No Injuries After Concrete Wall Collapses On Construction Site
(CBS) -- An accident at a 54-story building under construction in the West Loop Thursday afternoon caused a collapse of a section of concrete from the 21st floor to the 9th floor, but no injuries were reported.
The sound was loud and jolting for people who work nearby the site at Randolph Street and the Chicago River.
"You could feel the vibration – not only the sound, but the vibration was pretty strong," Chicago Fire Department Deputy Commissioner John McNicholas said.
The accident, he said, was triggered 21 floors up.
"They were actually pouring concrete into the forms, which were erecting the walls up around the 21st floor. Apparently one of those forms failed, allowing a heavy amount of concrete to spill out onto the decking."
He said the amount of concrete that fell was the equivalent of a 10-foot-by-10-foot block of concrete. It was too much for the decking.
"The decking is not designed to carry that much weight when it's under construction," McNicholas said.
Most day workers had gone home at the time of the 3:45 p.m. accident.
"Thank God it happened at the time it did happen," the fire official said.