The Miami condominium building that partially crumbled to the ground -- leaving at least 4 dead and dozens of others unaccounted for -- seemed to be an accident waiting to happen ... at least that's what an engineering report suggested as early as 2018.
The city of Surfside -- where this awful tragedy happened -- released a number of docs related to the building, known as Champlain Towers South, and its architectural history ... and one report from engineering firm Morabito Consultants has some potentially damning findings.
According to the study, the experts found "major structural damage" to a concrete structural slab below the building's pool deck -- where the waterproofing had been laid flat as opposed to at an angle (which would help drain water from the place) ... something MC thought needed to be addressed, and which would require extensive and costly repairs.
Here's what the engineers thought could happen if this wasn't nipped in the bud ... "The failed waterproofing is causing major structural damage to the concrete structural slab below these areas." They add ominously, "Failure to replace the waterproofing in the near future will cause the extent of the concrete deterioration to expand exponentially."
There's more ... the report also found "abundant cracking and spalling" in the concrete columns, beams and walls in the parking garage. Not just that, but what cracks had been found before were apparently repaired with shoddy labor, including slapping epoxy on top.
We should note ... it's unclear if these issues had any direct impact on the building caving in on itself, but you could imagine people living there might feel that way. That coupled with reports of residents claiming to hear creaking in different parts of the building over the years, and finding random flooding underneath the ground-level surface ... is not good.