hyatt regency hotel disaster
The Kansas City, MO Hyatt Regency Hotel was designed to be open and airy, with a lobby consisting of an open atrium that extended to the top of the building. On one side of the building were the hotel rooms, and on the other side were the meeting and conference facilities. To facilitate the transfer of guests from their rooms to the conference facilities, walkways were to be built on each floor to connect the two. To maintain the open feel of the atrium, the walkways were suspended from the ceiling without any imposing, bulky support columns to disrupt the openness. Two walkways were suspended one above the other, and were to use a common set of continuous support rods connected to the roof above. The engineering firm, G.C.E. Inc., designed the walkways to be suspended by rods that hung from the roof structure. Each rod would pass through the upper walkway and on down to the lower walkway. Under each walkway, a nut and washer would be threaded on each of the rods to carry the load of the walkway. There was only one problem with this design. To get a nut up to the bottom of the upper walkway, the entire length of the rods would have to be threaded. Threading the entire length of the rods would have been both expe
Ethics and professionalism is the first ethical issue that comes to mind in this case. The engineers involved had a responsibility, both ethically and professionally, to make responsible, educated decisions regarding the design of the hangers for the walkways. In the course of the trial the architect, fabricator, and technician all testified that during the construction they had contacted the project engineer regarding the structural integrity of the change in the hanger design. They were all assured that the connection was sound, and the engineer, Duncan, claimed to have checked the detail when in reality he had never performed any calculations for the revised design at all. This was incredibly unprofessional; neglecting to check the safety and load capacity of a crucial hanger shows his complete disregard for the public welfare (Rubin and Banick, 1987). Yet another example of G.C.E.'s lack of professionalism was the failure of the original design to meet the load carrying requirements set forth in the building codes. Engineers should check their work redundantly to ensure that their designs are structurally sound and that they meet or exceed legal requirements. Late 1977- Early 1978 - Bid set of structural drawings and specifications submitted by G.C.E., using standard Kansas City, Missouri, building codes. The construction firm, Havens Steel, decided to modify the design to make it easier to construct. They cut the rods in half and ran those halves from the roof to the upper walkway and placed nuts under the upper walkway to support it. They then drilled another set of holes in the upper walkway, four inches from the first set, and hung the lower hangers from the second set of holes. The second set of hangers ran down to the bottom walkway and supported it, but this minor alteration more than doubled the load on the nuts under the upper walkway, and created a moment. Havens submitted a shop drawing of the revised hanger design to G.C.E., and it was returned with G.C.E.'s engineering stamp of approval. Havens claims that they also discussed the change over the phone, which G.C.E. denies.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1961
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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