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![Waikiki hotel incident raises railing safety concerns](http://kehu02.grofrom.com/www.chinacurtainwalljw.com/720a1fa3b9bf5f40d2e8a6a6c47d66c0.jpg)
HONOLULU (KHON2) — A frightening situation in Waikiki Tuesday afternoon after a 5th floor balcony railing at the Moana Surfrider Hotel came crashing down onto the beach.
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Luckily, no one was on the balcony when it happened and no one was seriously hurt below, but it’s raising concerns. A building expert said it may be a much larger problem.
National building expert Lance Luke was at the scene Tuesday afternoon and said it’s unsettling because it’s likely a much bigger problem.
“I think water is getting through on the top tile and penetrating to the concrete because that leaning edge which is ahead of the balcony, I could see horizontal rebar that was pretty corroded,” Luke explained. “I’m pretty sure that this is not the only unit like that. I think it’s a global thing. I’m looking the whole building.”
“Knowing that it fell without even any pressure being applied to it. What does that mean really?” KHON asked.
“That’s even scarier,” Lance replied. “Because no human forces are pushing the railing and it just collapses on its own. That means that the anchor points of that wall connected to the lanai slab is very weak. All those hotel units that have similar walls– and I’m like all those–could come down too.”
He said serious action needs to be taken. All the guests need to be notified and the hotel needs to block off the balconies until they’re inspected and deemed structurally sound.
“Not just putting caution tape, but maybe 2 X 4 and make a little structure. So no one can even go close to the railing,” he said.
In a statement, the City’s department of planning and permitting said:
The maintenance of private high-rise buildings is the responsibility of the building’s owner or management firm. However, if we become aware that a building may be unsafe, we will send an inspector to investigate. If we determine that a building is unsafe, the Building Code allows the DPP to take immediate action to protect the health and safety of the building’s residents. We may also ask the owner or management firm to provide a structural assessment report of the building for our review.
“DPP could theoretically come down and shut the hotel down,” Luke said.
Doing the necessary inspections could take a long time and fixing any structural issues would be extremely expensive.
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“It’s going to be millions of dollars to repair. I can tell already but it needs to be done.”
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