Ice fell from the roof of City Hall and damaged parts of the building this week, prompting officials to close two of its four entrances.
Parts of East Broad Street were closed earlier today to traffic as a crane is used to inspect the 37-year-old downtown landmark, officials said. Traffic is now moving slowly through the area.
The building recently underwent a $21.2 million face-lift in which it was re-clad with steel and aluminum to replace the original marble slabs that had been cracking and had to be held in place by thousands of fiberglass straps.
The falling ice broke several sections of a glass canopy over the Broad Street entrance and damaged metal flashing on at least two floors on the same side of the building, said Richmond Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Christopher L. Beschler.
No one was injured, Beschler said. The broken sections of the canopy are made of a protective glass, and damage was found only on the Broad Street side of the building, he added.
"We've gone way above and beyond what's necessary to protect the public," Beschler said.
Falling ice damaged the canopy and flashing Monday afternoon and early yesterday morning, and officials closed the Broad Street and 10th Street entrances Monday afternoon. The sidewalk along Broad Street also was closed.
The 10th Street entrance was closed as a precaution because workers didn't have the equipment they needed to inspect the top of the canopy or remove snow from it, Beschler said.
A structural engineer inspected the roof yesterday, Beschler said, and found that a vast majority of the snow had melted from up there. Fire officials removed snow from the glass canopy over the Ninth Street entrance Monday. Snow also was removed from the canopy over the Marshall Street entrance, which is not made of glass.
Inspectors are using a crane today to make sure the flashing is secure and won't fall and hit anyone, and also to ensure the damaged flashing won't allow water damage inside the building, Beschler said.
The city also will work with an architectural firm on how to repair the flashing and the damaged canopy, Beschler said. Officials do not have a damage estimate, he said.
In 1980, two marble slabs fell off City Hall and the city eventually had to resort to strapping and bolting all the panels to the structure. Some slabs were replaced by sheets of painted plywood.
The slabs were weakened by hysteresis, a common building problem in which hot and cold weather made them bow and crack.
The $21.2 million face-lift of City Hall was designed by SMBW Architects and completed by 2006.
City Hall was built in 1972. It has 17 floors, plus an observation deck and three underground levels.
Contact Reed Williams at (804) 649-6332 or rwilliams@timesdispatch.com.
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