KEYNOTE SPEAKER

The Collapse of Champlain Towers South and the Implications for Existing Building Evaluation

On June 24, 2021, Champlain Towers South, a 12-floor condominium in Surfside, Florida, partially collapsed at approximately 1:30 a.m. EDT. The collapse happened suddenly and resulted in mass casualties. The “how” of the collapse is the subject of an investigation by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and several other government and private entities. The “why” of the event has been a matter of tremendous discussion and government action, especially in light of the fact that Miami-Dade County has mandated structural and electrical inspections of buildings that are 40years old and additional inspections at 10-year increments. The Florida Building Commission has contracted with the University of Florida to undertake a review of the existing building inspection process within the state and to report back to the Commission, which is making further recommendations to the legislature and governor. But is this enough? The presenter is one of the investigators for this project and he will discuss what this means for the evaluation of existing buildings not only in Florida, but throughout the country, and what the steel community must do to respond.

Thomas Sputo, Ph.D., P.E., S.E.
Steel Deck Institute
Sputo and Lammert Engineering, LLC

Thomas Sputo, Ph.D., P.E., S.E. is vice president of Sputo and Lammert Engineering, LLC in Gainesville, Florida, designing and investigating buildings and other structures. He is also the technical director of the Steel Deck Institute. Tom is a Senior Lecturer Emeritus at the University of Florida, where he taught structural design for over 20 years. He has over 35 years of experience in varied areas of structural design, including specialty engineering of manufactured components. He is a licensed professional engineer or structural engineer in 13 states, and a Special (Threshold) Inspector in Florida.