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, as construction scaffolding on a high-rise building threatened to buckle and collapse in the summer heat. A block-long stretch of Orange Avenue on Thursday was shut down in the heart of the 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 company says the area around the building would be closed off to traffic and pedestrians until the scaffolding is removed.