UGA inspecting garages after Midtown collapse

The University of Georgia announced Wednesday it will re-inspect all of its parking decks after learning the same construction company that built the collapsed Midtown Atlanta garage worked on the school’s projects.

“None of our university decks have shown structural deficiencies, but we just want to affirm they are safe,” university spokeswoman Cynthia Hoke said.

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Hyosub Shin /hshin@ajc.com

After each car is lifted from the rubble with a crane, firefighters and structural engineers recheck the garage to make sure it is safe for firefighters to return to their search.

How to get your car back:

Visit www.gatowedcars.com and enter your make, model, year and tag number.

If your car is not listed, call Fifth Street Management -- which runs the garage -- at 404-419-9600. Fifth Street will arrange for a valet to take your keys. A firefighter will then drive your car from the damaged garage to a lot at Eighth and Spring streets, where you can pick it up.

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The school’s announcement comes as firefighters are expected to wrap up their search and recovery operation at the collapsed Centergy garage at Fifth and Springs streets near Georgia Tech.

After searching for more than 50 hours, firefighters said they still have not found any victims nor suffered any injuries among the personnel working the scene. There also have been no reports of missing persons since part of the four floors of the garage collapsed around 12:30 p.m. Monday, Atlanta Fire spokesman Bobby Stewart said Wednesday.

Once the search and recovery is complete, firefighters said the investigation into why the garage collapsed can start.

As of Wednesday, officials said they still have not found a cause. Structural engineers and officials from Hardin Construction, which worked on the garage, have been on scene all week.

Hardin is the same construction company that was cited by OSHA for deficiencies at the Atlanta Botanical Garden bridge, which collapsed in December. One worker died and 18 were injured in the bridge collapse.

Hardin also built some of the parking decks at UGA, Hoke said.

The inspections will include the eight parking garages on campus and two that Hardin is currently building on campus, according to Hoke.

Hardin president Bill Pinto said the construction company offered to bring in a third-party engineer at its own cost for the UGA inspections.

“We wanted to put everyone’s mind at ease that the decks are being constructed properly,” Pinto said. He said he is confident there will be no problems.

Georgia Tech had a structural engineer do a comprehensive study of its six parking decks about three years ago, Tech spokesman Matt Nagel said Wednesday. The study included short and long-term maintenance plans for each parking garage, which are now being followed, Nagel said.

Hardin did not build any of the six garages on Tech’s campus.

Hardin has directed questions about the Centergy collapse to Metromont Corporation, the subcontractor that built and installed the concrete structures used in construction of the Centergy deck.

Harry Gleich, vice president of engineering for Metromont Corporation, said that an official investigation had not begun yet, but he insisted that the structure is now sound.

Asked if the structure could have been overloaded, Gleich said, “Weight should not be an issue.”

As of 10 a.m. Wednesday, firefighters had moved 22 of the 38 cars that were damaged at the Centergy parking deck.

“We’re moving pretty well with the progress,” Stewart said Wednesday morning.

The goal is to have all 700 of the cars inside the garage moved to an alternative lot at Eighth and Spring streets by 7 p.m.

That’s an ambitious goal given that firefighters are battling high temperatures and gas leaks from the damaged vehicles inside the collapsed garage, Stewart said.

“It’s very dangerous and there are a lot of obstacles,” he said Wednesday morning. “There are a lot of extreme hazardous conditions.”

Fearing an explosion from the leaking fuel, fire officials have assembled hazardous materials specialists armed with hoses and air tanks throughout the garage.

After a crane moves each car and piece of concrete, firefighters inspect wooden shoring structures and test for chemicals released before returning to the work.

Despite the challenges, fire officials said they are committed to returning the vehicles to their owners and releasing firefighters from other agencies back to their home stations.

More than 300 emergency personnel from around Georgia have responded to help. As of Wednesday morning, about 100 remained on scene, Stewart said.

Once all the cars are removed, Atlanta Fire and police K-9s will do a second search of the garage for any victims. OSHA and investigators will then start their investigation.

Staff reporters Mike Morris and Chip Towers contributed.