A Concerning Breach at Una Residences
March 14, 2022
After hours of concrete pouring, residents reported flooding at the Una Construction site on Sunday. William Real of Civic Construction said to NBC 6 “ Our team is aware of social media speculation regarding water pooling on the UNA Residences construction site. This pooling is a result of Saturday’s concrete pour and is normal at a project of this size.” This came after Civic Construction, Mahir Yuzereroglu said via email “It is rainwater, Mat foundation Concrete pour completed successfully around 2:00pm yesterday. We had heavy rains yesterday night everything is under control.” The lack of transparency causes growing speculation and major concerns for those who live on 25th Road and surrounding communities.
December 16, 2021
During a community meeting with over 100 people in attendance, the City of Miami gave the reports regarding the Una Construction Site. The meeting sought to address concerns of neighboring buildings and it was clear by the comments in the chat that attendees are extremely concerned due to the current circumstances. The City of Miami provided a website with reports and updated information regarding the Una Construction site, follow the link below for reports and more.
November 17, 2021
Construction is on hold at the construction site of Una Residences luxury condo tower in Miami’s Brickell, after a series of breaches of the water table. Two groundwater breaches have occurred at the site at 175 Southeast 25th Road since October, and residents of neighboring properties have voiced their concerns about the impact the breaches could have on their buildings, especially in the wake of the deadly Surfside condo collapse.
October 22, 2021
Another water breach has occurred at the construction site of Una Residences as of Friday. In an email with DERM Mr. Lee explained the following: “When doing construction below ground level, contractors will commonly try to minimize the amount of groundwater they encounter by sealing or grouting the ground at the project site before they start the excavation. This approach typically minimizes the amount of groundwater that seeps into the excavation, and then they use a technique called dewatering (which is pumping out any water that does seep in) to help keep the area dry while they conduct their work. This approach allows contractors to work in dry conditions, including while they form and pour concrete. Unfortunately in this specific case, it appears that the work to seal the ground at the excavation has not worked adequately and they have had groundwater seeping in to the excavation area. When this initially occurred a few weeks ago, the contractor did not yet have a permit from DERM to conduct dewatering, therefore they had to obtain our permit before they could pump the water out of the excavation. They presently have a permit for dewatering, and DERM staff have been inspecting the site to insure they are following our regulations. Therefore, they are authorized to continue to remove water that may seep into the excavation site. DERM staff inspected the site over the weekend and spoke with the contractor who said they were going to work on resealing the area where the groundwater was seeping in. From the videos I have seen, it appears they were using fill/earth material to isolate the corner (where the groundwater was seeping) from the rest of the excavation as a means of minimizing the amount of water they would have to remove. Although this situation does not presently pose an environmental concern, it would seem that it likely impacts the pace of construction as they work to reseal the area and remove the water before restarting construction in that area. As noted above, DERM staff did not document any issues affecting the environment during our inspection, but we will continue to closely monitor this project site.”
City of Miami building officials told residents and Channel 10 that the breach would be capped on Wednesday and a stop work order would be issued shortly afterward. Commissioner Ken Russell confirmed via Instagram live that the stop work order had been issued and that the breach was capped.
The city will have a geotechnical soil engineer, structural engineer and seismic testing engineer evaluate the site to determine whether construction has affected surrounding properties as per City of Miami staff. Residents and the BHA have been advocating over concerns for the past two years and the stop work order is a step in the right direction.
As always we will continue to monitor this development and update you as needed.
October 22, 2021
Una Residences is in the process of building a parking garage that reaches under 50 feet below sea level. However, on Wednesday, October 20th, Civic Construction reported there was an intrusion from the water table and water was rising on the construction site.
According to DERM, while onsite the DERM inspector did not observe any active dewatering, but it appeared dewatering had previously occurred as evidenced by turbid water in the settling tank that was connected to the drainage well. In addition, the inspector noticed some housekeeping issues related to the silt fence collapsing on one portion of the construction site.
Therefore, the inspector issued two Notices to the contractor. The first was a Notice of Violation and Orders to "Cease and Desist" any dewatering activity until the DERM Class V permit has been obtained and the second was a Pollution Prevention Field Notice identifying the need for additional silt fence around the perimeter of the construction area.
A review of DERM’s records indicates that the contractor had previously submitted a Class V dewatering permit application to DERM. This permit has not been issued yet and is pending approval from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) for use of the onsite drainage well to dispose of the dewatering discharge. The contractor has been informed that no dewatering activities can occur on the site until the Class V permit is issued.
Overall, this project has caused major concerns and affected the neighboring residents as water continues to flow up into the construction site. To our city officials, more oversight is needed for a project of this magnitude.
