15. Skyline Plaza, Virginia, USA
Built: 1973
Collapsed: 1973
Est. Damages: $12.5 Million*
Virginia’s Skyline Plaza collapsed before its top floors were even finished, but that doesn’t make it any less of a tragedy. On March 2, 1973, while filling in concrete on the building’s 24th floor the unthinkable happened. A crane that had been on the 24th floor fell through the building and to the ground leaving the unfinished building, nearly split in half.
Skyline Plaza, Virginia, USA @Jeffrey Schellhammer / Pinterest.com
Out of the fifty-five people who were working on the building at the time of the accident, fourteen lost their lives and another 35 were injured. It’s believed that the collapse of the Skyline Plaza happened as a result of the shoring, from between the 22nd and 23rd floors, being removed too soon. Of the $24 million that the building cost to build, it’s estimated that there was upwards of $12.5 million in damages.