Hyatt Regency Hotel Walkaway Collapse Assignment

Hyatt Regency Hotel Walkaway Collapse - Assignment Example When the walkaways reached the floor, they killed 114 people (Lewis, James, Ralston, Norb& Wheatly 2). The accident left 200 people injured (Banset & Parsons 273). The disaster is related to engineering disasters because of a flaw in the connection of the walkways and the support rods. The disaster led to a number of significant changes in engineering practice. For instance, the engineer who authorized its design lost his license. After restoration, the hotel is currently functioning normally. The Hyatt Regency collapse occurred on July 17, 1981 in Missouri (Banset & Parsons 273). The hotel is located in Kansas City. The accident led to the death of 114 people and caused the injuries of 200 others (Banset & Parsons 273). The disaster has been selected for this paper because it was the most tragic structural collapse in American history at that time. During that fateful night, many people had gathered in the atrium to attend the highly publicized tea party. A significant number of peo ple stood on the walkways. When the accident occurred, all the walkways were packed with many patrons. The design of the walkaways contributed to the extent of the disaster. The fourth-floor bridge was suspended over all the subsequent bridges. In addition, the third walkaway was set off a few meters from the other two. Investigations established a flawed design alteration that increased the load on the connection between the support beams of the fourth walk away and the tie rods that were used to carry the weight of the next walk away. The engineers had clearly failed to observe due diligence. For example, the new design could not handle the weight of the structure. In addition, it could not support the weight of the hundreds of spectators that were standing on it. Consequently, the bridge failed and both walkaways ended up crashing into the lobby. The accident led to the death and injury of many people.