It may take a year or more to know why a building under construction in Tenleytown partially collapsed earlier this month, according to a statement from the D.C. Department of Buildings.
While the investigation into the collapse of a non-load-bearing wall at 4633 41st St. NW, a few doors down from Tenleytown Barbershop and Bandit Taco, could wrap up in weeks or months, findings in the early stages of the investigation could extend it, the statement said.
No one was injured in the April 11 collapse, and all the workers on site at the time were quickly accounted for, according to D.C. Fire and EMS. Photos on social media showed the fire department’s search and rescue team at the scene, where two sides of the building’s brick wall ended up in a pile of rubble on the sidewalk.
The structure was stabilized with braces and is no longer a threat to public safety, the statement said.
Investigators will now review the permits issued for the site and conduct inspections and interviews in an attempt to understand what caused the wall to collapse. Ultimately, the review will determine whether construction can continue as planned, or if the building needs to be demolished and rebuilt from the ground up.
This article was edited by Jordan Young and Abigail Pritchard. Copy editing done by Isabelle Kravis.
