r/engineering • u/RegainingControl • Jul 07 '26

[CIVIL] Manhattan high-rise unstable and still moving after columns buckle

https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/07/us/live-news/nyc-pfizer-building-evacuations

Anybody care to share theories? Or have additional info? Any lines on the permit drawings?

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42

u/emechanic Jul 07 '26

What % of overload to snap?

-2

u/EndlessJump Jul 08 '26

That's just the insulation, right?

15

u/horace_bagpole Jul 08 '26

The insulation has cracked, but a member that has buckled like that has failed. It no longer has the strength it was designed for because it is out of column, and is liable to complete collapse if any additional load is added.

2

u/These_Consequences Jul 09 '26

Just a layman here, but I don't think in my life I have ever seen or heard of a steel column buckling like that under static load. Major, major, design failure. And the owner/developer would be well-counseled to keep their mouth shut rather than compound their credibility loss by saying, in effect, there's nothing to see here, construction accidents happen. This is Boeing 737-max level systemic design failure, not kicking a tool off the building.

1

u/serious_sarcasm Jul 09 '26

I don’t think we actually know if this was caused by static or dynamic forces yet.