Like roofs on institutional and commercial facilities, facades and windows go largely unnoticed by occupants and the general public until something goes wrong. In the case of one Texas high-rise building, things went very wrong with its windows — twice.
Glass has fallen twice in recent weeks from the same building under construction in downtown Austin, prompting street closures, according to KXAN. The building is a high-rise under construction. Its building permit shows it will be 55 stories and include residential, office, retail and financial space. Last week, glass fell from the same building and prompted a different street closure.
The company building the tower, Ryan Companies, says the site was inactive when the most recent incident occurred. A spokesperson says a contractor took immediate action to secure the area and make repairs.
The city’s Development Services Department inspected the property after the first incident. The inspector reported that an outer pane of one double-paned glass window on the building fell during high winds while the inner glass window remained intact. The department says the contractor is still working to determine the cause of the most recent incident.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.
