Over 100 workers evacuated after large crack discovered in Queens building

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Over 100 workers evacuated after large crack discovered in Queens building
Over a hundred workers were evacuated after a large crack was discovered on a building in Queens.

LONG ISLAND CITY, Queens (WABC) -- Over a hundred workers were evacuated after a large crack was discovered on a building in Queens.

Just before 1 p.m. Monday, FDNY responded to the building on 45-18 Court Sq. in Long Island City for the large crack on the top floor of a six-story building.

The building is currently under construction.

Officials say 125 workers were evacuated, and buildings adjacent to the location were also evacuated. Around 3 p.m., workers were being allowed back into the building.

No injuries were reported.

DOB engineers and inspectors have preliminarily determined that while work was ongoing to cast a new concrete column at the 6th floor of the building, the pressure from the concrete pour caused the existing facade of the building to bulge outward approximately 1.5 inches.

As a result, DOB has issued an emergency order for the contractor to perform shoring and bracing work on the building, under the supervision of a Professional Engineer. This work has already begun.

A violation was also issued to the contractor and a Full Stop Work Order at the site, stopping all work other than the emergency shoring in the building.

RELATED: Man who survived Brooklyn building collapse 'grateful to be alive'

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