CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Officials at a student housing complex at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte were responding to complaints its floors were caving in.
The tenants at Aspen Heights Apartments are now living in hotels and being held responsible.
Aspen Heights management released this statement: "Recently, two units at Aspen Charlotte hosted large gatherings in their apartments resulting in compromised trusses and cosmetic damage to their units and neighboring units directly below. Immediately, Aspen Charlotte contracted with a local engineering firm who visited the site the day after the event to verify and assure us and the tenants that the units below were safe and structurally sound. Shortly thereafter, a forensic construction-engineering firm visited the site to assess causation and subsequent damages. Additionally, as safety is extremely important to us we also had the truss manufacturer and the truss engineer perform an onsite inspection to verify that the trusses were built and installed in exact accordance with the design drawings. Their findings concluded the buildings to be of sound construction that was built in, and remains in, full code compliance. The final report from the firm stated that damages from the two incidents are characteristics of high-impact overloading of the trusses in a confined area, most likely due to a very large group of people jumping in unison. In reviewing video surveillance, over 100 people entered the buildings the nights of both incidents supporting the engineer's claim that the truss damage was a direct result of excessive occupancy overload.
In regards to residents, we felt it was in the best interest to relocate individuals needing ceiling repair or floor repairs into hotels so that work could be done without disrupting residents during finals week. Repairs are still underway; it is our goal to have residents back in their units in the very near future and we are currently in the process of evaluating total costs as we continue with the repair process. Lastly, the communication referencing the guest limit was meant to encourage residents to act responsibly and maintain a comfortable living experience for all at Aspen Charlotte.”
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