HYATT REGENCY WALKWAYS COLLAPSE, KANSAS CITY

Dilan Budak

ENGINEERING ETHICS

December 26, 2019

On July 17, 1981, the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, organized a videotaped tea-dance

party in their atrium lobby. While many people who attended the event were standing and

dancing on the suspended walkways, connections supporting the ceiling rods which held up

the second and fourth-floor walkways along the atrium fell down, and both walkways

collapsed on the first floor crowd. The fourth-floor walkway collapsed onto the second-floor

walkway, while third-floor walkway as it is named offset which is branched to balance

structure remained intact. It has been one of the most destructive structural failure, regarding

to loss of life and injuries; Hyatt Regency,Kansas City walkways collapse resulted of 114

dead and more than 200 injured (About 1500 people attended the event at the hotel)

Information About Primary Figures in Case

Crown Center Redevelopment Corporation: the owner of Hyatt Regency Hotel

Havens Steel Company Professional Fabricator: who fabricated and erected the atrium steel

for the Hyatt project.

G.C.E. International, Inc. (1980 called Jack D. Gillum & Associates, Ltd. changed name to

G.C.E. in 1983): The engineering design team.. G.C.E. was responsible for preparing
structural engineering drawings for the Hyatt project: three walkways of the atrium area of the

hotel

Eldridge Construction Company: The general contractor on the Hyatt project

Jack D. Gillum (the supervisor of the professional engineering of G.C.E.) and Daniel M.

Duncan (working under the direct supervision of Gillum, the engineer responsible for the

actual structural engineering work on the Hyatt project)

Almost for one year of investigation of the accident after the walkways collapse brought out

some facts:

1) In January and February, 1979, the design of the hanger rod connections was changed

by the fabricator from one-rod to a two-rod system for use at the fourth floor

walkways to make assembly easier. Doubling the load on the connector caused the

walkways collapse. The fabricator declared that his company (Havens SteelCompany)

phoned the engineering firm (G.C.E. International, Inc., a professional engineering

firm) about change confirmation, but calls from Havens refused by G.C.E. Therefore

doubling the load on the connector, and controversial communications between the

fabricator (Havens SteelCompany) and the engineering design team (G.C.E.

International, Inc., a professional engineering firm) caused the walkways collapse.

Why did Haven make this change? Because of two issues: first, the Gillum design required

continuous suspension rods approximately 40-feet long. Havens determined these

would be very expensive to fabricate and install. Second, the suspension rods would

have to be approximately 30-feet of their length. This was determined by Havens

determined this is going to be unacceptably costly to produce and install. For this

reason Haven changed Gillum’s design.

 2) On October 14, 1979 , many parts of the atrium roof collapses while the hotel was

under construction. As a result, the owner (Crown Center Redevelopment

Corporation) called in the inspection team to investigate of the reason of the roof

collapse on-site inspection, but the inspection team stated that there is no task to

control any engineering or design work. However; in testimony, G.C.E. stated that

they asked on-site project representation from the owner during the construction stage;

yet, the owner did not fulfill these requests due to extra costs of providing on-site

inspection.

3) The walkways were not capable of holding up the predicted load.

All these 3 facts state that:

-Incorrect communication

-No confirmation of changes

-Leak of checking design, excessive trust in Duncan (result of inspection team’s investigation

report)

What are the shortcomings that had to be in this case?

-Communication

-Considering public safety

-Leadership

-Teamwork

-Lifelong Learning, attitudes

-Ethical and professional responsibility

The primary causes of connection failures (technical failures) are:

- Design and shop drawings differences

- Change in suspending rods design

- Wrong load calculations

- Improper design ( due to lack of consideration of all forces acting on a connection, mainly

those related with volume changes / lack of consideration of stresses of new size materials

as a result of changes in size )

- Improper design ( abrupt section changes resulting in stress gatherings)

- Insufficient measures for rotation and movement.

- Improper provisions of matching surfaces and installation of connections.

CONCLUSION
The engineering profession is more complex with several uncertainties, several executable

and workable solutions. The Hyatt Regency walkways collapse is quite suited to multiple

human factors such as communication, risk adversity, and our ability to work with others

constructively. Ensuring the safety, health, and welfare of the public, ensuring clear

communication and providing quality in every step of the process are the basic principles that

had to be applied in The Hyatt Regency constraction.

G.C.E. was found responsible for the change from a one-rod to a two-rod system. Further, it

was found that even if Havens failed to review the shop drawings or to specifically note the

box beam hanger rod connections, the engineers could not do spot checks, and they were still
responsible for the final check. G.C.E had too much trust in Havens. This is the negligence in

accurancy and rigour according to engineering ethics principle.

A number of people lost their engineering licenses, and a number of firms went bankrupt. As

a result of the Hyatt Regency Walkways Collapse, the American Society of Civil Engineering

(ASCE) took a report that states structural engineers have full responsibility for design

projects. The Hyatt Regency Hotel project takes an important place about responsibility and

design steel-to-steel connections in construction. We must figure out the effects of negligence,

lack of comminication and the engineer's design responsibility to protect the public and

environment. The Hyatt Regency Walkways Collapse provides a clear example of the

importance of accuracy and rigour in engineering design and shop drawings (especially in the

matter of revisions), and the especially effects of negligence.

 The Structural Engineer’s Original Design

The change made by the Steel Fabricator-Erector/Detailer

The Structural Engineer’s Original Design The Structural Engineer’s Original Design

The change made by the Steel Fabricator-Erector/Detailer

 References

1. Dragon, O. (2003). Hyatt Regency Walkways: The Ethical Issues.

2. Leonards, G. A. (1983). Collapse of the Hyatt Regency walkways—Implications. Civil
Engineering—ASCE, 53(3), 6-6.
3. Pfatteicher, S. K. (2000). “The Hyatt Horror”: Failure and Responsibility in American
Engineering. Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, 14(2), 62-66.