MCET 450: Mechanical Analysis & Design I
Hyatt Regency Disaster
Written by: Douglas Chu, Andrew Smilinich, Brian Esposito
Assignment Date: August 25, 2015
Due Date: September 1, 2015
Introduction: The Hyatt Regency disaster took place in Kansas City, Missouri on July 17, 1981. This tragedy occurred during a large gathering of people for the annual tea dance (Engineering Ethics:The Kansas city Hyatt Regency Walkways Collapse). According to the filed report the “atrium area was estimated at 1500 to 2000” people at the time of the collapse (Marshall,V). At this instant the 2nd and 4th floor walkways collapsed due to poor engineering design. This disaster had a totaled “113 people dead and 186 injured” (Marshall,V). The people who were …show more content…
Ultimately the load on the fourth floor was doubled, with no changes being made to the already 40% under-code fourth floor support beam (Engineering Ethics: The Kansas City Hyatt Regency Walkways Collapse). This is what led to the skywalks disastrous collapse during the Tea dance at the Hyatt Regency hotel. Aside from the fourth floor beam being overrated in strength, there were also two other defects, of the same nature. The first was that in order to account for the added load, stiffener plates should have been added to the section of the beam where the hanger rods attached (Hyatt Hotel Collapse Minute by Minute Part 5 of 5). The engineering company assumed that the manufacturing facility knew this fact and had failed to mention its existence, depicting the crossover of engineering and communication …show more content…
Telephone calls disputed however; because of alleged communications between engineer and fabricator, Shop Drawing 30 and Erection Drawing E3 are changed” (Engineering Ethics:The Kansas city Hyatt Regency Walkways Collapse). Gillum Colaco Inc. denied any speculation of communicating with Haven Steel, but sources say that there was a stamp of approval for the new modifications coming directly from a licensed professional engineer. There was an apparent lack of communication between engineering and fabrication, but further investigation reveals a lack of property owner involvement. One lack of communication from the owner 's standpoint is that there should have been a contractor/inspector that overlooked the entire modification process. The contractor is implemented to insure that building codes are followed, designs are correct, and proper construction is in place (Engineering Ethics:The Kansas city Hyatt Regency Walkways Collapse). To ensure a high quality and well designed product, there should be a system of checks and balances in place between the owner, engineers, and
Hyatt Regency Disaster
Written by: Douglas Chu, Andrew Smilinich, Brian Esposito
Assignment Date: August 25, 2015
Due Date: September 1, 2015
Introduction: The Hyatt Regency disaster took place in Kansas City, Missouri on July 17, 1981. This tragedy occurred during a large gathering of people for the annual tea dance (Engineering Ethics:The Kansas city Hyatt Regency Walkways Collapse). According to the filed report the “atrium area was estimated at 1500 to 2000” people at the time of the collapse (Marshall,V). At this instant the 2nd and 4th floor walkways collapsed due to poor engineering design. This disaster had a totaled “113 people dead and 186 injured” (Marshall,V). The people who were …show more content…
Ultimately the load on the fourth floor was doubled, with no changes being made to the already 40% under-code fourth floor support beam (Engineering Ethics: The Kansas City Hyatt Regency Walkways Collapse). This is what led to the skywalks disastrous collapse during the Tea dance at the Hyatt Regency hotel. Aside from the fourth floor beam being overrated in strength, there were also two other defects, of the same nature. The first was that in order to account for the added load, stiffener plates should have been added to the section of the beam where the hanger rods attached (Hyatt Hotel Collapse Minute by Minute Part 5 of 5). The engineering company assumed that the manufacturing facility knew this fact and had failed to mention its existence, depicting the crossover of engineering and communication …show more content…
Telephone calls disputed however; because of alleged communications between engineer and fabricator, Shop Drawing 30 and Erection Drawing E3 are changed” (Engineering Ethics:The Kansas city Hyatt Regency Walkways Collapse). Gillum Colaco Inc. denied any speculation of communicating with Haven Steel, but sources say that there was a stamp of approval for the new modifications coming directly from a licensed professional engineer. There was an apparent lack of communication between engineering and fabrication, but further investigation reveals a lack of property owner involvement. One lack of communication from the owner 's standpoint is that there should have been a contractor/inspector that overlooked the entire modification process. The contractor is implemented to insure that building codes are followed, designs are correct, and proper construction is in place (Engineering Ethics:The Kansas city Hyatt Regency Walkways Collapse). To ensure a high quality and well designed product, there should be a system of checks and balances in place between the owner, engineers, and