SoMa incident involving crane, concrete slab on high-rise resolved

San Francisco fire officials say a crane and concrete slab on a South of Market high-rise construction project that were unstable and considered at risk of falling earlier Wednesday have been secured and the incident has been resolved.

Evacuations have been lifted in the area around the building at 41 Tehama St., except in the affected building itself, according to a statement from firefighters posted to social media at 9 p.m.

The scene has been turned back over to the construction firm, firefighters said.

The project developer said in a statement Wednesday that the incident occurred at 2:45 p.m. when a system used to form concrete walls was being raised from levels 35 to 36 and had a partial hydraulic failure.

Fire officials described the incident as a failure of one of the struts supporting a crane at the building’s core, and said the tilt of the crane system caused one of the concrete walls and formwork to lean out.

There were no injuries in the incident, and the construction company contacted fire officials and began evacuating the area immediately, fire department spokesman Jonathan Baxter said.

While the fire department initially said a 2,000-pound slab of concrete was in danger of falling, Baxter said that city inspectors have now determined that not to be the case. The construction company has successfully shored up the wall and forming system for the moment and is working on a permanent fix.

Fire officials evacuated buildings on Tehama Street and Howard Street between First to Second Streets and First Street between Howard and Folsom as well as on Clementina Street. Most of those buildings are offices and fire officials said they were not aware of any displacements.

Additionally, the California Highway Patrol closed the westbound Interstate Highway 80 Fremont Street off-ramp.

The project at 41 Tehama St. is a 37-story, 403-unit luxury residential tower near the Transbay Transit Center site being developed by Hines and Invesco Real Estate. Construction began in 2015, according to a 2015 statement from general contractor Lend Lease.

Building owners in the area are being asked to contact fire officials for more information.