The District Attorney investigating the Berkeley tragedy has carried out further significant detailed testing at the apartment complex where a balcony collapsed in June, killing 6 young people and injuring 7 others.
In addition, "destructive testing" has been carried out on the balcony itself and relevant materials have been sent to an independent laboratory for forensic testing, as the DA's investigators work to determine what caused the extensive water damage that led to the balcony's collapse.
A criminal investigation led by the Alameda District Attorney's office has been under way since shortly after the tragedy in June and this week's testing is described as a "significant part" of its investigation.
Scaffolding was erected this week in front of the Library Gardens apartment complex. A construction company was brought in to remove parts of the building where the balcony had been located.
The DA's office said it had consulted with several interested parties ahead of proceeding with this part of its investigation.
The Assistant DA Kevin Dunleavy said the office was working with the California Contractors State License Board, the California Architect's Board, and the California Board for Professional Engineers.
As a result it has retained structural engineering, waterproofing, and architecture experts.
These experts have been charged with investigating the condition of the balconies and their construction.
In addition to the examinations carried out at the Library Gardens, "destructive testing" of the balconies was also undertaken to garner information as to how they had been constructed.
The collapsed balcony and the one which had been removed from the apartment below for safety reasons in the days after the incident had been kept in separate locations since the tragedy occurred.
In a statement, Mr Dunleavy said that both balconies had now been moved to a secure location so that the experts could view them "side by side".
In addition to the DA's investigators, representatives of the victims' families, the building owner and various construction and maintenance companies were invited to observe the destructive testing.
This invitation to observe, Mr Dunleavy said, was to ensure "fairness for any future litigation".
Forensic analysis of the balconies was not carried out in the initial investigation by the City of Berkeley officials, but will now be conducted by scientists at an independent laboratory.
They will study relevant materials, Mr Dunleavy said, as they "hope to determine the source of the water intrusion that left the balcony in such an unsafe condition".
This investigation is the first of its kind for the Almadea District Attorney's office, and once all of the testing had been carried out and all of the construction and maintenance documentation had been acquired, the investigators will have to assess all of that information to form an opinion on who, if anyone, could have taken action to avoid the collapse.
The balcony collapse just before 1am on Tuesday 16 June caused the deaths of Irish students Eoghan Culligan, Lorcán Miller, Niccolai Schuster, Eimear Walsh, and Olivia Burke, and her Irish-American cousin Ashley Donohoe.
Clodagh Cogley, Hannah Waters, Aoife Beary, Sean Fahey, Jack Halpin, Niall Murray and Conor Flynn were all injured in the tragic incident.
