|BRIDGE|COLLAPSE| Amplifiers BEGIN! part too

Search of collapsed Atlanta parking deck continues

News Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ip4FUA5f4YGwa2X2jcsO_rK72uGgD9958B600

Rescue workers use a crane to removed crushed cars from a collapsed parking deck in Atlanta, Tuesday, June 30, 2009. The deck collapsed Monday afternoon. There are no reports of injuries or deaths. (AP Photo/Kate Brumback)

ATLANTA (AP) — Crews used cranes Tuesday to lift crushed cars from a collapsed parking garage [Refer back to previous post] as they continued to stabilize the structure and search debris, but it still wasn't clear what caused the deck to collapse from the fourth floor to the ground level a day earlier.

Remarkably [Miraculously], no injuries were reported and there were no accounts of missing people. But rescuers using dogs, listening devices and thermal cameras said they still hadn't finished searching the wreckage and planned to continue through a second night.

"Until the job is done, we'll be here," Atlanta Fire and Rescue spokesman Bobby Stewart said, adding that he didn't know how long the search and rescue operation would take.

One crane lifted badly damaged cars from the hole left by the collapse while another was used to remove debris. At least 38 cars were damaged. Undamaged cars were being towed out. The process was slow-moving, Stewart said, because the structure had to be checked for stability and sometimes shored up again after each removal.

Rescue workers were searching each vehicle as it was removed, and crews would continue to search "every corner, every confined space" in the structure to make sure no victim is left behind, Stewart said.

The deck collapsed about lunchtime Monday in the busy commercial district of Midtown. More than 50 firefighters rushed to the scene and the bottom level was a "huge mess of vehicles and concrete," Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran said.

What caused the 7-year-old structure to collapse was not immediately known, and Steward said he didn't know what agency would conduct an investigation once the fire department completes its search and rescue operation. It also wasn't immediately clear whether the garage could be repaired or would need to be demolished.

Atlanta-based Hardin Construction, the general contractor on the deck, was one of three companies that was working at the Atlanta Botanical Garden when a pedestrian bridge collapsed in December, killing one worker and injuring 18.

Hardin Construction spokeswoman Barkley Russell confirmed the company was the general contractor on the parking deck and surrounding office complex. She said the majority of the deck work was done by subcontractor Metromont Corp., based in Greenville, S.C.

Hardin president Bill Pinto said in a statement Tuesday that even though the company's "last direct involvement with the Centergy project was in 2002, senior Hardin staff members were on site immediately, joining others in trying to understand what happened."

Harry Gleich, vice-president of engineering for Metromont, said he didn't know why the structure failed but said hot weather and weight were not likely factors.

"No investigation has started," he said at a midday news conference Tuesday.

He said the deck was built from prefabricated, precast concrete pieces manufactured at their plants in Greenville, S.C. and Hiram, Ga. The pieces were assembled on site with a "topping slab" of concrete poured on top. He estimated that over 60 percent of U.S. parking garages are built this way.

"As far as I know, they're as safe as any other construction," Gleich said.

The parking deck was last inspected at the time it was built and cleared for occupancy in 2002, said Catherine Woodling, spokeswoman for Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. It has not had any code violations, Woodling said.

Hardin was fined $6,300 earlier this month by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the Botanical Garden bridge collapse. The agency's report concluded Hardin and another company placed two support towers too far apart, which may have caused the collapse. The company is appealing.

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CAN ANYONE SEE THE CODE??? The CONSISTENCY in CODE is OBVIOUSLY APPARENT from my previous post!

AGAIN,

Notice how this article is about a GARAGE COLLAPSING but ends up discussing a BRIDGE COLLAPSE.

LONDON BRIDGE IS FALLING DOWN...