About the investigation

After the initial shock, attention turned to why a localized failure on the pool deck propagated into a progressive, catastrophic collapse. To shed light on the mystery, the Miami Herald collected first-responder body-cam footage, 911 calls and thousands of pages of structural drawings, permits and inspection reports. Reporters sifted the backgrounds of inspectors, engineers, architects, contractors and subcontractors involved in the building’s construction, permitting and maintenance.

The Herald hired an engineering professor with expertise in structural damage caused by earthquakes and other natural disasters. A picture began to emerge through analysis of these records as well eyewitness accounts, court records, before and after photographs, bystander video, condo board meeting minutes and maintenance logs.

Meet the engineer

Dr. Dawn E Lehman

Dawn Lehman is a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on response of structural systems to natural hazards, including earthquakes. She is director of the UW Large-Scale Structural Engineering Testing Laboratory.

Professor Lehman uses large-scale testing and advanced computer simulation to research reinforced concrete systems, including slab-column, beam-column and column-foundation connections. She has published over 100 refereed journal articles and her research has advanced building codes, including ACI 318.

In 2021, she worked on a team that developed advanced finite element modeling methods intended to fully capture the nonlinear response of reinforced concrete members, connections and systems. These validated models, which were peer-reviewed and published in Engineering Structures journal, form the basis of the computer simulation Lehman and her graduate students have performed as part of this investigation.

The Herald built a computer model to explore how Surfside tower fell. Here’s what it showed

Deflection and steel stress patterns from the LS Dyna model of Champlain Towers South built by engineering professor Dawn Lehman and her team at the University of Washington.

The Herald partnered with University of Washington engineering professor Dawn Lehman to build a computer model and explore the following critical questions raised by their experiences: Where exactly could this collapse have started and how did it spread across the pool deck and into the tower to become one of the deadliest collapses in modern history?

COLLAPSE: DISASTER IN SURFSIDE

Listen to the 12-part investigative podcast from the Miami Herald and Treefort Media. We spoke with survivors, witnesses, experts, first responders, and journalists, to get the whole story of Champlain Towers South.