Syracuse, N.Y. – City masons doing a minor repair in a prominent 550-car downtown parking garage Nov. 3 picked up something odd: a sheared bolt.
Syracuse officials investigated and made a startling discovery: A steel beam helping to hold up the seven-story structure had sunk 9 inches into the ground in recent months, 40 years after its construction.
The movement of the beam dragged down heavy concrete panels attached to it. That created gaps between the panels — visual evidence of the dangerous structural defect…