The collapse of a 20-foot-by-60-foot section of flooring in the second-floor loading dock of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center appears to be an "isolated incident" that doesn't compromise the structural integrity of the building, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said yesterday.

		Listen in Mayor Luke Ravensthal talks about the Convention Center collapse.

Speaking to reporters before an event at the Duquesne Club, the mayor said preliminary indications from independent experts examining the collapse suggest that the problem is isolated and that the "structural integrity of the building is intact. It should be fine."

"All preliminary indications lead us to believe that the building is OK," he said.

The mayor gave no indication as to when the building would reopen. It has been closed to the public since the incident Feb. 5.

Mr. Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato ordered the independent inspections of the convention center after the floor's collapse, which sent concrete, a support beam and a piece of machinery crashing to a walkway and water feature 30 feet below. The incident occurred after a tractor-trailer drove over the section while making deliveries for the Pittsburgh International Auto Show.

The second-floor loading dock is on the Penn Avenue side of the Downtown center. The incident has forced the closing of the stretch of 10th Street that runs under the building.

Mr. Onorato declined comment yesterday, saying he had yet to be briefed by officials from the two firms that conducted the independent reviews, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates of Cleveland and Leslie E. Robertson Associates of New York.

State Sen. Wayne Fontana, a board member for the city-county Sports & Exhibition Authority, said he was told at a meeting yesterday that a report would be out in a matter of days. He said neither he nor other board members were told what it would say.

Asked about the mayor's comments, he replied: "My feeling is that's probably the case. They seem to feel very comfortable with whatever the report's going to be."

A final report is expected to be released next week.

Authority Executive Director Mary Conturo declined to comment yesterday.

The mayor is the second official this week to indicate that the collapse appeared to be isolated to the second-floor loading dock. John DeSantis, executive director of the Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show, said he had been told that the center's architect and builders had concluded the problem was confined to that area and did not compromise the safety of the entire building.

He was confident enough in that assessment that he planned to proceed with the Home and Garden Show on its scheduled dates of March 2-11 at the convention center.

Mr. DeSantis said yesterday he was glad to learn of Mr. Ravenstahl's comments about the independent inspection.

"It's consistent with everything we knew up to this point," he said. "Obviously, this is the information we've been waiting for very anxiously."

The initial focus of the collapse has centered on an expansion joint and the connections to it in the affected section of the loading dock.

The Pittsburgh International Auto Show, which was scheduled to begin last week, had to be postponed because of the collapse and has been tentatively rescheduled for April 26-30. Several other events that were to make use of the center also had to be postponed or relocated.