Work can resume at Brickell high-rise where scaffolding collapsed

Construction at Echo Brickell can resume after scaffolding from one of the top floors of the Brickell-are condo tower fell and left one bystander dead and injured five other people earlier this month, according to a City of Miami memo written Monday.

Maurice Pons, deputy director of the city's building department, told the department's director Jose Camero in Monday’s memo that the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration “had completed the on-site investigation and gave us the verbal clear to reopen the site” on Thursday.

Pons gave John Moriarty & Associates of Florida, the general contractor for the project, the nod to resume construction on the site on Oct. 28.

The memo also included documents from the general contractor showing a structural engineer was reviewing the building.

“As of this date, the building has been inspected by the structural engineer of record who has deemed the building to be structurally sound...” Richard Schuerger, vice president of John Moriarty & Associates of Florida, wrote in a letter to the city.

While construction of the 51-story building at 1451 Brickell Ave. can resume, it is still not clear what led to the accident on Oct. 19.

Miami City Manager Daniel Alfonso previously told the Herald that a cantilevered scaffolding that hung over the edge of the high rise fell to the ground from near the top of the building. He said construction workers were loading and unloading equipment onto the platform and the scaffolding either became stressed or took on too much weight.

The man who was killed was running from falling debris and suffered a “cardiac episode,” fire rescue officials said at the time. Five other people, including at least one other bystander, were injured.

Pons said in Monday’s memo that the city “will continue monitoring the project and the job progress.”

The building’s developer is Property Markets Group.

This story was originally published November 1, 2016 at 12:05 AM with the headline "Work can resume at Brickell high-rise where scaffolding collapsed."