![\"Jean-Pierre](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_78C56B29-6205-4431-8_3_1_EPOHM5G1_L811183571.JPG\" "\\"Jean-Pierre")
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Jean-Pierre Bardet and Jeffrey Dorfman are particularly worried about buildings in coastal neighborhoods like Edgewater.<\/p>\n
Adrian Diaz-Sieckel\/Miami Herald file<\/p>\n
Miami Herald File<\/p>\n
An unlikely pair of researchers \u2014 a retired dental surgeon and the former dean of the University of Miami College of Engineering \u2014 are pushing for more scrutiny in the permitting process for skyscrapers in Miami.<\/p>\n
In a newly published paper<\/a>, Jean-Pierre Bardet and Jeffrey Dorfman say building on Miami\u2019s uneven and sandy subsoil can come with engineering challenges that the city doesn\u2019t account for when approving new high-rises. And as buildings in Miami are getting taller, they\u2019re worried not enough attention is being paid to what\u2019s underneath them.<\/p>\n Jean-Pierre Bardet served as the dean of the University of Miami College of Engineering and a vice provost at the university for several years, and he is now an engineering professor. Dorfman is a retired dental surgeon who moved from New York to Miami and has since taken an interest in the engineering and policy questions surrounding high-rise development in Miami. Their paper, \u201cEmerging Risks and Housing Affordability Policy in Miami High-Rises,\u201d was published Wednesday in the Journal of Critical Infrastructure Policy.<\/p>\n In it, they argue not enough is known about how much high-rises are sinking into Miami\u2019s sandy, coastal soil. They point to recent research that shows buildings on Miami\u2019s barrier island are sinking faster than engineers predicted. It highlights a \u201cknowledge gap in predicting long-term settlement of slender high-rise towers,\u201d they write.<\/p>\n They\u2019re worried about coastal areas like Miami Beach, but also Edgewater, where Dorfman lives. The neighborhood is right on Biscayne Bay and has become dense with luxury condo towers over the past two decades.<\/p>\n Miami\u2019s subsoil is made up of uneven and non-uniform layers of porous limestone and sand, which makes it relatively unstable and unpredictable. This means buildings here are more prone to subsidence, or sinking, and differential foundation settlement, when different parts of the building\u2019s foundation sink at different rates, both of which can cause major structural issues.<\/p>\n \u201cThis necessitates exceptionally conservative foundation designs, extensive in-situ testing, and \u2014 crucially for public policy \u2014 mandatory long-term monitoring regimes and surety measures,\u201d they write in their paper.<\/p>\n Bardet and Dorfman say the city should pause approvals of new high-rises and reconsider its process. They write that the way the city approves buildings\u2019 height and scale doesn\u2019t align with the \u201cgeotechnical realities\u201d of building a skyscraper in Miami.<\/p>\n For instance, in Miami, a developer can pay into a fund and be granted the right to build 20 extra stories, regardless of the size of the lot or the subsoil below. Bardet and Dorfman say the process for approving tall buildings should be more site-specific and involve extensive geotechnical testing to determine what can safely be built there.<\/p>\n Tall, slender buildings built on Miami\u2019s subsoil are at a particularly high risk, they say. A smaller footprint puts more stress on a building\u2019s foundation and can worsen the risk of settlement. To mitigate this risk, Bardet said builders must dig very deep foundations for slender buildings.<\/p>\n Some settlement is normal, and engineers know how to account for this when building. But research published by another UM professor, Farzaneh Aziz Zanjani, in the journal Earth and Space Science in 2024, found that buildings in Sunny Isles Beach, Surfside and other barrier island towns had been sinking at a faster rate than expected. Bardet credits this research for piquing his interest in this subject.<\/p>\n \u201cI see a new phenomenon, something that we did not know before, and I\u2019m trying to understand it,\u201d Bardet said. \u201cWhy are these buildings moving when they should not?\u201d<\/p>\n Dorfman became interested in the subject when he read a series of Miami Herald articles published late last year. The articles drew from Zanjani\u2019s research, as well as interviews with Bardet. Dorfman, eager to learn more, called Bardet and set up a meeting.<\/p>\n MORE: Sinking skyscrapers? As buildings got bigger in Sunny Isles, so did engineering concerns<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a geek,\u201d Dorfman said. \u201cI love this stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n When the two men met, they became fast friends, despite their different personalities and backgrounds. Bardet, a reserved and cerebral Frenchman, and Dorfman, a gregarious and energetic New Yorker, soon decided to start writing a paper together.<\/p>\n \u201cA team was born,\u201d Dorfman said. He would focus on the policy side, while Bardet would focus on the engineering side.<\/p>\n As an Edgewater resident, the research was personal to Dorfman. Edgewater\u2019s coastal subsoil is similar to that of the barrier island. And as Dorfman saw new condos going up in his backyard, including towers over 50 stories tall on fraction-of-an-acre lots, he wondered about the structural integrity of these tall, slender buildings.<\/p>\n In addition to pushing for a moratorium on new skyscraper approvals, Bardet and Dorfman write that the city should create an independent review panel for such proposals. They also write that the city should create a fund, paid into by developers to \u201cplace the financial liability for 40-year structural performance with the builder rather than unit owners, insurers, and taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n They\u2019ve also criticized state legislation that shortened the length of time a developer is liable for defects in a building, from 10 years to 7.<\/p>\n Now that their paper has been published, the pair is already planning to write another. They hope their recently published paper will lead to more scientific research into skyscrapers and subsoil in Miami, as well as more discussion about policy solutions at the city, county and state levels.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have discovered a problem,\u201d Bardet said. \u201cWe want to find a solution, but the solution is not only technical.\u201d<\/p>\n This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 3:24 PM.<\/p>\n