While crews are still working to bring down an unstable crane outside of a Midtown high-rise office tower, residents who were forced to leave their apartments and condominiums were briefly able to return to grab some of their belongings.
In a statement Tuesday morning, construction company Brasfield & Gorrie said crews worked “through the night to continue reinforcing the tower crane” outside of the building at 1105 West Peachtree Street.
“Today, crews will complete reinforcement work and begin to put in place the appropriate structures to allow for safe dismantling of the crane,” the statement said. The process will continue through the night and into Wednesday morning, officials said.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
On Monday evening, residents in the area were allowed a “window of time” to retrieve some of their belongings from their homes, which have been unavailable to them since the malfunctioning crane forced them to evacuate Friday morning.
“Since Friday, we have worked with building management of the evacuated residential building to make sure their residents are safe and to provide accommodations as needed during the evacuation,” Brasfield & Gorrie said. “We are grateful for the patience of residents, property owners and other neighbors who are impacted by this situation and remain in communication with them.”
It is not clear how long residents were allowed to return to their homes or how they are being assisted.
A mechanical failure caused the massive crane to tilt as crews were attempting to lower it Friday, officials previously said. After determining it was in danger of falling onto buildings below, Atlanta firefighters went door to door clearing hundreds of residents.
No one was injured in the construction mishap, and the crane operator was able to make it out safely.
Nearby restaurants were encouraged not to open, and a medical office was forced to close its doors and turn away urgent care patients. Northside Medical Midtown remained closed Tuesday along with several surrounding businesses. In a tweet, the hospital said it could remain closed “possibly later into the week.”
Brasfield & Gorrie on Saturday brought in two mobile assist cranes, which took hours to assemble. It’s unclear how long it may take crews to dismantle the disabled crane. The company added that once that crane is in pieces, crews will need to disassemble the assist cranes.
“The processes of dismantling the crane and disassembling the equipment used in this effort will take significant time,” Brasfield & Gorrie said.
West Peachtree remains shut down between 11th and 14th streets, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center. In addition, 12th and 13th streets are blocked off between West Peachtree and Spring streets. Drivers can avoid the area by using Peachtree Street, Piedmont Road or the Downtown Connector.
Construction on the 31-story office tower was nearing completion before the mishap. The 410-foot building is set to include 675,000 square feet of office space and has two confirmed major tenants: Google and the law firm Smith, Gambrell & Russell.
The building has been under construction since December 2018 and is expected to open this fall. Developers say it’s the tallest building to be constructed in Atlanta since the Great Recession.
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