Example Of Essay On The Kansas City Hyatt Regency Walkways Collapse

The Kansas City Hyatt Regency Walkways Collapse occurred on July 17, 1981 (Edward 1). This coincided with the tea party that was organized by the hotel in their atrium lobby. With many guests being invited, most of the party goers were dancing with others standing at the suspended walkways. As a result of this, the ceilings rods that supported the walkways in both the second floor and the fourth floor around the atrium became weak and overwhelmed. It therefore led to the collapse of the walkways onto the first-floor atrium which was very crowded (Edward 3). However, the third-floor walkway remained intact.
This collapse resulted in the loss of 114 lives while more than 200 people were injured. Several families were also affected in the process as they had to lose important members of their family. The event also led to the loss of millions of dollars in terms of the destroyed property as well as the adverse economic effect on the families involved (Edward 6). This event became the US leading structural catastrophe that has occurred in the history of the US. Despite the fact that the hotel building was barely two years old, it finally collapsed. Such a collapse was, therefore, unexpected hence not prepared for. Attempts made to unearth the possible causes revealed the following reasons:
First and foremost, during the time of construction of the building, the connecting rods that were to be used in making the walkways were changed. This came as a result of a myriad of events that occurred between the fabricator and the engineering design team. According to the engineer, one rod system was to be used instead of the two-rod system that was ultimately used by the fabricator (Edward 8). It therefore resulted in the connector bearing a double load that led to the imminent collapse of the walkways.
An attempt to change the design fell on deaf ears hence leading to the ultimate catastrophe. Initially, the roof of the building had collapsed on 14th October, 1979 while the building was still under construction (Edward 10). It occurred because the roof connections to the north side of the atrium had failed. Despite this happening, attempts were not made to change the connection despite their early sign of weakness. Due to the circumstances surrounding the construction of the building, it can be concluded that the walkways were incapable of carrying the expected load. Such errors could be corrected earlier but was not.
Various ethical issues were violated in the construction of this building. There was gross negligence on the part of the engineers. In spite of the fact that the fabricator changed the connector rod system, the engineer did not bother to re-evaluate the plan and the fitness of the system on the design of the building (Edward 14). It was the duty of the engineering company to validate the quality of materials used in the construction of the building. In the court proceeding, it was evident that the engineer failed to confirm the quality of the materials despite the attempts made to inform them.
The engineering company also delegated a lot of responsibilities on Duncan. Despite Duncan being a young engineer, he was tasked with the responsibility of designing the building and overseeing its construction. In addition, his opinion was final with regards to the progress of the building (Edward 16). This created a room for possible manipulation by the fabricator in the name of providing cheaper products. Since the roof had collapsed while the building was still under construction, scrutiny should have been done on the quality of the building materials which was not done. It was the duty of the engineer to verify the changes that were made and their effects on the building quality. The hotel’s construction was thus a total violation of the Kansas City Building Code.

Works Cited

Pfrang, Edward. The Collapse of the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Walkways. New York: Prentice Hall. 1983.