A key supplier of materials for the Hard Rock Hotel construction project tried to warn the builders they needed more steel supports on the upper floors, but those supports were never added before the partially built 18-story high-rise collapsed, according to records obtained by WWL-TV.

The Oct. 12, 2019 collapse happened just eight days after the last batch of concrete was poured into metal decking on the rooftop. The concrete and steel pancaked, killing three workers, injuring dozens more and shutting down a major section of downtown New Orleans for more than a year.

Federal and local agencies have been investigating what went wrong ever since. A brief report from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, assessing violations of safety regulations is the only official findings of fault so far.

OSHA: Serious violations

The recently obtained records largely support the primary OSHA finding: that Heaslip Engineering, the firm that designed the hotel, committed serious violations related to the building’s support structure of steel beams and columns on portions of its upper floors.

Heaslip has appealed the OSHA violations to the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, which assigned his case to a judge in Atlanta in March. James Heaslip, the project’s engineer of record, also said in a prepared statement that the firm denies any wrongdoing.

“We have denied and are contesting all allegations of fault and negligence asserted in the legal proceedings related to the Hard Rock Hotel collapse, and we stand behind our company’s track record of designing projects that meet applicable engineering standards,” the statement said.

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