San Francisco’s Millennium Tower is tilting and sinking

[pianowizard]

On cnn.com today:

San Francisco's 'leaning' skyscraper tilted up to 3 inches last year

From the article: "As of the end of last year, the tower has leaned a total of 24 inches to the west and 7.9 inches to the north. It has settled around 18 inches deep into the ground.
Though engineers are now working to stabilize the skyscraper, a city hearing last week revealed that the tilting will continue for several more months. Experts have blamed nearby construction projects and a process known as "dewatering" for weakening the soil beneath the tower..."

[Jerry of San Fran]

On YouTube an engineer has started a series of videos concerning the sinking & tilting of the Millennium building. Herewith is the link to the first video in the series. The first video was posted on January 21,2022 on the site called Building Integrity. The video is an introduction. Future videos I think will be quite interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOWn-HMd5Co

[Pedestrian]

Millennium Tower’s sinking and tilting creates 1-inch gap with 12-story podium structure
Roland Li
Feb. 23, 2022
Updated: Feb. 23, 2022 6:19 p.m.

Millennium Tower’s sinking and tilting has created a 1-inch gap between the main tower and smaller 12-story podium structure, the building’s project engineer said on Wednesday.

The 60-story tower in San Francisco’s Transbay area has sunk 18 inches and rotated slightly, resulting in the gap with the smaller building, which contains 53 condo units. The tower is tilting to the west by around two feet.

“We have fully considered this in our evaluation of the building’s structural safety and determined that the building is not at risk due to this movement, or any movement likely to occur before construction completion,” said Ron Hamburger of Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, the project engineer, in a statement.

Engineers plan to install 18 piles to relieve weight from the building’s foundation and mitigate the sinking and tiliting in a $100 million fix, down from an earlier 52-pile plan that resulted in more sinking.

NBC Bay Area first reported the gap between the two structures and described it as sliding, but the building’s management said the tower was not sliding.

Hamburger said the installation of piles could reverse some of the gap.

“Once the voluntary upgrade is complete, further settlement of the building at the northwest corner will be arrested, some rebound will occur, and slight additional settlement of the rest of the main tower will act to reverse the tilting that has occurred and close the gap between the elevator thresholds in the adjacent podium building that connects the main tower and mid-rise together,” Hamburger said.

The podium building sits on top of a five-level underground parking garage, and in 2019, state inspectors prohibited the use of an elevator connecting the garage to the tower because of a widening gap.

That gap was repaired, state inspectors signed off and the two garage elevators are back in service, said James Zaratin, Millennium Tower general manager.

“There was previously a gap between the threshold and the landing floor on the two parking garage elevators in the podium section of the building,” Zaratin said in a statement. “Mitsubishi Elevators has remedied this gap by extending the thresholds to ensure code compliance.”

City officials and building engineers concluded the building remains habitable and is safe even if a major earthquake occurs.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/artic...s-16942587.php

[Pedestrian]

Millennium Tower’s sinking and tilting hasn’t scared people off from buying and renting condos
Ricardo Cano
June 1, 2022
Updated: June 1, 2022 3:42 p.m.

Luxury condos in downtown San Francisco’s Millennium Tower are still attracting wealthy buyers and renters six years after news broke of the building’s sinking and tilting — though sales in the building have slowed down.

The 58-story building’s structural problems, first reported by The Chronicle in August 2016, have captured international attention. But the precarious situation has not deterred buyers and renters from living in a building that attracted high-profile residents such as football legend Joe Montana with its opulence.

At least 47 units have sold at Millenium Tower since August 2016, according to real estate broker data and county assessor records gathered by theFrontSteps, a real estate website. Sales at Millennium Tower in this six-year span have ranged from $650,000 to $13 million for a 5,500-square-foot penthouse once owned by the late venture capitalist Tom Perkins.

As of February, the tower at 301 Mission Street in the city’s Transbay area had sunk 18 inches and tilted 24 inches to the west. Project engineers have said the building will continue to tilt and are implementing a $100 million fix that involves installing new piles. Construction is ongoing.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/realesta...t-17213440.php

[The North One]

Unsurprisingly, things have gotten worse.

• Video Link

[montréaliste]

Engineers have warned; "toilets and elevators could stop working if the building tilted 49 inches or more.


Lol. Who needs toilets and elevators. Humans have done without them for "millenia".

[Jerry of San Fran]

"YIMBY has received an update from the Millennium Tower team about the progress of modifications to the original foundation in SoMa, San Francisco. Crews finished the installation of 18 piles by early 2022." It appears that there has not been anymore sinking/tilting with the latest work. The piles will now be tied to the foundation according to the report. Looks like the fix may be effective.

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by Jerry of San Fran

"YIMBY has received an update from the Millennium Tower team about the progress of modifications to the original foundation in SoMa, San Francisco. Crews finished the installation of 18 piles by early 2022." It appears that there has not been anymore sinking/tilting with the latest work. The piles will now be tied to the foundation according to the report. Looks like the fix may be effective.

[jmecklenborg]

Are they going to attempt to jack the thing, or are they merely stabilizing it?

I had my house stabilized with piers and jacked this past spring and they brought up at least an inch on the sagging side. It's now almost perfectly level.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by Jerry of San Fran

"YIMBY has received an update from the Millennium Tower team about the progress of modifications to the original foundation in SoMa, San Francisco. Crews finished the installation of 18 piles by early 2022." It appears that there has not been anymore sinking/tilting with the latest work. The piles will now be tied to the foundation according to the report. Looks like the fix may be effective.

can they come over to the manhattan seaport downtown and fix this one next?

https://therealdeal.com/2022/03/11/f...n-falls-apart/

[Jerry of San Fran]

June 21, 2023 - The San Francisco Chronicle today has news that the tower has recovered nearly an inch from the tilt after 19 pilings were placed down to bedrock taking on the weight from the tower. It will be interesting what happens in the next year.

[sopas ej]

... It's now sinking in the center:

SF's Millennium Tower now may be sinking in the center