Florida building collapse probe to begin structural testing

By CURT ANDERSON
Associated Press

The federal investigation into the deadly collapse of a Florida beachfront condominium building is entering a new phase that involves cutting and drilling into concrete and steel to determine what role they played. The National Institute of Standards and Technology said Wednesday that what’s known as invasive testing will begin soon as investigators test samples from materials collected at the collapsed Champlain Towers South site. The tests will help investigators find potential flaws in structural elements of the 12-story building by looking into things such as density of the materials, how porous they were and if there was corrosion. The building in Surfside, Florida, collapsed without warning early on June 24, 2021, leaving 98 people dead.