Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse

Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse
Group 1:
Mehad Saïd
Abdel Kader Messaoudi
July 17th, 1981
Background
•  The Hyatt Regency Hotel was built in Kansas City,
Missouri in 1978.
•  This hotel consisted of a 40-story hotel tower and
conference facilities, which were connected by an open
concept atrium.
•  Inside the atrium, there were three walkways that
connected the hotel to the conference facilities on the
second, third, and fourth floors. The atrium was 145 feet
long, 117 feet wide and 50 feet high.
People Involved
Crown Center Redevelopment Corp.
Jack D. Gillum & Associates, Ltd. (G.C.E.)
Patty Berkebile Nelson Duncan Monroe Lefebvre (PBNDML)
Eldridge Construction & Havens Steel Co. H&R Inspection,
Jack D. Gillum
Daniel M. Duncan
Event
"   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
Original Design
Modified Design
Main Causes
•  Crown Center Redevelopment Corp: Owner
Interested in lowest cost
No on-site inspection
•  Jack Gillum, Principal of G.C.E.
Design and build the Hyatt Regency Hotel
Too much responsibility to junior engineer
Insufficient supervision
•  Daniel Duncan: Junior engineer at G.C.E.
Flawed Design
Overconfidence in his Design
How it could have been avoided?
Ethics
Violations of Principles of Professionalism
Ethics
ASCE Code
•  “Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of
the pubic in the performance of their professional duties.”
• 
“Engineers shall issue public statements only in an objective and
truthful manner.”
• 
“Engineers shall not complete, sign, or seal plans and/or
specifications that are not of a design safe to the public health and
welfare and in conformity with accepted engineering standards.”
Conclusion
•  Good Communication between the different parties
•  Not Interpreting Preliminary Drawings as Finalized Drawing
•  Review of the Final Design Sufficiently
References
"   “ASCE code of ethics amended.” (1976) Civil Engineering
American Society
"   Hyatt-Regency Walkway Collapse Web site: http://
www.rose- hulman.edu/Class/ce/HTML/publications/
momentold/winter96-97/hyatt.html.
"   "The Hyatt horror": Failure and responsibility in American
engineering.