Overload Files – Failure Forensics

OV-001

connection-detail failure

The Hyatt Regency Walkway — One Drawing Change That Doubled the Load and Killed 114

connection-detail-under-design progressive-collapse-secondary static-overload building suspended-walkway-skybridge 1980s

17 July 1981, 7:05 p.m. CDT · Collapsed

OV-002

static overload

Sampoong Department Store — An Illegal Fifth Floor and Rooftop Chillers That Crushed 502

punching-shear-under-design static-overload unauthorized-modification building flat-slab-commercial-structure 1990s

29 June 1995, ~5:52 p.m. KST · Collapsed

OV-003

gas-blast-initiated collapse

Ronan Point — A Gas Explosion That Peeled a Tower’s Corner and Defined Progressive Collapse

gas-blast-initiated-progressive-collapse lack-of-structural-continuity building large-panel-system-residential-tower 1960s

16 May 1968, approx. 5:45 a.m. · Partial collapse

OV-004

design error

I-35W Mississippi River Bridge — Half-Inch Gusset Plates That Buckled Under Added Weight

buckling-instability gusset-plate-under-design static-overload bridge steel-deck-truss 2000s

1 August 2007, 6:05 p.m. CDT · Collapsed

OV-005 · 1907

compression-member buckling

Quebec Bridge 1907 — A Compression Chord Buckled Under an Unrevised Dead Load

compression-chord-buckling dead-load-underestimate static-overload bridge steel-cantilever 1900s

29 August 1907, ~5:30 p.m. · Collapsed

OV-006

non-ductile column failure

CTV Building — Non-Ductile Columns That Pancaked Six Storeys and Killed 115

non-ductile-column-under-design progressive-pancake-collapse static-seismic-overload building reinforced-concrete-frame-wall 2010s

22 February 2011, 12:51 p.m. NZDT · Collapsed

OV-007

nodal-connection under-design

FIU Pedestrian Bridge — A Miscalculated Node That Sheared Off Over Live Traffic

calculation-peer-review-error nodal-connection-under-design static-overload bridge concrete-truss-footbridge 2010s

15 March 2018, 1:47 p.m. EDT · Collapsed

OV-008

static overload

Versailles Wedding Hall — A Removed Wall, a Sagging Slab, and 23 Dancers Lost

proprietary-slab-under-design static-overload unauthorized-modification building lightweight-composite-floor-slab 2000s

24 May 2001, 22:43 IDT · Partial collapse

OV-009

cast-iron-in-bending under-design

Dee Bridge — A Trussed Cast-Iron Girder That Could Not Carry a Train

cast-iron-in-bending-under-design flawed-structural-concept static-overload bridge cast-iron-girder 1840s

24 May 1847, ~6:25 p.m. · Collapsed

OV-010

wind-load underdesign

Tay Bridge — Designed With No Wind Allowance, Lost in a Gale With a Train

lateral-bracing-under-design no-wind-load-allowance static-wind-overload bridge iron-lattice-girder 1870s

28 December 1879, 7:16 p.m. · Collapsed

OV-011

shear failure

de la Concorde Overpass — A Built-In Plane of Weakness Dropped a Slab on the Highway

reinforcement-placement-defect shear-under-design static-overload bridge reinforced-concrete-overpass 2000s

30 September 2006, ~12:30 p.m. EDT · Partial collapse

OV-012

connection underdesign

Hard Rock Hotel New Orleans — Under-Designed Floor Connections Collapsed Mid-Construction

construction-stage-collapse static-overload steel-connection-under-design building steel-framed-concrete-floor-system 2010s

12 October 2019, ~9:12 a.m. CDT · Partial collapse

OV-013

construction-stage overload

Tropicana Parking Garage — Missing Shoring Let Wet Floors Crush Four Workers

construction-stage-collapse inadequate-shoring-reshoring static-overload building precast-filigree-parking-structure 2000s

30 October 2003, ~10:40 a.m. EST · Partial collapse

OV-014

compression-member buckling

Hartford Civic Center Roof — A Space-Frame Model That Underestimated Its Own Weight

compression-member-under-design static-overload torsional-buckling building space-frame-roof 1970s

18 January 1978, ~4:19 a.m. EST · Collapsed

OV-015

snow overload

Knickerbocker Theatre — A Flat Roof Built Too Weak for Snow That Buried 98

inadequate-support-detailing roof-under-design static-snow-overload building flat-roof-theatre 1920s

28 January 1922, ~9:00 p.m. · Collapsed

They were simply asked to carry too much.