the theory is mostly undebated and unproven. The money is real.

我nsurers for companies that built the luxury tower next door to the Champlain Towers South-这去年六月的部分崩溃是历史上最致命的公寓之一-are coughing up about $200 million in a tentative settlement of a class-action negligence lawsuit by the collapse victims' families and survivors.

暂定settlement5月12日在迈阿密戴德巡回法院宣布的所有剩下的被告和一家不是被告的公司中，有9.97亿美元。

the plaintiffs' central claim since November, when a half dozen new defendants were targeted, is that vibratory sheet-pile installation for the foundations of the high-rise apartment building next door was the main contributing factor for the night-time partial collapse that happened about five years later, on June 24, 2021, that killed 98 people.

我mages from latest lawsuit version show the new building in early construction and the footpath along its property line (left) and a still image from the only video of the actual collapse, taken from a camera on the neighboring property.

随着悲剧成立一周年的临近，原告的主要理论（将诉讼扩展到包括隔壁建造的建筑物和定居的被告的建筑物）提出了一个大问号。

根据法庭记录，到5月初，隔壁大楼的开发人员，唱片建筑师和主要承包商，现已被称为八十七个公园的87号建筑物仍在与幸存者和受害者家人的指控作斗争。

Several engineers have postulated that a critical area in the investigation, the pool deck, pulled away from the perimeter wall between the properties and pulled down the front of Champlain Towers South's larger wing.

但是原告提出的论点 - 新建筑物的财产线附近的振动堆安装在南方塔塔上造成了关键的伤口 - 鉴于仍然遥远的完整数据和复杂的调查，两位独立的工程师只不过是一个理论。

华盛顿大学民用与环境工程学教授Dawn E. Lehman根据其设计对South South建模，并对崩溃的法医工程进行了许多演讲，对该主题进行了更为保守的看法。她说，墙上的损坏是不平衡的，并提出了问题。但是，没有足够的信息来说明发生了什么。

雷曼说，与桩安装损坏有关的理论将需要一名岩土工程师的输入，据雷曼说，他需要评估土壤剖面。她说：“我没有。”

Neither does Allyn Kilsheimer, the investigative engineer hired by the city of Surfside to complete its own inquiry. He agrees that much more investigating and testing needs to be done before he could offer an opinion about the neighboring property vibration theory. "I don't know a lot about soil," he told ENR, noting that he uses a prestigious geotechnical consultant to help him with that part of his company's investigations. Both Lehman and Kilsheimer say authoritative statements about what happened will take more time.

到目前为止，尚普兰塔（Champlain Towers South）的众多潜在缺陷包括设计不良和混凝土结构，水入侵和腐蚀以及缺乏昂贵的维护。广泛关注的是在物业边界附近的泳池区域。

the collapse's trigger event has not been authoritatively pinpointed, nor all the contributing factors. And that knowledge vacuum has been filled with theories as investigations drag onward. The final report from the federal国家标准与技术研究院could take many more months.

Meanwhile, those who suffered heavy personal and economic losses have been largely uncompensated.

寻求最深的口袋和被保险的被告人在疏忽和人身伤害审判中并不是什么新鲜事物。但是，令人震惊的事件，情感上的死亡以及对南佛罗里达州建设世界业务的批判性观点提升了有关尚普兰塔以南以南的尚普兰塔的发现。

悲剧发生后不久，《华盛顿邮报》的一项调查首先提出了隔壁项目可能损害的问题。

但是直到夏末和2021年秋季初，原告才开始向在八十七公园工作的公司发行传票。

A New Version of Lawsuit

11月16日，原告发布了新的诉讼。它没有专注于公寓协会对固定缺陷的关注，而是声称尚普兰塔南部是一栋较旧的建筑，需要常规的维修和维护。但是，直到隔壁的建设开始，该建筑物“变得如此严重损害和不稳定，以至于不安全”，家庭和幸存者的律师写道。

尚普兰（Champlain）塔楼南池甲板毗邻该建筑的南基金会墙，该墙毗邻被告建造的海滩通道人行道。

立即在泳池甲板下方，数十个混凝土柱支撑着120个空间的停车场和泳池甲板。

诉讼称：“可悲的是，在八十七个公园的建设不可逆地损坏了关键的结构元素，包括泳池甲板和支撑柱。一旦这些元素失败，该塔就无法站立。”

根据最新的说法，开发商的建筑团队从Champlain Towers South的外部基础墙壁上挖出了“仅10英尺”的公共街道，并挖了40英尺长的床单。

When it came to choosing a method for installing the piles, the new lawsuit claims, the Eighty Seven Park construction team chose a less costly method that generated a higher level of vibrations than alternative methods. During the work the vibrations regularly exceeded a maximum goal the team had set for vibrations of .5 in./second, especially during a critical three-week period of the construction.

当隔壁的居民抱怨振动和可能的损害时，诉讼声称，承包商，分包商和开发人员在堆上工作。

对于诉讼，迈阿密戴德巡回法院法官迈克尔·汉兹曼（Michael Hanzman）努力使审判计划远离2023年，而定居点的势头也增加了。在2月和3月初，公寓协会保险公司咨询工程师Morabito顾问，评估了建筑物并建议维修，定居针对该公司的诉讼费用为1600万美元。该协会的律师事务所以3100万美元的价格同时解决了索赔。

在一份声明中，莫比托顾问称这项定居点是明智的，同时说它在尚普兰塔（Champlain Towers South）的工作与行业标准一致。

Simultaneously, DeSimone Consulting Engineers, the structural engineer of record for Eighty Seven Park, agreed to settle for $8.55 million, according to court documents.

其余的八十七名公园被告继续与他们抗争-并否认发生的事情。

3月10日提交的第三次修订的投诉，为幸存者和受害者家庭的律师继续进行，以扩大被告名单，包括Stantec Architecture，该项目从2015年开始，该项目的唱片建筑师从2015年开始。RenzoPiano是八十七个公园的主要概念设计师。

除了德西蒙反对单独结算sulting Engineers, which could not be reached for comment, there is no confirmed way to know yet how much the key defendants from Eighty Seven Park are contributing to the settlement, or exactly which firms or individuals are in it.

被告人对与毁灭性的部分崩溃有关的感觉很明确。

Stantec Architecture，在4月29日提交的文件中denied那是疏忽的。该公司否认，尚普兰塔南公寓协会在该结构的维护中进行的“普通勤奋”可以挽救它，除了据称造成的八十七公园造成的损害。

该项目的主要承包商佛罗里达州的约翰·莫里亚蒂（John Moriarty＆Associates）在4月14日对诉讼的回应中否认其工作造成了任何损害或对尚普兰塔南部的结构完整性产生任何影响。正如诉讼所声称的那样，它否认带有振动锤的板岩安装是“超仇恨或异常危险”。莫里亚蒂（Moriarty）澄清说，只有桩的安装，而不是用锤子驾驶的。

Michael Thomas, attorney for the 8701 Collins Development, the developer of Eighty Seven Park, offered a statement on the settlement, saying that his clients’ insurers were making a "business decision" to settle "in order to resolve claims against them and avoid the time, expense and inconvenience of litigation."

他补充说：“这既不是对任何原告主张的有效性的承认，也不是承认的。”“ [八十七个公园]的设计，开发和建设绝不导致或造成尚普兰塔南部的倒塌。我们的客户绝对否认任何相反的指控。”