August 16th

Press Release from the Village of Oak Park

Property owner, contractor to be cited following Harrison Street building façade collapse

Citations will be issued to both the owner and his contractor in connection with the partial collapse last week of the brick façade from several addresses along the south side of Harrison Street at Lombard Avenue.

The Village will cite Chris Kleronomos, who owns the property from 201 – 211 Harrison, and the contractor, Built Max Construction of Chicago, which had begun renovating the section where the collapse likely began.

Citations cover a range of violations, including doing work beyond the scope of a permit and failing to take steps to compensate for the effect of the unpermitted work, which contributed to the parapet wall failure. Citations also were issued for failing to make the sidewalk and street safe in a timely manner following the wall collapse.

One person sustained minor injuries when the wall collapsed and sent steel beams, bricks and mortar down onto the sidewalk and into the street at about 1:50 p.m., Wed., Aug. 10. Two parked cars also were damaged, and the street closed for a short time.

The most likely cause of the collapse, Village officials say, was a loss of load-bearing support for the steel beams along the front of the building. This occurred when sections of terra cotta facing were removed from the brick piers where the steel beams rested, weakening the piers. According to officials, this work exceeded what was allowed under the permits issued for the project.

The building owner and contractor were cited for the following specific violations:

Performing work without a permit. Removing the terra cotta at the masonry piers exceed the approved work.
Failure to shore existing beams to compensate for loss of masonry bearing due to removal of the terra cotta. Contractor did not maintain proper end support for the steel lintels bearing on the masonry piers, which contributed to the collapse.
<>Failure to complete necessary shoring of steel beams within the required timeframe following the façade failure.

Failure to complete necessary shoring of masonry piers within the required timeframe following the façade failure.
Failure to secure site with a covered walkway system within the required timeframe following the façade failure.
Destroying public property. A lighting standard, concrete walk and pavers, concrete planter and a parkway tree were damaged.

Each violation carries a maximum fine of up to $750.

Village officials said an inquiry is underway into the business practices of the property owner that may have allowed the conditions to exist that could have had tragic results along the often heavily traveled sidewalk and street.

In addition, Village Manager Tom Barwin said he has asked the Building Codes Advisory Commission to facilitate an independent review and third-party analysis of how the Building & Property Standards Department applied codes and conducted inspections of the Harrison Street property.

Two sections of the building, constructed around 1922, had housed active businesses – Prodigy Glassworks, which was open when the façade collapsed, and Breijo, a restaurant that had closed recently pending reopening under new ownership. The section where the collapse likely began was to be renovated for a restaurant.

Both Prodigy and Breijo lost sections of the storefront above the main windows, but the buildings remained secure, officials said. However, Prodigy likely will be closed for a few days pending further structural review of the building.

In the meantime, the sidewalk along the storefronts has been closed and a temporary, covered walkway set up in the parking lane along the curb. Parking has been restricted on both sides of the street to allow for two-way traffic along the busy street.

The 201 – 211 Harrison Street property is in the foreclosure process and Village officials say they will be working with the court-appointed property receiver and Citizens Community Bank to ensure permanent repairs are made to the building.

August 11, 2011
Update
The Collapse on Harrison Street
has that certain je ne sais quoi.

Village Officials continue inspection of properties damaged by the collapse of the parapet wall.
© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc. photos

report and commentary by Ed Vincent

The Village of Oak Park is back on day two of the collapse of the parapet on properties owned by Mr. Chris Kleronomos. Mr. Kleronomos is in the process of building another Chinese restaurant for the area, and residents are eager for its arrival. He has spent nearly $1,000,000.00 on rehabbing the buildings damaged by the parapet falling due to "I" beam supports being compromised. The Village is quick to claim innocents of any culpability contributing to the structural failure of the edifice.

With all mechanical failures, be they bridges, building, beaches, or even a boxing match, one should consider all of the contributing factors. Right in front of the primary support failure was a large water main correction that was performed only a few months ago, which involved jack hammers and other violent mechanical action needed to correct the water supply of the Village. The vibration damage is actually more severe in the warmer months of the year than in the winter. If you add the grinding and resurfacing of the road to the prior accumulated damage you should note a reduction in structural integrity, not an increase. When you figure in the age of the building, the damage caused by vibration stress surrounding the immediate area, and then don't forget gravity doing its work too, and failure becomes a stronger probability.

The sidewalk is marked off for no pedestrian traffic and an Oak Park patrolman is assigned to keep residents safe.
© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc. photo

Chris Kleronomos, the owner of the damaged properties is surrounded by Village representatives requiring his signature on documents calling for some action to be taken in a mere few hours.
© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc. photo

The insurance companies will cover the damages and repairs, from our reports and interviews with Mr. Kleronomos. Their are some charts below in the previous story on the failure and two reports, one from Canada in the
1960's and another vibration report.

Given the fact that Oak Park has some older buildings, it might make very good sense to be aware of potential damages before they become actual. There are meters that can be mounted to a structure to measure the damage to a structure and lessen it by different means of achieving the same thing at times.

Canadian-vibration-study
Vibration Primer

August 10, 2011

© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc. photo
Parapet Walls Fall from Buildings on Harrison Street
report by Ed Vincent

Bricks along a series of connected buildings on the south side of the 800 block of Harrison street came falling to the ground this afternoon a little after 2 pm. It was a startling event, and fortunately no one was injured. One woman who witnessed the event from nearby was taken to a hospital for evaluation, though no physical injury was noted after a visual inspection.

The bricks had been tuck pointed recently we are told and renovations were taking place on the corner of the long structure.

Some ornate terra-cotta was damaged and destroyed in the calamity.
© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc. photos

The parapet wall has little support function and mostly adds detail to the facade of the building. It appears three layers thick from our photos and is an older building. There has been some discussion on the potential damage given to the building by vibration in the street improvement work from a short time ago. The roof appears to have been functioning in terms of the removal of rain water, since no rain water was noted in the fallen bricks.

Village officials appear on the scene and police and fire set up barriers and search for any injured persons following the incident.
© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc. photos

The above photo shows the glass studio with little apparent
damage to the inside of the store, but the owner's car did not
fare as well outside.
© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc. photos

We have been told that the street was worked on a day or two ago and that it had been micro paved, which is often less that 5/8 of an inch thick. It is possible that the vibration from the construction work could have caused or contributed to the destruction of the parapet wall, on the older building.

Typical levels measured during construction activities are shown below: (source)

Construction Activity	Typical Ground Vibration Level
Vibratory roller	Up to 1.5mms @ 25m
Hydraulic rock breakers	4.5 mm/s @ 5m, 0.4 @ 20m, 0.1 @ 50m
Compactor	20mm/s @ 5m, <0.3mm/s @30m
Pile driving	1-3mm/s @ 50m depending on soil conditions and piling technique
Bulldozer	1-2mm/s @ 5m, 0.1 @ 50m
Truck traffic (smooth surface) Truck traffic (rough surface)	<0.2mm/s @ 20m <2mm/s @ 20m

The measurement of vibration in earthquakes is measured in Richter's, in many other applications it is spoken of in terms of Peak Particle Velocity (or PPV) which has units of mm/s.