Luxury high-rise towers along Miami’s barrier islands are sinking much faster than engineers predicted, with some buildings settling two to three times beyond original estimates, per the Miami Herald.
What’s happening?
Settlement occurs when a structure’s weight compresses the soil underneath, causing the building to sink. While some settlement is both normal and expected, engineering reports covering Sunny Isles Beach’s multibillion-dollar skyline have shown that many towers are experiencing settlement far greater than initial calculations predicted.
Multiple high-rises have sunk well beyond initial predictions since construction began in the early 2000s. The Trump Towers dropped 9 inches — 3 inches more than expected — while Jade Beach sank 9 inches, which was over 5 inches more than predicted.
A University of Miami study found that most oceanfront buildings in Sunny Isles continued sinking between 2016 and 2023 — years after construction was completed, per the Herald…