ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — On Wednesday, Oct. 9, Hurricane Milton brought unpredicted winds to Pinellas County, causing a crane to collapse on The Tampa Bay Times building in downtown St. Petersburg.
The crane at The Residences at 400 Central, a 46-story building and the largest residential tower on Florida’s Gulf Coast, was being developed by the Red Apple Group. The building was under construction for two years and collapsed onto 490 First Avenue South.
The Barcelona Construction Company was specifically asked to come to Tampa to work with the debris from the Tampa Bay Times building and the part of the crane that fell from the 46-story building.
“I have not even been up in the building. I’m only instructed to do the crane,” said Jacques Bourdon, the crane controller for the Barcelona Construction Company.
No other construction companies who were requested to work on the debris could speak regarding the next plans for the Tampa Bay Times building or The Residences 400 Central building.
The crane’s mast broke down near the top level, crushing a corner of the office building across the street, the Tampa Bay Times building.
The boom (the long hydraulic arm attached to the crane cab and used for lifting heavy objects) landed on the street, blocking it completely. It was reported no one was injured in the building during the collapse, nor was anyone injured while working on the crane.
The crane is designed to resist winds up to 140 mph. But Hurricane Milton’s vertical and swirling winds put unique pressure on the crane.
“The crane design was reviewed and confirmed by third-party engineers and was fully inspected and certified by a third party for safe operation just a few weeks ago following Hurricane Helene,” said Liberty Companies of Boston, the company that built the crane, on Fox 13.
St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch said he was worried about how the tower cranes would hold during Hurricane Milton — noting how it takes specialized crews weeks to remove and dismantle the cranes since most are fixed in place.
Welch said on Fox 13, “There is just no way in this window of time to bring those cranes down.”
Former State Representative Michael Bennett worked on a safety bill in 2012, requiring construction workers to have better security with their cranes with counterweights and fastenings. Bennett also said there could have been requirements with lowering cranes if there were certain wind speeds that were being predicted.
Bennett said on Fox 13, “We really felt the State of Florida needed to have some regulation on these cranes.”
The bill was never passed. Instead, lawmakers have banned cities and countries from passing rules of their own.
Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke about the issue on Friday, Oct. 11, with the damages in the area. The crumpled metal crane lays across First Avenue South as DeSantis and other officials spoke.
“Well I think the question is should there be more regulations, or should there just be more common sense,” DeSantis said on News Channel 8.
The Tampa Bay Times continues to publish despite the crane’s collapse. Mark Katches, editor for the Tampa Bay Times has shown no worries in their continuation to publish.
“It’s had zero impact on our operations,” Katches said to AP News.
Most of the journalists covering the hurricane were working remotely on Tuesday night, Oct. 8 or they were housed at another location with a handful of editors in the community of Wesley Chapel, about 25 miles outside of Tampa.
Katches said on AP News that he is not sure when newsroom employees would be able to be back in the building. Luckily for the writers, the newsroom was on the opposite side of the building from where the crane fell.
Newsroom employees have become accustomed to working remotely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Katches said on AP News that he “hoped the newspaper would eventually secure space where everyone would be able to work together again.”
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Photo by Emily McLaughlin