Sinking Millennium Tower in San Francisco may be indication of wider problem

An illustration of the Perimeter Pile Upgrade from the Millennium Tower condo association

Completed in 2009, the Millennium Tower in San Francisco was found to be sinking and leaning out of plumb in 2016. Since then, the settlement and tilting have worsened.

A $100 million structural retrofit was recently halted when it was discovered that the building had rapidly sunk another inch.

Although this is obviously a concern for the residents and workers in the Millennium Tower, the problem is more extensive than one building. As sea levels rise in the San Francisco area, the clay soils under much of the city will be weakened, threatening the buildings that bear on them.

Here is the article from The Architect’s Newspaper.