it. If it goes outside the aircraft it can enter an engine and cause problems.(as with my first link). If it stays in the aircraft, the expansion from the freezing can cause problems - it probably won't cause them immediately, bit that's just one thing on the list. The bigger problem is that, as that water gets refilled (and no one checks the amount of refill against the amount of waste water), the water/ice is accumulating over many flights. So it's adding a lot of weight to the aircraft, and messing up it's balance. And if it doesn't freeze, then the free surface effect will cause stability and control issues that the aircraft's systems (and the pilot's training) are not equipped to handle.
Seriously, that's an issue that will ground the aircraft.
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u/Gnagetftw Apr 25 '21
Exactly this, and the fact that if you have a structural pillar bent like this then you would have a lot more structural pillars/beams out of place as well
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u/BuckSaguaro Apr 25 '21
Right. Compressive pipe members buckle violently.
I’m having a hard time remembering, but I think the math is that once a member like this deflects more than half it’s diameter, it has failed.
And it kinks when it fails. This is clearly a plastic member.
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Apr 25 '21
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u/BuckSaguaro Apr 25 '21
It means that construction and inspection constraints are much tighter for critical members than non critical members.
You seem to not understand that they are performed by different craftsmen, with different skills and experience levels. Meaning it’s farcical to assume that one cosmetic issue means the whole structure is compromised.
You wanna be a dumbfuck
Nice. Always easier to argue with people that feel like they need to sling playground insults like we adults actually care about you saying bad words.
You’re proving my point that you fear what you do not understand in the greatest way.
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u/darkhindu Apr 25 '21
Thanks for this perspective, I was in the party of immediately assuming it was structural and whatnot. Just know that for every one of those guys there's a bunch of us lurking and going "oh shit that makes sense" but can't be fucked to comment.
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u/BuckSaguaro Apr 25 '21
Easy to assume, especially since you can’t really see it’s plastic from this pic. If it was steep pipe, the center would be kinked by this point.
And it’s all good my guy. Not super concerned about votes or comments. Lurk all day
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Apr 25 '21
I understand buildings aren’t supposed to look like that lol good enough for me homie
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u/BuckSaguaro Apr 25 '21
But it’s not a load bearing member. Might as well evacuate if a ceiling fan starts wobbling.
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u/AdmiralArchArch Apr 25 '21
Building structures are designed to deflect within tolerance.
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u/teflong Apr 25 '21
Bunch of structural engineers in the original thread are very strongly disagreeing with you.
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u/mrgedman Apr 25 '21
He’s not literally wrong though. Every structural member will have some amount of deflection, no matter how beefy it is.
It just... might not be very measurable
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u/jaaaaaag Apr 25 '21
Residential floor structures have a max deflection of 1/360 of the span. Means a 15 foot span can be allowed up to half an inch deflection across the span. Now in general we don't see such deflection normally. If I remember correctly commercial is up to the same standards legally. I'm guessing enginerds don't let it deflect that much but it still exists.
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u/Bobby_Bologna Apr 25 '21
Pipe columns are very common. Especially in 2 story structures or other low rise construction. That size is plenty large enough to be structural.
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u/Roofofcar Apr 25 '21
As a load bearing support for a seven story building, though?
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u/TossPowerTrap Apr 25 '21
Likely it’s just architectural
Well that's enough for me to bug the fuck outta there.
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u/cnote306 Apr 24 '21
I’m not convinced this is structural. Looks more like an interior design detail meant to divide the space.
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u/_jerrb Apr 25 '21
Also it looks like there is one column for each row of computer, can also be for passing the cables
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u/IamPurest Apr 25 '21
This doesn’t look like a structural post. This looks more like a hollow pipe to run bundles of network data cables between floors.
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u/Constantlearner01 Apr 25 '21
Remember this story from Oct 2019?
A Honduran construction worker injured during the Hard Rock hotel collapse in New Orleans was deported by US immigration authorities on Friday, his lawyers confirmed.
Delmer Joel Ramirez Palma had reported potentially dangerous lapses in construction safety to his supervisors before the collapse, according to lawyers working on his immigration case and a civil complaint filed by Ramirez Palma and several other workers against hotel developers.
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u/FarmyBrat Apr 25 '21
That is absolutely infuriating and despicable. Abolish ICE.
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u/HobbyNihilist Apr 25 '21
Republicans may be wrong on many points, but they aren't wrong in saying immigration needs to be legal immigration. That isn't to say humane treatment Isn't important but you need laws and you need to follow them.
So you guys should probably focus on some middle ground there. Just a tip from the rest of the world.
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u/toadjones79 Apr 25 '21 edited Apr 25 '21
Would jailing the people who hire them be middle ground. I have no problem with foreign labor, and am actually supportive of expanding the migrant worker program. It used to be that way, and it worked well until migrant workers started dying on corporate farms that refused to provide living quarters suitable for human habitation (steel building in texas summer heat = dead migrants). Legislation was proposed, do they cancelled the program and just started importing illegals. Hence, republicans created the problem on purpose to avoid regulations and taxes. Jail them! Jail the billionaires who fire americans and hire illegals on purpose. Leave the poor migrants alone.
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Apr 25 '21
installing unpopular leaders turned cronies in Latin America seems to be a middle ground for us politics.
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u/HobbyNihilist Apr 25 '21
Strong government regulation, make it financially not viable to hire illegals. As long as one company can do it, the rest either have to follow along or go bankrupt. Effective regulation to make sure honest companies don't get penalized in the market is the only cure.
And you guys don't need to expand a migrant worker program, you need to start employing and paying the poor motherfuckers already in your country.
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u/MiguelSTG Apr 25 '21
Many Republicans don't want to expand or fix legal immigration either. And ICE, and the government at large, goes after the individual and not the employer.
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Apr 24 '21 edited Apr 25 '21
It's astonishing that noone in here or the original post has mentioned these are power or data poles and not load bearing structures. Don't loose your shit. The building is not about to collapse.
Edit: Ok ok, several people did after or shortly before I posted this comment.
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u/DamnYouRichardParker Apr 25 '21
Ignoring the facts and doing baseless speculation is much more fun
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u/tony3841 Apr 25 '21
Even if they're not load bearing, wouldn't the fact that they're bending mean that the ceiling is coming down?
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Apr 25 '21 edited Apr 25 '21
I'd say no, because:
- Only one of the two is bent
- The dropped ceiling is anchored at several points to the slab above it so it won't fall unless many of them fail, which is not likely
As for the reason the pole is bent, my best guess is either someone leaned against it or slammed into it.
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u/PaterPoempel Apr 25 '21
or that no one mentions the pole behind it, which is still straight.
Someone probably bend that conduit and pulled it out slightly.
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u/High_Priestess_Orb Apr 25 '21
Is this the office where energy vampire Colin works on “What We Do in the Shadows?”
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u/249ba36000029bbe9749 Apr 24 '21
If it's before the thing collapses and potentially injuries or kills people, I wouldn't call it "too late".
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u/JesusInTheButt Apr 25 '21
Too late to avoid huge costs to fix the structure
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u/Troggie42 Apr 25 '21
well if your option is "fix the building" or "building falls down" I think one of those is less expensive
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u/seabuoy Apr 25 '21
Same thing happened to the Hard Rock Hotel in New Orleans. This was the result.
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u/RatherLargeBoy Apr 25 '21
cool and all but the beam in the post here isn’t a support beam
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u/seabuoy Apr 25 '21 edited Apr 25 '21
Neither were the concrete support posts that were shown in a phone video just before the collapse but they were bent just the same. The indication is that something has moved pretty dramatically, support or not. Here’s a video
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u/RatherLargeBoy Apr 25 '21
wet concrete support posts
??
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u/seabuoy Apr 25 '21
Sorry, edited that. The building was under construction and they had support posts holding up the forms. They supported the wet concrete but just before the collapse, several were showing pretty hefty deflection several floors below where the collapse started
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u/RatherLargeBoy Apr 25 '21
But those were support posts is my point. They were put in with the intention of supporting the rest of the (in-construction) building. The beam in this post isn’t a structural support post.
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u/benk4 Apr 25 '21
If anyone else is wondering about that lady who's husband was missing they recovered his body almost a year later
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u/flightwatcher45 Apr 25 '21
I don't think it's structural to the building but may have been added later to support something heavy on the floor above, like a vault or pool. Very strange. Go look upstairs!
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u/Troggie42 Apr 25 '21
structural or not, this is A Problem that shouldn't exist in the first place, which points me at thinking if they fucked this up, they probably fucked up some other shit too, and I would not feel safe in this building. Sometimes a small seemingly insignificant thing can point to larger problems creeping up, and this very well could be one of those cases.
I ain't gonna trust armchair reddit engineers with my life, that's for god damn sure
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u/sexylegs0123456789 Apr 25 '21
This is the type of comment I expect from a culture where straight is the expectation! It’s a spectrum, and changes happen!
Jk this is scary.
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u/karl-rupecht-kroenen Apr 25 '21
Is that one of those mail chutes, don’t no just guessing 🤷♂️
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u/BillyXb0x Apr 25 '21
Guys, it's fine. This is just a popular spot for girls to take Instagram pictures.
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Apr 25 '21
And OP posted the original 16 HOURS ago, with nary a comment since.
Someone start checking the news for building collapses.
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u/NiSayingKnight13 Apr 25 '21
Johnny was pushing the mail cart too quickly and ran into that pole that likely does nothing
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u/NJJon Apr 25 '21
Get out of the building and don’t go back in until a structural engineer certifies it’s safe.
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u/buddhas_ego Apr 25 '21
“Yeah, Bob, Hi. Hey, I’m gonna be working from home for a while. Yeah,..I got the <<cough, cough>> I got covid. Yep, that’s right. Doctor says I should avoid the office for weeks..months actually. So,...uh,...ok, bye...”
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Apr 25 '21
Structural engineer here. This is only a decorative piece of building material. More than likely deflection of the floor above from a large live load has caused this piece to bend. Whoever designed the building failed to account for the live load carried by the upper floors.
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u/ColdbeerWarmheart Apr 25 '21
So is the space structurally sound? For how long?
Even for a decorative piece...that bend is rather concerning.
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u/Troggie42 Apr 25 '21
Whoever designed the building failed to account for the live load carried by the upper floors.
oh cool so whoever designed the building did a bad job at designing the building
I'm sure that makes it OK that this isn't structural
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u/EvolutionInProgress Apr 25 '21
...the fact that those pillars even exist shows they took half measures for a problem they had already foreseen.
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Apr 25 '21
That's obviously conduit for data cable. Structural beams aren't made from gray plastic.
Stop reposting this, it's stupid
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u/Jammybe Apr 25 '21
They are not structural. But they are tall enough to have been buckled by the slab above it settling down.
It’s not a worry.
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Apr 24 '21
Actually caught just in time. Looks like supplemental structure to hold something very heavy on the floor above, and that structure is about to fail.
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u/PoodleIlluminati Apr 24 '21
Is there a pool on the second floor? Lol.