a) In July 1981, two walkways suspended above the atrium lobby at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Kansas City, Missouri, collap
Posted: Sat May 21, 2022 3:29 pm
a) In July 1981, two walkways suspended above the atrium lobby
at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Kansas City, Missouri, collapsed.
Construction of the hotel was completed in 1980. It happened in the
middle of a dance, with attendees packed on the walkways and the
floor below. In the aftermath of the incident, more than 200 people
were injured, and 114 people were killed. A series of decisions and
miscommunications were found to be at fault. According to the
investigation, the original designs for the walkways violated the
city’s weight-bearing codes: The second and fourth story walkways
were suspended by slim sets of rods anchored to the ceiling.
However, following a discussion with the fabricator during
construction, the decision was made to attach the set of rods
supporting the second-floor walkway to the bottom of the fourth,
instead of the ceiling. That meant the rods attached to the
fourth-floor walkway were supporting twice the weight than the
original design intended. A lack of proper communication was blamed
for the design change not being analyzed and approved properly, but
the engineers involved with the site and the fabricators refused to
accept responsibility. Based on the above explanation, justify TWO
(2) Professional Codes of Conduct regulated by the Board of
Engineers Malaysia (BEM) that have been violated by Professional
Engineers in this tragedy. [10M]
at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Kansas City, Missouri, collapsed.
Construction of the hotel was completed in 1980. It happened in the
middle of a dance, with attendees packed on the walkways and the
floor below. In the aftermath of the incident, more than 200 people
were injured, and 114 people were killed. A series of decisions and
miscommunications were found to be at fault. According to the
investigation, the original designs for the walkways violated the
city’s weight-bearing codes: The second and fourth story walkways
were suspended by slim sets of rods anchored to the ceiling.
However, following a discussion with the fabricator during
construction, the decision was made to attach the set of rods
supporting the second-floor walkway to the bottom of the fourth,
instead of the ceiling. That meant the rods attached to the
fourth-floor walkway were supporting twice the weight than the
original design intended. A lack of proper communication was blamed
for the design change not being analyzed and approved properly, but
the engineers involved with the site and the fabricators refused to
accept responsibility. Based on the above explanation, justify TWO
(2) Professional Codes of Conduct regulated by the Board of
Engineers Malaysia (BEM) that have been violated by Professional
Engineers in this tragedy. [10M]