Parts of Midtown Parking Deck Collapse

Part of a six-floor parking deck near downtown Atlanta collapsed Monday, crushing at least 35 cars. There were no immediate reports of injuries, though firefighters were waiting for the building to be stabilized before doing a car-to-car search.

J.P. Spillane, Atlanta police assistant commander of the zone where the deck is located, said there were signs of bolts popping on the other side and he was worried about “the entire soundness of the structure.”

About 50 firefighters rushed to the deck near the Georgia Tech campus following the 12:32 p.m. collapse and Fire Chief Kevin Cochran said hours later it was “miraculous” there were no reports of injuries.

“We’re still keeping our fingers and toes crossed that that’s the case,” Cochran told reporters at an early evening news conference.

A cause was not immediately known.

Shortly after 6:30 p.m., two loud sirens were heard after
rescuers entered the building. Fire officials later said the rescuers were evacuated as a precaution.

Hardin Construction, the general contractor on the parking deck, was one of three companies that was working at the Atlanta Botanical Garden when a pedestrian bridge collapsed in December, killing one worker and injuring 18.

Tevonne Glover said she was working out at a gym across the street when the deck collapsed, trapping her car inside.

“If it had happened five or 10 minutes later, I would have been in there,” she said as she stood on the street outside trying to catch sight of her car.

Firefighters were sawing pieces of timber to be used to shore up the weakest parts of the building, Cochran said. He said a team of search dogs was ready to sniff through the rubble.

“We want to be absolutely sure the building is safe and there is no secondary collapse,” Cochran said.

Authorities described the collapse as about four car lengths wide that “pancaked” from the fourth floor to the first.

“It’s a huge mess of vehicles and concrete,” Cochran said.

Hardin Construction spokeswoman Barkley Russell confirmed the
company was the general contractor on the deck and surrounding office complex. She said the majority of the work on the parking deck, which was completed in 2002, was done by subcontractor Metromont Corp., which is based in Greenville, S.C.

There are 1,415 spaces and about 35 were affected, Russell said in a statement.

“We are just thankful at this point there are no reports of injuries,” Russell said.

Russell directed questions about how the deck was designed to Metromont Corp., which did not immediately return a call for comment.

Earlier this month, Hardin was fined $6,300 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in connection with the Botanical Garden bridge collapse. The agency’s report concluded Hardin and another company placed two support towers too far from each other, which may have caused the collapse. The company is appealing the fine.

The parking deck was last inspected at the time it was built and cleared for occupancy, said Catherine Woodling, spokeswoman for Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. It has not had any code violations since, Woodling said.

Buildings in Atlanta are not re-inspected after they are cleared for occupancy unless a complaint is filed about a code violation, she said.

Shaun Dodson, who was eating lunch in his car on the far side of the building, said it sounded like the deck was “being demolished.”

“I ran around, saw a hole and thought the building was collapsing,” he said.

About 10 mangled vehicles were visible from the outside. The deck is close to a book store and gym frequented by students from Georgia Tech.

All Georgia Tech employees who work near the deck and park there are accounted for, spokesman Matt Nagel said.