image NBC [1]
From the image, it appears this is a 5 story wood frame pre-fab modular structure.
The balcony snapped right off the face of the building and is sitting on the balcony one floor below - spilling and killing a lot of people to the street concrete.
It appears that the only wood which broke is at either end of the balcony. In conventional wood construction the balcony should be an extension of the floor joists - integral with the building structure.
These pre-fab modular wood hi rises are a real crappy and dangeous trend. One burnt to the ground in New Jersey [2], another burnt to the ground in LA [3]
Our building codes are clearly crap - allowing this multi story mega volume flamable wood stick housing. Crazy. The forest lobby and the developers love it though, so the codes will not improve. Fastest way to the bank governs the codes. British Columbia allows 6 story wood buildings - while Toronto rejected that idea but still allows 4 stories. [4]
Attachment | Size |
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balcony_berkeley.JPG [5] | 29.76 KB |
balcony_berkeley_rot.JPG [6] | 52.8 KB |
balcony_berkeley_glue_laminated_wood_rot.JPG [7] | 77.29 KB |
balcony_berkeley_not_glue_laminated_wood_.JPG [8] | 94.73 KB |
Links:
[1] http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Berkeley-Balcony-Collapse-Kills-5-Hurts-8-Kittredge-Street--307546441.html
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/nyregion/edgewater-fire-leaves-homeless-tenants-distraught.html?_r=0
[3] http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-los-angeles-fire-20141208-story.html
[4] https://www.reminetwork.com/articles/taking-wood-frame-construction-to-new-heights/
[5] http://realneo.us/system/files/balcony_berkeley.JPG
[6] http://realneo.us/system/files/balcony_berkeley_rot.JPG
[7] http://realneo.us/system/files/balcony_berkeley_glue_laminated_wood_rot.JPG
[8] http://realneo.us/system/files/balcony_berkeley_not_glue_laminated_wood_.JPG