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Berkeley Balcony designed to hold almost 3900 pounds, enough for all that were on it
Efforts to blame the victims were premature and uninformed:
Blueprints show Berkeley balcony was designed for extra strength
By Jaxon Van Derbeken Updated 6:55 pm, Thursday, June 18, 2015
...
Under the state building code, the balcony at 2020 Kittredge St. was required to hold a minimum of 60 pounds per square foot. But blueprints for the project that Berkeley released Thursday indicate that the balcony was constructed to bear 100 pounds per square foot.
City officials say the deck measured 8 feet 10 inches by 4 feet 5 inches. At 100 pounds per square foot, the capacity would be just under 3,900 pounds.
That means the 13 or so people believed to have been on the deck when it collapsed could have weighed 300 pounds apiece, and the structure should have been able to support them.
...
The evidence is overwhelming,” said Bernard Cuzzillo, an engineer in Berkeley who runs a forensic analysis lab that searches for causes of mechanical failures, and who examined the construction documents. “This is failure due to dry rot.”
Read the full article:
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Blueprints-show-Berkeley-balcony-was-designed-for-6336566.php
By Jaxon Van Derbeken Updated 6:55 pm, Thursday, June 18, 2015
...
Under the state building code, the balcony at 2020 Kittredge St. was required to hold a minimum of 60 pounds per square foot. But blueprints for the project that Berkeley released Thursday indicate that the balcony was constructed to bear 100 pounds per square foot.
City officials say the deck measured 8 feet 10 inches by 4 feet 5 inches. At 100 pounds per square foot, the capacity would be just under 3,900 pounds.
That means the 13 or so people believed to have been on the deck when it collapsed could have weighed 300 pounds apiece, and the structure should have been able to support them.
...
The evidence is overwhelming,” said Bernard Cuzzillo, an engineer in Berkeley who runs a forensic analysis lab that searches for causes of mechanical failures, and who examined the construction documents. “This is failure due to dry rot.”
Read the full article:
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Blueprints-show-Berkeley-balcony-was-designed-for-6336566.php
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Thanks for posting this! I almost lost two friends this year to this identical scenario, the only difference was they were on the 2nd floor, and survived with fractured skulls and spines. Seeing this tragedy twice in one area in one year makes me wonder how many other balconies (including my own!) face this risk 
