Threat of scaffolding collapse shuts down part of downtown Orlando, Florida

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Barricades closed off a stretch of a major street through downtown Orlando, Florida, on Thursday as construction scaffolding on a high-rise building threatened to buckle and collapse in the summer heat.

A block-long stretch of Orange Avenue was shut down in the heart of a downtown area that serves as a business and entertainment hub for central Florida.

Balfour Beatty, which is overseeing a construction project at the building where the scaffolding is located, said in a statement that engineers were developing a plan to take it down. The area around the building would be closed off to traffic and pedestrians until the scaffolding is removed, the statement said.

Orlando’s downtown buildings are filled with office workers during the day, but the area is popular with young adults patronizing its bars and clubs at night.