WTTM
The Millennium Tower Association consultant complained to city officials last month about the potential impact of an independent geotechnical review of the ailing sinking tower and leaning tower repair project – citing the increasing costs of keeping teams on site to quickly resume work on the inactive effort.
In the email sent on September 27, Matt Dutrow, a technical consultant for homeowners, told a building inspection official that he learned the city was starting the process of hiring an independent geotechnical examiner.
“The (tower association) is now very concerned about the impact of this additional review,” said Dutrow, city building inspection supervisor Willy Yau, in the document obtained by the unit. NBC Bay Area survey.
At the time Dutrow wrote the letter, all repair work had been on hold for over a month to allow a panel of experts to try to determine what triggered a newly accelerated sink and tip during construction.
In the email, Dutrow said the test scheduled for the week of September 27 has already been delayed by a week. He noted that the association was paying to keep crews and equipment on site to allow an “immediate restart with the new piles with the new method” once the tests are done.
“Based on that understanding, (the tower association) suspended the contractor,†said Dutrow, “at a cost of $ 500,000.00 per week.â€
The consultant wrote: “The MTA needs to know what the city’s plan is for this additional review so that decisions can be made. He was referring to decisions about whether or not to keep teams on site “to act immediately.”
Dutrow also urged the building inspection supervisor to respond “as soon as possible so that we can make decisions to minimize the costs of this break in construction.”
Yau forwarded the email to the head of the building inspection department, Patrick O’Riordan, who told Dutrow on October 1 that the city “is currently assessing the need for an additional member of the building inspection team. ‘engineering design review to specifically provide drilling expertise. and associated geotechnical issues â€related to the repair of the tower.
Ultimately, a spokesperson for the Building Inspection Department said the city chose to let the owners hire Dan Brown. Brown is a drilling expert recommended by the city-appointed review committee.
Brown quickly signed off on the first test to see if the new modified methods would be enough to limit sag and tilt of the tower as the teams installed a three-foot-wide steel enclosure. But the city has yet to approve the second phase of this project – which involves pouring a test pile to bedrock.
San Francisco supervisor Aaron Peskin said on Wednesday he was still concerned about the cost issues expressed in Dutrow’s email. However, he also says he’s happy that a veteran like Dan Brown is overseeing the tests to ensure public safety.
“He’s an expert, his name and credentials are on the line and now we’re going to wait for the data to come back from the sinking of that 36-inch case,†Peskin said.
On Wednesday, crews continued to install the 100-foot-long, three-foot-wide steel enclosure near the corner of Mission and Fremont streets. This is the corner where the building sinks the most currently. Building inspection officials say they expect work on the project to be completed this week.