The Picciano Parking Garage Collapse: What Really Happened

On a sunny and otherwise predictable summer day in 2015, the upper deck of the UHS Wilson Hospital’s Picciano North Parking Garage in Johnson City, NY collapsed suddenly onto the lower deck. Fortunately, no one was killed or injured, but more than 50 vehicles parked in the garage were destroyed. Review of the collapse debris provided insight into the hidden fragility of the garage structure, which had been in service for over 40 years. The lack of any apparent warning or signs of significant distress prior to the collapse, as well as a look into the failure mechanism of the two-way structural slab, is instructive for anyone who performs reviews of parking garages and other structures, with insights for the engineering community in general.

The presenter had overseen condition reviews of the garage in the years prior to the collapse. He was on site the day after the collapse and heavily involved for weeks after, to assist with the safe demolition of the upper portion of the garage while maintaining the stability of the lower deck and the vital computer data center which was in the basement of the garage.