'Burgh convention center to reopen March 9

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The city’s convention center will reopen by March 9 after engineers traced the recent collapse of a concrete floor slab to a faulty expansion joint, officials said today.

The joint problem has been fixed in the immediate area of the collapse at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, though the floor slab that fell has yet to be replaced. Officials said they also plan to retrofit 21 steel beams, similar to the one that failed Feb. 5, with new joints that will let them better expand and contract as the weather changes.

The engineers said it would have been safe to retrofit the beams over the next year, but Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and County Executive Dan Onorato said they wanted the work done immediately so the public can be assured the building is safe when it reopens.