Structural expert calls into question technology used to decide tower’s fate.
The highly publicized Harmon Tower in the heart of Las Vegas City Center has been earmarked for demolition by MGM due to structural deficiencies reported by a consulting firm in California. Perini Construction claims the structure can proceed to completion and disputes the need to demolish the building.
The Nevada Supreme Court recently overturned a lower judge’s order, clearing the way for the decision to allow MGM to complete its plans for demolition. The final decision will be determined upon review of the demolition plan by another judge, presumably in Nevada’s District Court, and the Clark County Commissioners. Gogulski & Associates claims a second opinion is urgently needed to determine the fate of the building, and further states there is only one technology in the world that can verify the safety of continued construction or demolition.
Paul Gogulski, CEO of Gogulski & Associates, Inc, a firm experienced in high rise construction safety and quality control, asked, “When the Nevada District Court rules on the final disposition of the Las Vegas City Center’s reportedly unsafe Harmon Tower, will their decision be based on the findings of the most sophisticated structural engineering technology available, or will they rely on 1950’s dated technology?”
MGM has proposed demolition plans for its 29-story building in the densely populated City Center complex. Currently, the Harmon Tower is twenty (20) stories short of its original design as a forty-nine (49) story non-gaming hotel at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Harmon Avenue. The building features an elliptical layout and highly reflective exterior glass. Structural issues were discovered in 2008, causing work to be stopped, and on August 15, 2011, MGM announced plans to implode the building.
Gogulski stated, “The real question is how MGM can guarantee the safety of the surrounding structures and people owing to their initial Weidlinger assessment, a structural engineering firm based in California, when the Harmon building is already beleaguered with structural defects?”
Gogulski continued, “Their proposal to dismantle the structure with localized implosions over a six-month period of time requires a similar amount of engineering it took to design the building. Without the appropriate level of structural analysis, significant risk of failure remains … and with six deaths having already occurred during construction at City Center, every effort should be made to save the existing structure or avoid further risk in demolition.
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