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OSHA Probes Leaning Garage At Rivers Casino

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Apr 1, 2009 9:18 pm US/Eastern

OSHA Probes Leaning Garage At Rivers Casino

NORTH SHORE (KDKA) ― The Rivers Casino on Pittsburgh's North Shore is on a torrid construction pace to be completed for a late summer opening.

But construction has hit a snag.

KDKA Investigator Andy Sheehan has learned federal investigators stepped in after discovering the casino's massive parking garage was leaning.

A few weeks back, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration got a tip and took swift action. 

Workers noticed the top three floors of the casino's parking garage were out of kilter and some structural columns were leaning by as much as a foot.

It was then that an anonymous caller reported the problem to federal work safety officials who inspected the building and confirmed that six columns on those top floors were out of plumb or not standing straight up.

"Our concern is if, depending on how bad the deficiency is, is the potential for a collapse could occur," Frank Librich, from OSHA, said.

OSHA brought in structural engineers who determined the garage was structurally sound and in no danger of collapsing. But it still ordered the problem be remedied.

So on off Sundays, the contractors Keating-Smoot have been using cables to pull the columns into true.

"Essentially what they're doing, they're attaching wire rope cables to the various columns. They're putting tension on the columns," Librich said.

The solution has been reviewed and approved by the construction unions on site who also believe it to be safe.

Trade Union Council Head Rich Stanizzo says the casino construction project in general has been well-run and safe for the construction workers, despite a torrid pace to complete the project for a late summer opening.

Sheehan: "You concerned about the pace?"

Stanizzo: "I have to give these guys a lot of credit. I never thought they could build this building this fast, but the way they've sequenced this building out, they were able to put enough people in here to do this job – to do it right."

Keating Construction in Philadelphia did not return phone calls.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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