re: Part of the new Hard Rock Hotel collapses (NOLA) 3 dead, Cranes Down-ish

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Did St tammany steal your girl or something?

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Wait... did they finally find a working penis there???

Non-Union Contractor Caused Hard Rock Hotel Collapse

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As dust and debris covered multiple city blocks on the edge of the famed French Quarter, questions have begun to arise about how a building that was under construction could just collapse. According to Hard Rock, Citadel Builders LLC was contracted by Kailas Companies, owner of the project, to build the Hard Rock Hotel New Orleans.

According to Andy O’Brien, the Secretary Treasurer of the Southeast Louisiana Building and Construction Trades Council, the IBEW and the Plumbers union have been holding informational pickets outside of the hotel for weeks in an effort to inform residents of the danger of the project.

“Citadel is not a union contractor,” said O’Brien. “Whenever they show up, we aren’t far behind.” In other words, when Citadel sets up shop on a construction project, the unions are quick to picket and protest.

Some of the issues that the unions were concerned about included the use of non-licensed workers, hiring undocumented workers, and misclassifying employees on the project as independent contractors.

This isn’t Citadel’s first brush with the law. In August, the contractor pleaded no contest and agreed to pay a fine for using unlicensed contractors on their jobs. If the union's intel is correct, it would appear that Citadel hasn’t learned from their fine and continued to use non-licensed workers.

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As the contractor and the city rushed to shore up the project, Union Ironworkers rushed in to help. According to Troy Bates, 9 highly trained Ironworkers brought in a 500-ton hydraulic crane from Baton Rouge. Instead of letting the trained union workers do their job and use the crane to stabilize the building the contractor said he didn’t want any assistance from union hands. He kicked them off the job and let a non-skilled employee operate the crane.

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First lawsuits in Hard Rock collapse filed in New Orleans

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With all of the uncertainty surrounding the collapsed and teetering Hard Rock Hotel, there is one sure thing: litigation. The first two lawsuits of an expected wave of claims were filed Tuesday by two different attorneys.

Metairie attorney Mike Brandner filed the first suit in Orleans Civil District Court against the project’s developer, builder, engineers, architects and their insurance companies.

Brandner said one of this three clients was on an upper floor of the Hard Rock construction site when the building started to collapse.

“He ran toward the river side of the building. It's almost like a movie where the stuff is falling from you and you're running,” he said.

Brandner said the other two workers in the lawsuit were on the ground floor on a lunch break, but suffered injuries from falling debris while running for safety.

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When asked why he launched litigation while the tragedy is still unfolding, Brandner said it is legally important to file quickly to preserve documents and evidence, especially if there ends up being a dispute and finger-pointing as to the cause of the accident.

“My biggest concern with construction cases is that it's very document-intensive and it's very evidence-based,” Brandner said. “So I wanted to make sure that everyone is put on notice to preserve all evidence in this case.”

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Just noticed you bash it every chance you get.

That northeast corner probably fell initially. Large intact slabs, no supplies in the street.

Northwest section less intact. Pool looks already installed on the Canal street side. I don't see a dumpster which should be on top of the pile or in the street. Crane position is southwest away from the worst damage.

Anchored I-beam linked to the crane, shows a shift from west to east on the top floor.

This is just my non-professional assessment of this video.

Youtube

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Pool looks already installed on the Canal street side.

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Pool also looks like its 5 floors lower than the floor that failed.

Those union guys need to shut their pie holes

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No way to get one of Turners Demag in there and get a hook on it ? I mean shite they have an 800 ton beast.

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I guess anything is possible but who is going to hook on for the pick while the thing is on the verge of collapse? Someone has to climb up there and rig it up and release a section. If it comes down before the section is released both cranes are lost.

Pretty risky operation if you ask me.

Keep in mind no company they would try to hire HAS to do anything.

It was rhetorical

Prayers for the saenger. I took a nice shite in there when it first opened for Seinfeld. Good times. I’m gonna miss that fancy wall paper.