ATLANTA (AP) - Crews Sunday worked to take down a crane outside of a 31-story building that began tilting precariously on Friday, forcing officials to evacuate several buildings in downtown Atlanta and close surrounding streets.
The company said in a statement Sunday that they expect West Peachtree Street to remain closed through the end of the week. They said they expected residents and people who work at area businesses to be able to return to their offices and homes before that but gave no specific timeline on when that would happen except to say it would be after the area was determined to be safe.
“We remain in communication with officials and property owners who are impacted by this situation,” the company said.
According to local media, the massive crane was being dismantled on Friday when a mechanical failure caused it to tilt. The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported that after determining that the crane could fall on buildings below, firefighters cleared hundreds of people from homes and businesses.
The company said Sunday that crews are first reinforcing the crane before it can be dismantled. Once the leaning crane is dismantled, crews will then need to dismantle the equipment that was brought in to assist.
The crane is next to and very close to a 31-story office tower that developers say is the tallest building constructed in Atlanta since the Great Recession, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Technology giant Google will be among its tenants, the newspaper reported.
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