This story was updated on Jan. 10 with a comment from UT Austin.
Fixing an outdoor ceiling that collapsed at UT Austin late last year, and another structure that poses similar risks, will cost upward of $750,000, according to a report commissioned by the university.
But university leaders still have not determined who was at fault for the incident.
Just before Thanksgiving weekend, the ceiling of an outdoor patio at the Norman Hackerman Building suddenly collapsed. Video of the incident that The Texas Newsroom obtained through a public records request shows the massive structure crashing down on a piece of art, as well as tables and chairs, in an empty outdoor seating area.
No one was hurt in the incident. But it raised questions about the cause of the collapse, and the safety of this and other campus buildings.
The University of Texas at Austin hired engineering firm Walter P. Moore to investigate. The firm produced a 25-page report on Dec. 6, which The Texas Newsroom obtained Monday through a public records request.
The report says the pins used to anchor the structure were “insufficient.” Some of the pins in the southwest corner “failed,” it concluded, putting more pressure on the others, overloading them and causing the whole thing to come down.
“Generally, the drive-pin anchors are an inappropriate product for supporting a suspended exterior soffit based upon multiple manufacturer’s published data for this type of anchor,” the report said. “We observed numerous extracted fasteners, fractured and deformed drive-pin anchors, and tie wires throughout the patio failure assessment area.”
A loading dock on the north side of the building uses these same pins and is also “exhibiting indications of cracking between light fixture openings and has the same structurally deficient fasteners,” the report added.
“As a precaution, overhead protection was erected in the loading dock shortly after the patio soffit collapse to allow temporary access to the loading dock and based upon the initial assessment findings, we understand that the soffit in the loading dock will be removed in the coming days,” it added.
The building’s fire sprinkler heads, as well as some electrical, telecommunications and lighting systems were also damaged, the report added.
The firm gave UT Austin two cost estimates for fixing both the patio and loading dock: $750,000 or $875,000. The less expensive option would mean installing a similar type of ceiling, a hanging wire system, as in the original design.
The more expensive option would mean designing and building a new steel frame support system that the report says would offer “much greater stiffness and rigidity compared to the original wire-hung system, but it is much lighter than conventional steel framing.”
UT Austin spokesman Mike Rosen said it is still undetermined who was at fault, but that it was a problem "related to construction, not design." The university is reviewing similar installations elsewhere on campus but are not pausing any projects currently underway.
"We are bringing additional attention to similar installations in buildings that are under construction," Rosen said.
Two firms involved in the design and construction of the building have been part of several other projects on campus since the Hackerman building opened, including at least two contracts that are currently active, according to a list of projects the university provided.
