SURFSIDE, Fla. • Crews searching for survivors in the ruins of a collapsed Florida condo tower have built a ramp that should allow the use of heavier equipment, potentially accelerating the removal of concrete that “could lead to incredibly good news events,” the state fire marshal said Wednesday.

Since the sudden collapse of the 12-story Champlain Towers South last week in Surfside, rescuers have been working to peel back layers of concrete on the pancaked building without disturbing the unstable pile of debris.

Miami-Dade Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah told family members of those missing Wednesday that a ramp built onto the pile overnight allowed rescuers to use a crane on sections that were not previously accessible. He said that improves the chances of finding new pockets of space in the search for survivors.

“We hope to start seeing some significant improvement in regards to the possibility of (finding) any voids that we cannot see,” Jadallah said.

In an interview with Miami television station WSVN, State Fire Marshal Jimmy Petronis described the ramp as “a Herculean effort” that would allow crews “to leverage massive equipment to remove mass pieces of concrete,” which could lead to good results.

Four more bodies were found Tuesday night, raising the death toll in the disaster to 18 people. In addition to the four bodies, crews also found other human remains. Jadallah told family members that relatives of the dead have not yet been identified. More than 140 people are still unaccounted for.

The cause of the collapse is under investigation. A 2018 engineering report found that the building’s ground-floor pool deck was resting on a concrete slab that had “major structural damage” and needed extensive repairs. The report also found “abundant cracking” of concrete columns, beams and walls in the parking garage.

Just two months before the building came down, the president of its board wrote a letter to residents saying that structural problems identified in the 2018 inspection had “gotten significantly worse” and that major repairs would cost at least $15.5 million. With bids for the work still pending, the building suddenly collapsed last Thursday.

Rescuers still faced enormous obstacles as they spent a seventh day searching for survivors. The pancake collapse of the building has frustrated efforts to reach anyone who may have survived in a pocket of space.

Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue Chief Alan Cominsky said the so-called delayering process is difficult and dangerous.

“We’re working collaboratively as a group to try to attain that goal, and that’s to save someone’s life,” Cominsky said Wednesday. “It’s been tough. I just want to emphasize that. We’re still moving forward. We see the resources coming through. We’re exhausting every avenue here.”

Officials were also worried about the possibility of severe weather interfering with search efforts.

Crews have already had to deal with intermittent bad weather that caused temporary delays in the work Gov. Ron DeSantis said some of the resources in Surfside might have to be removed in case the storms hit any part of Florida.

Search and rescue personnel work alongside heavy machinery Wednesday to sift through the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of people remain missing almost a week after it partially collapsed in Surfside, Fla.

the associated press