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The sudden and dramatic collapse of the Surfside Condominium complex in South Florida has certainly highlighted the issue of deteriorating building infrastructure, and moved it onto the forefront of new government oversight and regulations.  Overnight, the threat of a building collapse has overshadowed the previously greatest threat to such properties – fire.

Originally without explanation, new revelations at Surfside are pointing to somewhat obvious issues such as water infiltration, corroding rebar, lacking maintenance, cracked and crumbling concrete, spalling, and even questionable construction practices.  This, in turn, has raised awareness by other such property owners and managers to the hidden threats and dangers which may exist under their own responsibility.

The Surfside collapse has also produced a staggering $997 Million dollar class action judgement against insurance companies, nearby property developers, and other defendants – the largest single settlement in United States history.

• Piping Infrastructure
  

From our perspective, the threat to any building property caused by corroded and deteriorated pipe is exceptionally low.

Corrosion can deteriorate various critical piping systems to the point requiring full replacement, but typically provide very obvious telltale warning signs to its progress in the form of leaks and then larger and more frequent leaks.  Less severe corrosion conditions will still produce rust which will in turn result in lost heat transfer efficiency and higher energy costs for HVAC related systems – often unrecognized for decades.  In its worst form, a catastrophic piping failure may impact multiple tenants and inflict many millions of dollars in property and water related damages.

The largest piping failures have shut down building operations completely.  Referenced elsewhere on this site, the failure of a small and seemingly minor 3/4 in. domestic water pipe fitting flooded enough floors of a Boston hospital that managers had to shut down and relocate all of their patients.  For a water release within a financial institution’s data center, losses are in the range of $1 Million dollars per minute and higher.

Most corrosion related piping failures can be avoided – If they are properly addressed soon after discovery.

Yet, even the most severe piping failure will never cause the damage and loss of life of a severe structural deficiency.  To our knowledge, even the most significant piping failure has not directly resulted in a loss of life, although secondary impacts due to corrosion and rust certainly have.

• Secondary Impacts

Water itself can be the initiating source of many different problems such as deteriorating rebar and concrete.  In 1995, the complete collapse of a huge San Francisco mansion was captured on live television; the cause identified due to an old underground city waste line which had collapsed.  Over many years, the wastewater undercut and excavated the soil under the house, producing a giant man made sinkhole which consumed the entire home.

Random events related to corrosion and piping failure which we have witnessed ourselves as a result of subsequent ultrasonic investigations have been:

• • • One may not think a single bolt is very significant, but the corrosion related failure of a single 3/8 in. retaining bolt holding together a pipe clamp at a large sports arena shut down the air condition immediately.  Once this single point of failure occurred, the clamp separated away from the pipe to pour thousands of gallons of 35° F. chill water through an 8 in. pipe at 65 PSI; dousing fans and shutting down part of the facility.  No lives were lost.

• • • A similar corrosion related failure of a 12 in. pipe clamp at a New York City high rise office building dumped the entire contents of the roof cooling tower and its 28 lower floor risers into the basement refrigeration plant.   Plant engineering personnel fled immediately, and made it to the floor above just before the water flooded its incoming 4160 electrical vault where it resulted in an explosion.  New refrigeration chillers, pumps, and controllers were damaged or destroyed, yet no lives were lost.

• • • At a large apartment complex, a galvanized steel sanitary waste run-out line between a kitchen sink and waste stack within the wall developed a pinhole after being in service for an estimated 55 years.  Although not releasing a sufficient enough volume of water to become noticed, nor producing any objectionable odors, the leak continued for many years.  Hidden from view, corrosive waste water dripped directly below and onto a small 1 in. steel natural gas line supplying the kitchen stove until finally corroding through the pipe wall.

Ultimately, the smell of gas was noticed by apartment residents who in turn called the building superintendent.  In opening the wall for a closer inspection, the spark from a tool ignited the gas –  producing a moderate explosion and fire which destroyed much of the apartment.  Fire marshals and other city officials shut down the entire apartment building pending their investigation.  No lives are lost, but there were multiple hospitalizations.

• • • Similarly, a long term leak at a waste run-out line inside a bathroom wall introduced sufficient moisture to the wood studs and sheetrock to produce a massive black mold condition totally hidden from view.  Multiple tenants had been hospitalized with various health issues; those health issues remaining unexplained for years until the waste leak increases sufficiently for building engineers to open the wall for a closer look.  With mold spores now having traveled throughout the walls and to upper and lower floors, a significantly greater health problem became evident. No lives are lost, but there were multiple hospitalizations and chronic illness established for some tenants.

• • • A medical school dormitory experienced a large failure at a dual temperature riser serving perimeter window units.  Originating at the 10^th floor, water traveled down to the lobby where it caused significant damage on all floors.  The parents of some students then raised the issue of mold, and had an environmental hygienist confirm mold on the impacted floors.  Threats of a lawsuit forced the college to relocate all students, remove all sheetrock, insulation, etc. from all 10 floors, remediate any mold presence, and restore all dormitory rooms to their former condition.  No lives were lost.
      

• • • A remote video inspection of an underground 8 in. storm drain line, initiated due to the lack of an outflow after traveling below the building concrete slab, revealed a massive cavern under the parking garage.  The cavern was so large that auxiliary halogen lights on the robot camera were still not bright enough to show the extent of the excavation.  All vehicles were immediately removed and the garage restricted to all tenants.  Large scales repairs were required, as well as a full structural assessment.  No lives were lost.

• • • A nurse at a small single floor acute special needs nursing home stepped out onto the back deck to take a cigarette break; tossing the cigarette butt onto the grass.  A fire developed and traveled up the exterior side of the wood structure whereby it entered the eve of the roof and quickly spread across the attic area.  The attic itself was protected by a dry fire system due to winter cold at this Upstate New York State facility, as well as the 1^st floor which had also been supplied from the above attic.  The attic fire sprinkler heads released first and then the 1^st floor system as the fire spread throughout the facility.  While most critical care patients are rescued before the facility burns to the ground, 4 patient lives are lost. 

An investigation into the cause of the fire and failure of the fire sprinkler system to function reveals that all fire sprinkler heads are totally blocked with rust product caused by corrosion.  No water reached the fire.  Immediate investigation into 4 other identical nursing home facilities revealed all attic level dry fire pipe having sufficient rust product to suggest the same result should a fire occur.

• • • An 18 in. underground condenser water pipe fails at a welded joint after 30 years of service.  Increased make-up water to the cooling tower is not noticed, nor is the sinking of the parking lot over the pipe.  Ultimately the parking lot collapses into a sinkhole, which is filled with multiple dump trucks of new dirt and paved over.  Three years later, the pipe failure substantially increases in size; producing small geysers through various cracks in the pavement.  Further investigation reveals the source of the water as well as the previous sinkhole.  No lives were lost.
      

• Consequences – Large And Small

In terms of a consequence similar to Surfside, the failure of any water or wastewater pipe below its foundation has the potential to excavate the ground below and significantly weaken its critical supports.  For that reason, any building evaluation should always address this one critical threat often overlooked because its hidden from view.   A robotic internal camera inspection, while not providing any wall thickness information or indication to its remaining service life, will show a break in the line and potentially any damage caused although not smaller leaks.  All such cameras have remote beacons to precisely define the location of a problem.

Since traditional UT requires direct contact with the outside of the pipe, where excavation is often impossible, it cannot be used to provide the level of detail provided to HVAC and other piping systems.  Alternative exists such as “pigging,” but have significant limitations dependent upon multiple factors.

A more common threat to building occupants relates to dry and pre-action fire sprinkler systems which, due to their design, generate large volumes of rust deposits capable of rendering the entire system worthless.  Fortunately for most apartment buildings and condominiums, such systems are generally only installed at exposed parking garages susceptible to freezing.  More traditional wet fire sprinkler systems, except in certain circumstances, will provide long and reliable fire protection.

For the remainder of any building’s HVAC and plumbing systems the primary threat is mostly economic.  As repair and replacement costs skyrocket, the interest to properly address many pipe related problems has taken second place to patches and temporary repairs.  Yet ultimately, with corrosion being an unstoppable force of nature, failure is inevitable.

Once failure occurs, many other factors unrelated to the pipe itself, will determine the extent of damage.

• Investigation

As the contents of this Internet site illustrate, CorrView has extensive experience with all piping systems common to high rise commercial and residential buildings.  After more than 1,120 individual building piping inspections, we are knowledgeable of the threats involved, their damage potential, as well the methods and procedures necessary to document or exclude their presence.

© Copyright 2024 – William P. Duncan, CorrView International, LLC