Recent Stories with tag facade

The Seattle Fire Department snapped this photo of the scene. The chunk of facade that fell from the top of the building housing the Icon Grill took out an awning and injured three people. AP says:

The debris hit a 40-year-old man in the head. He was alert and talking to medics. Two others have minor injuries--a 45-year-old man who was knocked down has back pain, and a 23-year-old woman was hit in the leg.

All three were taken to Harborview, and the sidewalk has been blocked off. "Bricks are everywhere" still, reports a passerby (see SFD photo after the jump).

Well, aren't you curious about every little thing?

It's a 52-ton crane, and it's there to hoist a "building maintenance unit" to the rooftop of the Seattle Municipal Tower. The BMU, as we're calling it now, sounds like something you might be able to charge admission to.

It sits in a well on the roof, and gives maintenance workers access to all sides of the tower, from floor 62 to the first floor. Most excitingly, it comes with a crane itself, a telescoping arm with a reach of 112 feet, that holds a personnel basket (16 feet wide, 2-3 people, up to 750 pounds).

The tower's current "façade maintenance systems" is out of compliance with Washington State Labor and Industries and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The city's BMU fact sheet explains that preparation for this began in 2007. "To prepare for the rooftop unit, 45 tons of steel reinforcement have been added to floors 60 through 63." A further 15 tons of steel supports were added temporarily as part of the installation process.