Roof of Easton Moving Company Collapses
The back portion of Edwards Movers collapsed Thursday, marking the third such incident in two days.
Traffic was backed up on Washington Street Thursday afternoon as Department of Public Works workers scrambled to turn off a gas leak that sprang as the result of a collapsed building.
It was an all-too familiar sight for a town that had seen two such incidents the day before.
The rear end of Edwards Movers' building on 792 Washington Street collapsed because of built-up snow on the roof Thursday afternoon. No injuries were reported and employees were able to get outside safely.
"There is definitely major structural damage," Easton Fire Chief Thomas Stone said. "There were a handful of employees in there at the time and they were able to get out with no injuries."
Stone said four or five employees were in the office area of the building near its front when they heard a collapse. Currently, Stone said, most of the building is being supported by wood crates that hold stock inside.
Edwards Movers was rated by Boston Business Journal as Massachusetts' seventh largest moving company, according to Edwards Movers' website. The website said the company was established in 1974 by Wayne Edwards, who declined comment Thursday. It specializes in both local and distance moving.
The building on Washington Street stored the items of many clients, Stone said.
"The moving company has crates and crates of stuff in there," he said. "It could be furniture – it could be anything. Quite frankly, it looks like the stock is holding the roof up right now. If there wasn’t stock in there, this building would probably be on the ground."
Stone said the walls in the middle of the building were bowed in and the back portion had caved in. He said with the heat turned off, the steel could contract causing further collapse.
As of 6:30 p.m. fire officials said the roof was still standing with the support of stock and crates in the building.
Wayne Benson, Jr
5:05 pm on Thursday, February 3, 2011
These pre-manufactured (Butler) steel buildings seem to be failing under a snow load that is less than what is required by the state building code. These buildings are designed to very tight tolerances, often by out of state designers.
Owners of this type of building should monitor the roof structure, especially the purlins (smaller members spanning between girders) for deflection and/or rolling of the members.
George Turner
10:39 am on Friday, February 4, 2011
The problem is not with the design, but with the installation. Parts and pieces (braces) designed to offset the roll of purlins and plate beams are not installed during the errection. This is due to the considerable amount of time they require to install and often off an expensive rental lift. Other buildings have other features that were not counted for in the design, such as masards, facades or other adjacent or abutting building that create a drift load. Most engineers and building inspectors do not know what to look for and are unfamiliar with pre engineered systems.
Wayne Benson, Jr
3:44 pm on Friday, February 4, 2011
I agree that if bridging is properly installed the rolling of the purlins would be much less of a problem, however in my opinion the low tolerances used in pre-engineered systems leave little room for error either in the design or construction end of the process. For example missing bridging in a 'standard' bar joist roof system would not likely result in a collapse.
As far as missing 'pieces' go in Massachusetts we have a controlled construction requirement for commercial buildings of this size, building inspectors should be asking for construction control affidavits from the engineer of record who is required to verify that the building is erected properly. I think it is likely that all parties (architects, engineers, contractors and inspectors) get a false sense of security from a pre-engineered building which can be erected so quickly.