Much of the Miami Beach skyline, on ground just a few feet above sea level, is sinking — and some iconic skyscrapers are sinking at different rates, with much of the subsidence attributed to non-stop building construction on the barrier island, says a study led by professors from Florida and German universities.
Miami Beach (Credits: Insurance Journal)
Miami Beach Sinking: Construction-Induced Subsidence
“We attribute the observed subsidence to load-induced, prolonged creep deformation of the sandy layers within the limestone, which is accelerated, if not instigated, by construction activities,” reads the abstract for the study published in Earth and Space Science, a peer-reviewed academic journal. The study, authored in part by University of Miami professors Farzaneh Aziz Zanjani and Falk Amelung, was published in late 2024 but has gained sudden attention after coverage in the Miami Herald.
The researchers used satellite-based Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) to document sink rates for 35 Miami Beach buildings over the last decade. Some structures sank about 2 centimeters from 2016 to 2023, while others on Sunny Isles Beach and Surfside dropped more than 8 centimeters — about three inches.
Porsche Design Tower, Trump Tower III Among Sinking Buildings
The sinking structures include the famous 60-story Porsche Design Tower, which has seen resident complaints about cracking and leaking, and Trump Tower III, which is settling at almost a centimeter per year.
Some subsidence is expected for most skyscrapers and usually ceases shortly after construction. But on parts of the crowded barrier islands, the sink rate appears to be worsening — more recent measurements correlate to construction-induced problems, and differential subsidence could exacerbate structural issues and trigger more insurance claims. The study notes that Champlain Towers South, which collapsed in 2021 killing 98 people, showed no signs of subsidence before the disaster; engineering reports blamed deteriorated support columns.
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Source: Insurance Journal — read the full story there.
