Parking garage repairs will begin at Cal U
By KRISTIE LINDEN
klinden@yourmvi.com
Four years after a massive piece of concrete broke loose from the Vulcan Parking Garage on the California University of Pennsylvania campus, repairs are set to start.
A 20-foot-by-2-foot piece of concrete broke off the second level of the garage and crashed to the ground level on move-in day in 2016, and the garage has been closed ever since.
Two years later, Cal U filed suit against the contractor, Manheim Corp., and Travelers Casualty and Surety Co., claiming breach of contract, breach of warranty and breach of implied warranty.
The suit has been settled and the repairs will now move forward.
Cal U hired Manheim in June 2009 to build the $10.5 million parking garage.
In the suit, Cal U claimed the issue was caused by the contractor’s use of double tees, which are like two T-beams connected side by side but made with prestressed concrete instead of steel reinforcements as required in the original Request for Proposals.
Manheim touted the process as an innovated breakthrough that would last longer than steel-reinforced structures, according to the suit.
The suit contended the failure made it clear the double tees and a carbon fiber grid meant to reinforce it were not sufficient to support specified loads.
The garage was open from move-in day 2010 until move-in day 2016, when the partial collapse happened.
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