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Engineering Disasters - Kansas City Hyatt
Catwalk
Collapse
Edward Brunet, Jr., P.E.
Overview
On July 17, 1981, the fourth
floor skywalk at the Kansas City Hyatt collapsed during a dance contest being
held in the hotel atrium. The accident, which killed 114 people and
injured nearly 200 others, was the result of a simple design error. The
engineer of record and the project engineer responsible for designing the
skywalk were found to be guilty of gross negligence, misconduct and
unprofessional conduct in the practice of engineering. Both engineers lost
their P.E. licenses in the state of Missouri.
This course will examine the
chain of events leading up to the tragedy. We'll see how the engineer's
inattention to constructability issues contributed to a decision by the
fabricator to change the original design. We'll learn about a major
structural failure during construction of the hotel that should have raised a
"red flag" in the design. We'll see how the direct cause of the accident
was the engineer's failure to review shop drawings that he stamped with his
professional seal. We'll learn how deficiencies in the Kansas City
building code and inadequate staffing inhibited the Kansas City Codes
Administration Division's ability to prevent this tragedy. Finally, we'll
discuss lessons that can be learned from this incident to help ensure that a
similar tragedy doesn't happen again.
The student must take a multiple-choice quiz consisting of ten (10) questions at the end of
this course to obtain PDH credits.
Specific Knowledge or Skill Attained
This course teaches the following specific knowledge and
skills:
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The Kansas City
Hyatt atrium walkway base design and the project history
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Factors that
contributed to a design change initiated by the fabricator
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How the fabricator's
design change weakened the structure and led to the failure
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Historical
perspective on design responsibility for structural connection details
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Missed opportunities
during design and construction to catch the design error
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The investigation
following the accident, as well as the judgment of the Missouri Board of
Architects, Professional Engineers, and Land Surveyors
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Lessons learned from
this tragedy which you can apply in your professional practice
Course
Prior to taking the quiz for PDH credit, click on the following link to review the course
Engineering Ethics - Lessons Learned: Kansas City Hyatt Walkway Collapse.
Kansas
City Hyatt Catwalk Collapse (413k)
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credit. Click on the link below.
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