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May 5, 2008 10:03 pm US/Eastern
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Structural Problems Found In Parking Garages
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
A catastrophic bridge collapse in Minnesota. Ceiling tiles fall in one of Boston's airport tunnels. Disasters like these make many of us wonder just how safe the infrastructure is that we depend on every day.
WBZ inspected a number of parking garages in Boston and found potential problems that appear to be neglected.
And there have been serious problems at parking garages both here and around the country. Portions of a parking garage in upstate New York collapsed for no apparent reason, leaving just a pile of concrete.
A single car hit a post in a North Carolina Mall, bringing down an entire section of the garage there.
And the garage at the University of Massachusetts in Boston had to be closed after being deemed structurally unsafe.
Despite these problems, and the fact that thousands of cars pour into Boston-area garages every day, WBZ has learned that none of these parking structures are ever officially inspected after they are initially built.
Dr. Craig Capano, an expert in civil engineering and construction at Wentworth Institute of Technology, said "There should be some form of inspection, absolutely." He added, "The primary difference between a building and a parking garage is that it is exposed to the elements, which could, under certain conditions, be more prone to corrosive actions, which could weaken the building and eventually, you could have a catastrophe."
WBZ went into a number of Boston garages and found exactly what worries Dr. Capano. We saw multiple examples of crumbling concrete, which was leaving the reinforced steel exposed and rusting. As he explained, "You look for any exposed steel. That's really the telling sign that you may have a problem because salt can get right into it."
What happens in this area is that cars get wet after driving on treated roads. They bring that salty water into the garages where it drips into cracks. The salt then eats away at the reinforced steel. Once that happens, the structural integrity can deteriorate quickly. Said Dr. Capano, "That is when you have some complications."
If it is not properly maintained, a reinforced steel garage has a life span of about 40 years. That is an age that many Boston-area garages are now approaching. Despite that fact, the state has no plans to start inspecting them. When asked if there is a reason for that, Thomas Gatzunis of the State Department of Public Safety said, "It comes down to a matter of resources. The local building officials are stretched to just about the breaking point as it is with inspections that they have to do for new construction."
When asked about this policy, some garage users were not happy. One woman said the garage she uses leaks and there is water everywhere. She doubted that it was ever inspected. Another driver thought routine inspections would be a good idea.
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