Hyatt Regency Hotel Walkway
Kansas City, MO
In July 1981, two suspended walkways in the hotel's atrium collapsed, resulting in the death of 114 people. SGH was retained by the insurer to determine the cause of the failure. SGH worked with experts from the National Bureau of Standards and other engineering firms in sharing test specimens and experimental results. The collapse was caused by failure of the connections between the hanger rods and the main carrying box beams of the walkways. Two errors contributed to the connections' deficiency: a serious error in the original design of the connections, and a change in the hanger rod arrangement during construction, which doubled the load on the connection.
Service Provided:
Investigation
Supporting Capabilities:
Structural Engineering
