A large January sewage spill at San Francisco’s main public library that was caused by someone who flushed “foreign objects” down a fourth-floor toilet led to $550,000 in damages.

The spill happened Jan. 20, when a sewer overflow that started on the fourth floor of the Larkin Street library across from Civic Center Plaza spread to the stories below, affecting all three of the first floors in the building’s northwest corner. 

Library staff said the spill contaminated just about everything in the spaces it spread to, with ceilings, ductwork, painted surfaces, insulation, cubicles and floor coverings all being damaged. The library’s Talking Books and Braille Center, Audio-Visual Room and Genre Room were all impacted by the spill, according to the city. 

Jaime Wong, a San Francisco Public Library spokesperson, could not say for sure exactly what kind of “foreign objects” clogged the toilet in question and led to the spill. 

“It might have been some fabric,” Wong said. “It got pretty mangled.”

Wong said toilet blockages in the library have caused spills before, but this appeared to be the first time that one on the fourth floor had caused such extensive damage.

The overwhelming majority of the bill will be paid by insurers, according to city officials. San Francisco is only on the hook for a $10,000 deductible that will be paid from its Library Preservation Fund. 

Cleanup of the spill began the day it happened and was completed Feb. 9, according to the city. Repair work started several days later and most of it has been completed, though some damaged flooring and cubicles still need to be replaced. The city hired a contractor, Belfor Property Restoration, to handle the cleanup and repairs.

The Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee on Wednesday approved the repairs, which required an emergency declaration from the Public Works director. The full board is likely to sign off on the matter next week.

Reach J.D. Morris: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @thejdmorris

The post ‘Random objects’ flushed down SFPL essential library rest room triggered harm appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

A new report from Vision Zero – San Francisco’s road safety policy aimed at ending city traffic deaths – reveals the alarming number of deaths caused by a certain type of turn.

“40% of San Francisco traffic fatalities in 2019 were caused when drivers turned left and didn’t see the person on the zebra crossing … until it was too late,” the report said, using data from the San Francisco Department of Healthcare . It also reported that “elderly” accounted for 31% of pedestrians killed when turning left.

In total, over 300 people are injured every year when drivers turn left at intersections and hit pedestrians at crosswalks.

“Collisions when turning left are a problem when designing intersections, but also a problem when the driver makes decisions. Therefore, solutions must also be diverse, ”says the report.

After analyzing five years of data uncovered the magnitude of the left turn problem in 2018, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) launched the Safer Intersections Project to test new approaches to urban intersection design.

“When turning left, drivers have to assess many factors at the same time. Given the complex decisions that have to be made quickly in a stressful environment, we cannot assume that drivers will always make rational decisions when turning left, ”reads the Vision Zero report. “Some of them may drive too fast and take corners too tightly.”

The traffic-calming engineering project for left-hand curves last fall resulted in the installation of waist-high vertical delineator posts at seven intersections across the city. Small rubber sleepers were built to improve the center of the lane near crosswalks, and paint was used to prevent sharp left turns that would bring vehicles to the crosswalk earlier.

The results were encouraging, showing a 17% reduction in average vehicle speed and a 71% reduction in the likelihood of a car turning left at over 15 mph. The SFMTA now plans to make the same changes at 35 more intersections across San Francisco.

Read the full Vision Zero report here.

The post 40% of San Francisco visitors deaths are attributable to left turns, report finds appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

By Abigail Sterling and Max Darrow

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – Construction work on the leaning Millennium Tower in San Francisco came to a standstill at the end of August because it caused the tower to sink even further. Now it seems that some of this damage could have been avoided.

CONTINUE READING: Oakland invites you to publicly comment on the proposed school board council and county boundaries

Construction is partially back on track with some test drilling underway this week. Engineers plan to drill just two housings using a modified technique that they say causes less vibration.

ALSO READ: Alerts on San Francisco Millennium Tower repair plans collected prior to work commencing

“Millennium Partners wanted to finish it off,” said Robert Pyke, a geotechnician and early critic of the current so-called “perimeter pile upgrade.” He says the $ 100 million plan to prop up the sinking tower should have been halted months earlier.

“Of course, it was clear by the end of June that the laying of the pipes and piles would result in additional settlement,” said Pyke.

KPIX asked him to review the engineering logs and internal emails received from KPIX 5. A graph created by the team shows that the accelerated sinking began in mid-May, but work on the project continued through June and July.

ALSO READ: Planned fix for the crooked Millennium Tower in San Francisco, which is being re-examined by City Hall

In an email dated July 29th, the city’s Engineering Design Review Team (EDRT), tasked with overseeing the project, warned construction officials, “The design team has proposed to the 301 Mission Homeowners Association that they install 36 Customs along Mission Street “, but …” this proposal was not implemented and the project is progressing. “

On August 4th, chief engineer Ron Hamburger finally confirmed that “the project has imposed a voluntary moratorium” on the installation of 36-inch enclosures.

But the wells continued in smaller 24-inch piles until August 23, when the Millennium Tower’s general manager announced a two to four week break in construction.

“I owe the EDRT for putting the pressure on, but they shouldn’t have. As I said, any responsible engineer should have stopped by the end of June, ”said Pyke.

Pyke believes the two-month construction work did more damage.

CONTINUE READING: Dead end SF Street plagued by confused WayMo cars trying to turn around “every 5 minutes”

“Another half to three-quarters of an inch settlement,” said Pyke.

He says the continued drilling may have exacerbated a sewage problem in the luxury skyscraper, described in an August 26 email as “clogged third-floor kitchens.”

“Even a small change in the slope can disrupt the piping for both sewage and sewage,” said Pyke.

In a statement to KPIX, chief engineer Ron Hamburger admitted that some of the sinking and tipping could have been avoided by an earlier construction freeze. In a letter to building authorities, he also admitted that the new test wells that began this week could cause even more subsidence. However, he insists that this does not affect the security of the building.

But one thing is certain: all of the problems on 301 Mission Street appear to be affecting property values. We found ten 10 condos available for sale, all at discounted prices. Zillow estimates that a luxury home priced at $ 1.75 million was worth about $ 1 million more just five years ago.

Some devices have been on the market for months. Unit 14H for a bargain of $ 899,000 has been on sale for almost a year.

Pyke believes concerns about property value could be a reason why the Millennium Tower Association pushed for it to continue.

“That would benefit the existing homeowners and the homeowners association, because after completion and construction there is no question that property values ​​will rise again,” says Pyke.

The Millennium Tower Association, which represents homeowners, still doesn’t comment. Interestingly, however, we found an online presentation Hamburger made to students at the University of Minnesota in February that appears to confirm that real estate values ​​are at the fore. In it Hamburger points out: “There is no structural reason why the building needs to be upgraded. Homeowners needed extensive retrofitting to “upgrade” their units.

No real estate expert wanted to be on record for this story. But one of them pulled up current data for us showing that 13 advertisements in the building have either expired or been taken off the market since January.

Ron Hamburger full statement on KPIX 5:

MORE NEWS: June suspect identified San Jose man killing; Family members ask for help finding him

“While part of the subsidence and tilting of the last few months could have been avoided by an earlier construction stop, neither the safety nor the functionality of the building was impaired and the project team gained valuable knowledge about the causes of this subsidence as construction progressed. This puts us in a better position to mitigate these effects as the project progresses. The day I recommended stopping the 36-inch pile installation, the Millennium Tower HOA instructed the contractor to stop as recommended. ”

The post Regardless of Warnings, Repairs on San Francisco’s Millennium Tower Brought on Further Sinking – CBS San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. – Update (February 8, 2021): The Knox County Sheriff’s office completed its investigation into the cause of the fire in an outdoor classroom at Halls Middle School on Sunday and said it was an accident.

According to MPs, a faulty HVAC unit caused the fire.

Rural Metro Fire responded to a reported structural fire in Halls Middle School shortly after 2 p.m. on Sunday.

When the crews arrived, officials said they found fire from an HVAC wall unit of a modular classroom outside the main building that had spread to the attic.

According to Rural Metro, the fire was quickly extinguished, but the interior of the classroom building suffered smoke damage. There was no other damage to any other building from the fire.

According to official information, no injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is being investigated.

The post KCSO: Fireplace at Halls Center Faculty unintended, attributable to defective HVAC unit appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.