Two days after a fourth level parking deck in Atlanta collapsed, damaging several cars, and resulting in, miraculously enough no injuries, rescue personnel were still not willing to take chances. Rescue efforts continued through Tuesday as Fire and Rescue personnel used cranes, dogs and thermal cameras to comb through the debris to search for any injured persons who could be trapped inside.
So far, there have been no reports of missing people, and the extent of the damage seems to have been restricted to the at least 38 vehicles that were damaged in the collapse. The deck in Midtown district collapsed at around noon on Monday.What caused the sudden collapse is still largely unclear.However, the company that acted as a general contractor and oversaw the construction of the deck was the same one that has been involved in another high profile, but far more serious accident last year.
As we have discussed in this blog earlier this year, the company Hardin Construction Company is the same company that was involved in the construction of the pedestrian walkway at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens in December last year. Yes, the very same walkway that collapsed while concrete was being poured, leading to at least eight people with injuries and one contractor dead.Earlier this month, in fact, Hardin was fined for its role in that collapse. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the company for failure to see that the towers were properly braced, fining it $6,300.
The company has already released a statement saying that it has sent its investigators to the site, and is joining in efforts to find out the causes for this near-catastrophe.
It’s extremely fortunate that all the vehicles were apparently empty at the time of the collapse, and that there were no injuries. However, it definitely merits attention when the same company has been involved in two structural collapses just a few months apart.Georgia premises liability lawyers will have to wait for weeks before we can find out exactly how this happened, but it’s clear that we need to begin asking some serious questions of those involved here.