San Antonio Fire Department crews and city officials closed streets near a downtown hotel construction site Friday afternoon after scaffolding appeared to have buckled and posed a danger of collapse, officials said.
The incident happened at a construction site on East Commerce Street between North Flores and Soledad, near Main Plaza.
SAFD spokesman Wesley West said crews evacuated nearby buildings and cleared sidewalks after spotting the weakened structure.
Twenty to 25 construction workers were on-site at the time of the incident and were safely evacuated, West said. No injuries were reported.
“Our first order of business was to make sure everybody’s safe,” West said.
West said the scaffolding’s lower supports appeared to have buckled, prompting fears of a failure. Engineers and safety specialists were being brought in from the Austin area early Friday evening to help stabilize the structure before it is dismantled.
City officials expect the stabilization and removal process to take 12 to 15 hours, potentially extending into early Saturday morning.
“We know it’s a hassle … and it’s a pain, but at the end of the day we want to avoid getting anybody caught up in a potential collapse,” West said. “Please bear with us.”
San Antonio Police Department officers have blocked nearby streets, and residents are urged to avoid the area until the site is secured.
In September 2019, a windstorm ripped 230-foot-high steel scaffolding from the side of a 14-story downtown office building owned by AT&T. Tons of twisted metal crashed into the surrounding streets near Travis Park. The parish house at historic St. Mark’s Episcopal Church sustained heavy damage. No injuries were reported.
This article originally published at Unstable scaffolding at downtown S.A. construction site prompts street closures.
