The Times Picayune / The New Orleans Advocate says it has obtained Occupational Safety and Health Administration citations issued in the probe of the deadly collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel construction site in New Orleans.
"The engineering firm that worked on the Hard Rock Hotel did not properly design its beams and other load-bearing structures, leading to structural problems that may have contributed to its collapse in October," the paper reports the citations issued allege.
The report says that OSHA considered those violations to be "serious" or "willful."
"Heaslip Engineering, the firm responsible for the job, under-designed beams on the 16th floor, did not design portions of the upper stories building to tie into more well-secured bottom floors and included features on the 17th and 18th floor that exceeded the manufacturers guidance for how far apart supports should be placed, according to the citations."
The article says the OSHA citations also include a long list of violations by other companies.