This report was written by BCC resident Gordon P. Houston, P.E., a Professional Civil Engineer registered in Florida and Illinois. He worked in construction and design since 1965 and served 2 years on the BCC Board.
Roofs
The roofs of our buildings are constructed by stretching a membrane over plywood sheeting supported by wood roof trusses. The membrane is anchored at the roof edge by steel screws spaced at intervals along the edge ledger board. This produced a strong roof with a low wind drag which is important during a strong wind storm. We found during hurricane Wilma that the edge anchorage must be maintained. During this storm we had a failure on the south side of buildings 1 through 8. The roofing expert hired to repair these roofs said the steel connectors had deteriorated. He made repairs using stainless steel connectors. When asked how we could prevent this from happening again, he suggested we install additional stainless steel connectors between the existing steel connectors.
Seawall
The seawall along the canal and entrance road was built before the condo buildings. This type of concrete seawall is designed with a service life of 30 years. Our wall is approximately 40 years old; therefore, we have surpassed the design service life and it needs to be reinforced to extend that life.
In addition, this wall is only 2 feet from the edge of the entrance road within the soil slip zone behind the wall. When a heavy vehicle drives near the curb there is an additional load against the wall. When we repaved the road, we added even more weight on the wall. It would be best if the curb was 10 to 12 feet back from the back face of the wall.
The reason we see so much subsidence (or washouts) along the wall now is because of movement of the wall due to stretching and failure of the steel strand tie backs. This causes misalignment of the precast sheets and pilings, allowing the backfill to pass through. If enough tiebacks fail the wall will fail as it did at building 14 where the wall tipped over. Or the piles will break and damage the precast concrete panels, which happened along the
To properly stabilize and extend the life of the seawall without the greater expense of replacing it, the normal method is to drive sloping piles in front of each existing vertical pile. This is to replace the failing tiebacks. In addition, the existing cap is replaced with a wider cap to encompass both piles and to insure the top of the existing sheet is supported.
Balconies
The balcony railings are in very poor condition, causing a safety hazard for residents. In addition, many residents are having problems with their screens because the railings also support the screens. When hurricane Wilma damaged 3 balcony railings, we could not just replace these railings. Florida's Building Code required the railing to be 4 inches higher and the vertical slats closer together. The vertical support at the center of the balcony has to have additional support at the top.
Entrance Doors
Building entrance doors are a concern. The door panels are mostly in good condition but the hardware has been used for over 36 years without replacement. Most latches and worn-out hinges are noisy, and many closures are inoperable or nearly so. The conditions of the entrance doors are important during wind storms because if they fail to hold back the wind we will lose the roof.
Shutters, Windows & Balcony Enclosures
BCC should have a policy on window replacement, balcony enclosures and practical shutter design. If we make all windows meet the new code we would be eligible for a substantial discount on wind insurance. The policy should require all present and future glass balcony enclosures (where sliding door is removed) to meet the same present code requirements.
4 comments:
I was at a Board Meeting when Gordon Houston spoke on the seawall. If I remember correctly, he said that we have roughly 3,000 feet of canal seawall, and that all needs to be surveyed and reinforced with those slanted pilings. I forget the figures he quoted, but suggested that the cost be spread over at least three years.
I was to a meeting last spring where someone asked Rochelle if the Board planned to follow through on Gordon Houston's suggestions. She glibly remarked "Oh yes! We plan to do a hundred feet or so at a time."
If I remember correctly, Mr. Houston said that a good part of the cost was bringing in the crane barge (like a flat fee?). This would mean that we would be paying for the crane barge to be brought in THIRTY times instead of just three times!
Impossible costs - unless we can get a stimulus package for BCC from the President!
What do these people use for brains?
I doubt if Mr. Houston would ever run for the Board again - our good ones are never appreciated - but perhaps with a new Board with a few more synapses that snap together, he might be willing to act as a consultant?
There is approximately 3,000 lineal feet seawall (or one half mile) along the canal. It was surveyed by a consultant hired by a previous board who stated that we should start planning on replacement of the wall. This report was made in 2004. We had hoped to repair approximately 1,000 feet at a time. The repair was to incorporate the replacement of the dock electric, dock timber, and contingency for replacement of water, street lights, palm trees, curb and some roadway pavement. Doing a small section of wall as is being done at Building 15 is wasteful because the cost of mobilizing is the same for 200 feet or 1,000 feet. Also, there are a number of phases in the construction process - each one requiring a different group of workers and equipment. Each phase has its own mobilization cost. Most contractors will give a much better price for a larger project. Another reason to increase the size of the work is to reduce the cost and effort required for permits.
The method used at Building 15 is interesting in that it is being accomplished without removal of the dock piling and interference with the street lights, palm trees, irrigation and dock water system. It is unfortunate that the board is not making public the contract price for this work. I am positive that it will be less per foot than we had anticipated before.
I believe that to wait for a section of the wall to fail before making any repairs is a mistake because of possible damage to the concrete sheets and misalignment at the pile supports.
Why isn't BCC raising boat slip rental fees? They have not been raised in at least five years that I have been here and they are a bargain compared to other rates in Florida. BCC should raise them a $1.00 a foot a month. Still reasonable. But why havent they been raised?????
1. Boat slip fees are set in BCC's Declaration of Condominium and would require a 75% vote of owners or, a probable law suit to change.
2. Doubling the fees would bring in an additional $32,000 a year, or $50 per unit per year.
3. Cheap dockage is an amenity (like free tennis with free night lighting) that helps sell BCC units.
4. There are presently empty slips and LOTS of units for sale (and not selling). Increasing slip fees would help neither problem.
5. Seawall repair would have to be done even if there were no boats and no docks. Maintaining seawalls is the responsibility of water front property owners.
6. Slip income has far exceeded costs for dock maintenance for the past 20 or so years.
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