FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.—Federal investigators determining why a Florida condominium tower partially collapsed three years ago, killing 98 people, said Thursday there were many faulty support columns in the tenant garage that ran below it and the adjoining pool deck.
National Institute of Standards and Technology investigators told an advisory panel that tests show that some of the steel-reinforced concrete columns at Champlain Towers South were half the strength they should have been and were not up to construction standards in 1980 when the 12-story tower was built. The steel in some had become moderately to extremely corroded, weakening them further.
