Observations from Forensic Investigation of the Harmon Tower

The Harmon Tower was a high-rise reinforced concrete building constructed as a part of the CityCenter development project in Las Vegas, Nevada. The tower was initially designed to be 47 stories tall but was constructed only to 26 stories. The discovered nonconforming construction was used as the basis for a lawsuit blaming the contractors, which resulted in a long and complicated litigation between the owner and the construction team. Brandow & Nastar, Inc. was retained as a structural expert for one of the main parties involved in litigation to investigate the impact of the reported nonconforming construction on the structural integrity of the tower and to determine required remedial measures. In the course of the forensic investigation, structural configuration conditions and design issues were discovered in the tower, which were more significant than the nonconforming construction conditions. The litigation ultimately settled out of court in 2014 and the demolition of the tower was completed by the end of 2015. This paper provides background information on the project, describes the forensic investigation performed, and discusses the decisions made during the investigation.