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Especially adjacent to saltwater, the ocean. as that happens, they will expand and they can actually push concrete and other building materials out as that happens and you will see cracks. that's a possibility. it's not that unusual in a seaside building to have some degree of corrosion. but for it to collapse on itself, we need more perspective. we have a structural engineer who is familiar with this building. his name is greg batista and he joins me now. thank you for doing this on short notice. >> good evening. >> what we're hearing, i heard creaking, there was spalling and there were repai...

You're hearing about what's happening in the basement or how it looks to you now? >> well, the biggest telltale sign, when i saw this this morning, i could have sworn that it was -- that it began from the top to the bottom like can happen on a lot of these buildings where you have a lot of balconies that collapse and it starts sometimes from the top to the bottom. i've seen that happen firsthand. after having seen the video, you see the actual building coming down and the actual collapse begins on one of the lower floors. so immediately i see that something happened down there. what i've told ...

Creaking, there was spalling and there were repairs needed for rust and corrosion, some roofing. is there anything that you've heard that raises concern? >> well, let me be clear about something. the concrete repair and the spalling problem does cause eventual collapses. i've been on buildings -- i've been doing this for 30 years and i've done hundreds of 40-year certifications. i've been on hundreds or even thousands of inspections. and spalling can get to a point that if not repaired, it can lead to eventual collapse and i've been to places where tlef been collapses of floors, of beams, of c...

Cause for this collapse. we talked to a structural engineer and here is what he saw from the video of the collapse. take a listen. >> after having seen the video, i saw that -- you see the actual building coming down and the actual collapse begins on one of the lower floors. so immediately i see that something happened down there. and what i've told everybody that i've been in kabtcontact il it takes is one column. maybe it was in the ground floor or the garage where that can fail whether due to settling or due to spalling or confluence of those. all it takes is one column and everything can c...

Hyalined for you. there are going to be three areas that have to be focused on. obviously the building itself. the ground underneath and outside stresses. you keep hearing the term spalling, rusting, cracking. cracks -- there are two types of concrete. cracked and concrete that is about to crack, okay? not all spalling, not all cracks are the same. not every picture you see is instructing. so, again, let's start with the best information we have. this 2018 report that found, quote, major structural damage to the concrete below the pool deck. that sounds bad. major structural damage. but is tha...