Expert provides insight into factors that can contribute to building collapses

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Over the last 15 years, there have been three major building collapses in the Jacksonville area: The Berkman Plaza II in 2007, the Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside parking garage in 2023, and the collapse of a building in Jacksonville’s Urban Core on Monday evening.

RELATED: Collapsed building causes road closures on Main Street at 14th Street in Jacksonville’s Urban Core

News4JAX spoke with Mark Kilgore, a forensic structural engineer, who pointed to a couple of factors that could contribute to structure failures, including the age of the building, a lack of maintenance, and water intrusion.

“Water is the natural enemy of any type of building material,” Kilgore said. “Be it wood, steel, concrete, whatever it may be, water will eventually destroy any type of building with those components.”

When he looked into the building collapse that occurred on Main Street Monday evening, he said vehicles regularly driving by the property and their vibrations could have contributed to its collapse.

Kilgore says that also could have contributed to the partial collapse of the top floor of a three-story parking garage at Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside in 2023, for which a reason for collapse has yet to be disclosed.

“It could contribute to it, especially if the structure of the parking deck were compromised, you know, due to age, concrete spalling, again, water intrusion,” Kilgore said. “That is what’s called a dynamic force, and just as an earthquake imposes dynamic forces on the structure, so will the movement of vehicles.”

To prevent these instances from repeating, Kilgore says buildings should undergo regular maintenance, especially if they are occupied.

“At a minimum, there should be some sort of maintenance plan that’s been adopted by the owners to maintain that building,” he said. “Now, once a building is sold, abandoned, unoccupied, unless it is a building that’s a government building, typically, those buildings are no longer maintained.”

In the state of Florida, there’s a special inspection called a 40-year threshold inspection, which means 40-year-old buildings over three stories, or 50 feet, are mandated to undergo thorough inspections to ensure they meet current safety standards.

Those inspections are also supposed to take place every 10 years after the building reaches the 40-year-mark.

For buildings that don’t meet that threshold, Kilgore says to inspect your home, building, or structure yearly.

“Look for holes in the building. Look for paint that’s coming up,” he said. “Look for pieces of the building envelope, such as windows, and door siding that may appear to be compromised, and fix them at that time, and don’t let it snowball into a large situation.”