276:, which is caused by excessive moisture intrusion into the supporting wood framing, undermining its structural integrity, the only known investigation report fails to definitively identify the source of moisture, its entry route(s), or the mechanism(s) of its transport. It simply lists 11 "factors which appear to have contributed" without discussion of their relative importance, whether any of the factors was a necessary condition, or which combination of factors were sufficient. The report's format further obfuscates with extensive redactions (some of which are incomplete and thus gratuitous) and by publishing only a poor-quality scan of printouts of the reports. Architect Robert Perry, the author of the as-built vs. as-designed report, focuses exclusively on rainwater entry into the building envelope, and makes observations that appear to be at odds with the evidence. For example, he claims that "dry rot damage had occurred along the top of the cantilever balcony deck joists". But the immediate post-collapse photos show that these joists had already disintegrated to the point that they were unidentifiable. Furthermore, he fails to address strong evidence for vapor transport within the building envelope resulting in concealed condensation in the deck's joist cavities. The deck was on the north-facing wall of the building, and has little or no sun exposure for most of the year. The deck joists, made of an engineered wood product known as
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membranes, yet open to the main building's joist cavities. The deck's joist cavity temperature is dominated by exposure to the outdoor environment, while the interior joist cavity temperature is dominated by the conditioned spaces sandwiched above and below, the latter being warmer most of the time.
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Two independent and detailed reviews of the structural design found no deficiencies in the deck's designed load-bearing capacity. As designed and originally built, but absent the dry rot, the deck would have easily supported itself and the 13 people. But with the joists rotted to powder, the only
426:, ignored a "red flag" when students who rented the apartment complained about mushrooms growing on the balcony. Legal cases by some of the victims were set to be combined and heard together. By the end of 2017 it was reported that most of the lawsuits had been settled.
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Six people died in the immediate aftermath of the collapse. They were identified as 22-year-old Ashley
Donohoe, and Olivia Burke, Eoghan Culligan, Niccolai "Nick" Schuster, Lorcán Miller and Eimear Walsh, all aged 21. All six were Irish and from
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This configuration causes the deck's joist cavities to condense water vapor supplied by the interior and retain it as liquid, creating optimum conditions for the growth of wood-destroying fungus commonly called dry rot.
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of
Berkeley promised a wide-ranging investigation into the cause of the accident. The evidence is overwhelming that dry rot from improper construction caused the collapse, not the weight of the 13 students.
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bid by Segue
Builders, a construction company, against the examination of evidence. O'Malley had argued the granting of a restraining order would interfere with her duty to investigate the tragedy.
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In
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remaining strength was in the ceramic enclosure, which consisted of the unreinforced concrete deck and stucco soffit and walls. The resulting
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Pre-collapse exterior views of the collapsed fifth-floor balcony and the identical fourth-floor balcony are available in Google Street View.
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died and seven others were injured after a balcony on which they were standing collapsed. The group was celebrating a 21st birthday party in
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A joint funeral service for Olivia Burke and her cousin Ashley
Donohoe took place on June 20, four days after the collapse, in a church in
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182:. The balcony was on the 5th floor of an apartment building at 2020 Kittredge Street in Berkeley, then called Library Gardens. The
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Architectural drawings for
Library Gardens, available for inspection by appointment at the City of Berkeley Permit Services Center
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launched a criminal probe into the incident. In
January 2022, one of the injured died from a stroke related to the injuries.
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593:"Report Cites Dry-Rotting in Collapse of Balcony in Berkeley," New York Times, June 24, 2015, Section A, Page 11
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2020 Kittredge Street in 2017. The collapsed balconies were located in the area inside the red box.
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Alameda County prosecutors opened up an investigation in the accident on June 25. They stated that
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denied that pressure from the Irish community led to the collapse inquiry. On July 3, 2015, the
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602:"Berkeley balcony collapse puts new focus on wood dry rot," Los Angelese Times, JUNE 17, 2015
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694:"BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA Period of Record General Climate Summary - Cooling Degree Days"
672:"BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA Period of Record General Climate Summary - Heating Degree Days"
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472:"Six Irish students killed and six seriously injured in California balcony collapse"
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A view of the rotted-off LVL joists that once supported the collapsed balcony deck.
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Although, as the immediate aftermath photos show, the proximate cause was
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The rotted-off stubs of the LVL joists that had supported the balcony.
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643:"Moisture Control Handbook: New, Low-rise, Residential Construction"
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566:"Unstable materials caused 2015 Berkeley balcony collapse - report"
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797:"Prosecutor: Balcony collapse could bring manslaughter charges"
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The immediate aftermath of the 2015 Berkeley balcony collapse
773:"Cousins killed in Berkeley balcony collapse had twin bond"
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Immediate aftermath of the 2015 Berkeley balcony collapse
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Building and structure collapses in the United States
535:"Berkeley balcony collapse survivor Aoife Beary dies"
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821:"Court rejects restraining order bid over Berkeley"
933:"Deadly Berkeley Balcony Collapse Lawsuit Settled"
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875:"Berkeley victims remembered at Dublin funerals"
730:"Moisture Control for New Residential Buildings"
163:On June 16, 2015, shortly after midnight, five
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716:Wood Microbiology: Decay and Its Prevention
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641:Joseph Lstiburek and John Carmody (1991).
616:"Berkeley Balcony Investigation Materials"
260:Learn how and when to remove this message
16:2015 accident in Berkeley, California, US
979:Building and structure collapses in 2015
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108:Coordinates
66:‹ The
958:Categories
943:2022-01-03
917:18 January
808:Yahoo News
784:Yahoo News
580:2022-01-03
442:References
418:Litigation
234:improve it
180:California
549:2 January
394:Aftermath
238:verifying
232:. Please
195:Tom Bates
75:is being
45:and help
937:Archived
911:Archived
885:Archived
859:28 April
831:Archived
826:RTÉ News
800:Archived
776:Archived
736:July 20,
574:Archived
543:Archived
510:Archived
480:Archived
476:evoke.ie
430:See also
402:Funerals
294:box beam
176:Berkeley
168:J-1 visa
96:Location
79:. ›
68:template
757:30 June
700:July 9,
678:July 9,
516:27 June
351:Victims
291:ceramic
274:dry rot
891:4 July
486:3 July
412:Dublin
408:Cotati
358:Dublin
146:Deaths
102:, U.S.
646:(PDF)
619:(PDF)
165:Irish
919:2018
893:2015
861:2024
839:2015
759:2022
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518:2015
488:2015
88:Date
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