Failed Project Failed Engineering Project Many Projects

Failed Project

Failed Engineering Project

Many projects fail. That is the nature of progress. Thomas Alva Edison was one of the greatest failures that ever attempted a project (Beals, 1999), but he is also regarded as one of the greatest successes . His life is proof that failure can be a learning experience such as discovering a new adhesive (NAEP, 1999), but more often the failure leads to disaster and knee jerk regulations. Many failures come as the product of faulty planning and improper diligence on the part of the engineers involved. One such tragedy that was directly attributed to the structural engineers involved was the collapse of the Hyatt Regency walkways in July of 1981. This paper will discuss the project criteria, success criteria, and why the structure failed.

Kansas City, being the middle-most large city in the United States has long been a popular destination for conferences. Due to this fact, many hotels have been built to ensure that there are enough rooms to support the people who schedule meetings at one of many conference venues. The goal of the Hyatt project was to construct a 40-story hotel structure that had walkways that would enhance the view for patrons who were traversing the second, third and fourth floors (Engineering.com, 2006). To this end, three walkways were constructed. The second and fourth floor skywalks were in direct line and the third floor walk was offset from the others.

The project was awarded by the Crown Center Development Corporation to GCE International a "professional consulting firm of structural engineers" (Engineering.com, 2006). The consulting engineers worked directly with the parent company to design and then contract out the project. Elbridge Construction Company was chosen as the general construction firm, and they, in turn, sub-contracted the fabrication of the atrium steel for the building to Havens Steel Company.

The overall project was meant to increase the number of hotel rooms in Kansas City to attract additional conferences. The specific purposes of the atrium skywalks was aesthetic in nature, but also practical as they served as conveyance to different areas of the building and additional floor space for patrons. In this regard, the project was a success because the atrium and walkways did perform to spec for a year until July 17, 1981.

On that date, the fourth floor walkway gave way, crashed into the second floor walkway causing it to collapse, and both walkways fell onto the crowded atrium dance floor below. It was determined that the number of people on the walkways exceeded the load that they could carry.