US: San Francisco's 'sinking' Millennium Tower leaves residents worried; lawsuits filed

A colossal luxury apartment in San Francisco going by the name Millennium Tower continues to sink and tilt to a side by about 3 inches (7.5 centimetres) per year, suggested reports. The engineer trying to fix the building has admitted to the building sinking, according to AP. Ron Hamburger, an engineer, has stated that if the tilting continues at the current rate without a fix, the 58-storey apartment building could reach the point where the elevators and plumbing might not be able to function.

Ron Hamburger, however, has given a solution to fix the Millennium Tower in San Francisco. In a hearing last week, Hamburger informed the San Francisco Board of Supervisors that the building remains safe. He further informed supervisors that placing 18 steel piles to bedrock will help in preventing the tilting of the building and possibly reverse some of it, AP cited KNTV TV report. Ron Hamburger told the supervisors that the building continues to “settle at a rate of about one-half inch per year and to tilt at a rate of about three inches per year,” as per AP.

Millennium Tower sinking since 2016, many lawsuits filed by residents

Earlier in December last year, the engineers in a letter to the general manager of the building mentioned two possible reasons for the sinking. According to them, the sinking of the building could be due to the vibration of soils related to pile installation activity and the removal of excessive soil when the piles had been installed, reported The Daily Mail. Millennium Tower had opened in 2009 and all 419 apartments had been quickly occupied. The apartment building had high profile residents including former San Francisco 49er Joe Montana and San Francisco Giants outfielder Hunter Pence. The building had sunk 16 inches (40 centimetres) into the soft soil by the year 2016 and it was creating a 2-inch tilt at the base and a 6-inches tilt at the top. Residents of the apartment building were informed about the sinking in 2016 and many lawsuits had been filed ever since.

Inputs from AP

Image: AP