Davenport building cracks

A new parking building that’s part of downtown Davenport’s River Renaissance development project may not be as tall as it was yesterday. Workers installing panels on top of the concrete ramp heard a popping noise about 1 p.m. They later discovered that was caused by pieces of concrete breaking and that a section of the ramp had dropped a few inches. No one was injured. But adjacent streets were blocked, nearby businesses were evacuated and cables were attached to the ramp because contractors feared it might collapse. Jay Perry, project manager for Carl A. Nelson & Co., the construction company building the ramp, says he doesn’t know what caused the problem. But experts will be on the scene today to determine what happened and how to proceed.