A month after a drilling rig collapse at Citadel’s future headquarters in Miami, developers have restarted construction on the site with modified safety protocols.
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Keller North America, Citadel’s contractor, got approval from Miami-Dade County on Oct. 7 for a safety plan detailing changes to the soil improvement phase of the headquarters project, the Miami Herald reported Wednesday. Construction resumed this week.
The plan describes several additional safety measures to be implemented, including installing crane mats — giant wooden platforms — and using spotters and flaggers during operations, according to the more than 200-page document obtained by Bisnow.
“The crane mats will provide a firm, level, and stable platform beneath the rig while it is traveling, being repositioned, and performing drilling operations,” Keller said in the plan. “This reduces the potential for localized ground failure, excessive rutting, differential settlement, or loss of level beneath the rig.”
Related Cos. is developing the project on the site, 1201 Brickell Bay Drive, which Citadel CEO Ken Griffin acquired in 2022 for $360M.
A Citadel spokesperson deferred comment about the safety plan to Related. Related and Miami-Dade officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On Sept. 14, Keller was performing a deep soil mixing process with a drill rig — a machine that bores holes in the ground — for the foundation of the planned 52-story tower when the rig encountered a soft spot in the ground, Sergio Ascunce, assistant director at Miami-Dade County’s Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources, told the Miami Herald.
The soft spot, likely caused by rain, resulted in the rig lifting, tilting over and collapsing across Brickell Bay Drive, crushing several vehicles and sending four people, including three construction workers, to the hospital with minor injuries.
Two construction workers became trapped in a Container Express box by the collapsed rig, and firefighters had to cut through the box to free them. A fourth person was driving her BMW near the site but escaped it after the rig crushed the vehicle and before the car burst into flames.
It was unclear whether any of the safety protocols in the report were in place prior to the accident, according to the Herald. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration continues to investigate the incident.
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