The worst structural collapse in the United States occurred in 1981, unsurpassed until the World Trade Center fell in 2001. The accident happened at the Hyatt Hotel in Kansas City when two walkways above the hotel atrium fell without warning. There were people standing on both walkways as well as a crowd below, all watching a dance competition. 114 people were killed in the collapse, many of them crushed under the debris from the walkways.
A further complication developed as the hotel’s fire sprinkler system was triggered, flooding the atrium with water. Many victims were in danger of drowning in the rising water as they waited for rescue.
Design Defect in Construction Found to Be the Cause
The investigation of the accident uncovered the fact that the support beams and tie rods for the walkways had a design defect that made them incapable of bearing the weight load of the walkways. Added to this was the weight of 20-40 spectators and that is when disaster struck. The design defect was complex, but essentially was part of a new design that had been submitted by the engineer and resulted in a much weaker support structure. The new design doubled the amount of weight that would be distributed on the support beams, and those plans were not adequately reviewed before construction began.
The resulting legal actions were directed at the engineers involved, and all of them lost their licenses. In addition, numerous lawsuits were filed based on the negligent actions of the engineers, with $140 million dollars in damage awards and settlements to victims. The presence of the design defect and the change of designs made the negligence claims easy to prove, and few defenses were available to mitigate the damages. However, no criminal charges were filed against any parties.
Structural collapses of all types often involve the same factors:
The confluence of these factors can lead to an unexpected collapse, often during a social gathering that injures many people. It is rare that a balcony, walkway or porch just collapses on its own with no people around. Because of this fact, property owners have a duty to anticipate that structures may be subject to heavy loads and that designs should account for this fact. To use a design based on one or two people on a structure is obviously inadequate.
The Hyatt Hotel accident led to a new awareness of the role of design and engineering in creating safe structures of all types. These standards are use industry wide, and when there are defects those can form the basis for establishing liability. Poor construction or cost-cutting can also be a factor, as well as the actions of those on the structure.