By: Julee Christianson,

1
HYATT REGENCY HOTEL WALKWAYS COLLAPSE ENGINEE
RING FAILURE

• By Julee Christianson,
• Mike Cruz, and
• Katie Nolan

2
WHERE Kansas City, MissouriDATE July 17, 1981
3rd Floor Walkway Still Intact
3
Outline

• The Hotel and the Incident
• The Causes and the Problems
• Controversy and Conclusion
• References

4
People Involved

• The owner - Crown Center Redevelopment
  Corporation
• The fabricator - Havens Steel Company
• The engineering design team - G.C.E.
  International, Inc.
• -Professional Consulting Firm of Structural
  Engineers
• -Previously known as Jack D. Gillum
  Associates, Ltd.
• Main People involved in the Design The
  Principals
• Jack D. Gillum, P.E. - structural engineering
  state licensed since February 26, 1968Daniel M.
  Duncan, P.E. - structural engineering state
  licensed since February 27, 1979

5
Who Agreed to What?

• Crown entered into a standard contract with
  G.C.E. International, Inc. on April 4, 1978
• G.C.E. agreed to provide, "all structural
  engineering services for a 750-room hotel
  projected located at 2345 McGee Street, Kansas
  City, Missouri.
• In December 1978, Eldridge Construction Company,
  the general contractor on the Hyatt project,
  entered into a subcontract with Havens Steel
  Company Professional Fabricator, who agreed to
  fabricate and erect the atrium steel for the
  Hyatt project.

6
Hotel Features

• The hotel had a grand lobby which featured a
  multistory atrium crossed by three concrete
  walkways on the second, third and fourth floors
• The hotel advertised to have many parties and
  events

7
Tea-Dance Party Leads to Disaster

• A party was held in the lobby
• Over 2,000 people were in attendance
• People crowded the walkways and the lobby below
  to watch the dance competition
• The excess weight caused the fourth floor walkway
  to fall onto the second floor walkway and both
  walkways collapsed onto the crowded first floor
• The collapse left 114 dead and more than 200
  injured
• This was the United States most devastating
  structural failure of the time

8
The Cause

• The reason for the collapse was determined to be
  in the engineering design for the suspended
  walkways
• The original box beam design (which was not
  actually used) did not meet the requirements of
  the Kansas City building code
• However, the design that was used was even less
  safe than the original

9

• Original Design

• Modified Design (was used)

The 2nd and 4th floor walkways were originally
supposed to be suspended from the same rod and
held in place by nuts
The fabricator had modified the design to use two
hanging rods and the engineers approved the
change without checking it
On a preliminary design a note was made that the
hanging rods needed to have strength of 413 MPa,
but that note was left out on the final design
and so the fabricator used hanger rods with only
248 MPa of strength
10
Design Problems

• Havens proposed the modified design to simplify
  the assembly task and to eliminate the need to
  thread the entire length of the rods
• However, the change in the design doubled the
  stress put forth on the nut which was under the
  fourth floor beam and with the change the nut had
  to support the weight of two walkways instead of
  just one
• The ultimate capacity actually available using
  the original connection detail would have been
  approximately 60 of that expected of a
  connection designed in accordance with AISC
  Specifications according to the National
  Building Specifications

11
FAILURE What Went Wrong?

• The box beams resting on the supporting rod nuts
  and washers were deformed because of the stress
  that was exerted on them
• The box beam resting on the nuts and washers on
  the rods could no longer hold up the load.
• The box beams (and walkways) separated from the
  ceiling rods
• The second and fourth floor walkways fell to the
  atrium first floor with the fourth floor walkway
  coming to rest on top of the second

12
THE HANGER ROD THREADS, WASHER AND SUPPORTING
NUTNOTE THE DEFORMATION IN THE WASHER CAUSED
THE BEAM TO SLIP
13
Close-ups of some of the 4th Floor Beams
14
Interesting Findings

• On October 14, 1979, part of the atrium roof
  collapsed while the hotel was under construction
• On October 16, 1979, G.C.E.'s Gillum wrote the
  owner, stating that he was undertaking both an
  atrium collapse investigation as well as a
  thorough design check of all the members
  comprising the atrium roof. G.C.E. promised to
  check all steel connections in the structures,
  not just those found in the roof
• Reports were sent to the owner assuring the
  overall safety of the entire atrium
• Seeing that G.C.E. said the atrium was safe, the
  hotel was opened in July 1980
• The Hotel had only been in operation for about
  one year at the time of the collapse

15
Controversy

• After the change in the design, the Havens Steel
  Company claims that they informed G.C.E.
  International Inc. of the alteration, but the
  engineering firm denies ever receiving such a
  call for change approval
• However, Jack D. Gillums seal of approval was
  attached to the revised design drawings

16
Engineering Ethics

• Daniel M. Duncan, Jack D. Gillum, and G.C.E.
  International, Inc., were charged by the Missouri
  Board of Architects, Professional Engineers and
  Land Surveyors of gross negligence, incompetence,
  misconduct and unprofessional conduct in the
  practice of engineering in connection with their
  performance of engineering services in the design
  and construction of the Hyatt Regency Hoteland
  later they were found guilty

17
In Conclusion

• The two structural engineers lost their
  Professional Engineering licenses and are no
  longer able to practice in the states of Missouri
  and Texas
• Both are now practicing in other states
• A number of firms were bankrupt
• Many expensive legal suits were settled out of
  court

18
References

• Harris Jr., Charles E., Michael S. Pritchard, and
  Michael J. Rabins. Engineering Ethics.
  Wadsworth, 1995.
• Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse.
  Engineering.com. 13 Nov 2007. lthttp//www.enginee
  ring.com/ Library/ ArticlesPage/tabid/85/PageID/19
  9/ArticleID/175/articleType/ArticleView/Defau lt.a
  spxgt.
• Martin, Rachel. Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse.
  26 Nov 2007. lthttp//www.eng.uab.edu/cee/faculty/
  ndelatte/case_studies_project/Hyatt20
• Regency/hyatt.htmgt.
• Texas AM University. Engineering Ethics. 27
  Nov 2007. lthttp//ethics.tamu.edu/ethics/
  hyatt/hyatt1.htmgt.