It's been 40 years ago today since the Hyatt Regency walkway collapse

[sd4chiefs]

RIP to anyone who lost their life on that awful day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyatt_Regency_walkway_collapse


On July 17, 1981, the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri suffered the structural collapse of two overhead walkways. Loaded with partygoers, the concrete and glass platforms cascaded down, crashing onto a tea dance in the lobby, killing 114 and injuring 216. Kansas City society was afflicted for years, with billions of dollars of insurance claims, legal investigations, city government reforms, and Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalism by The Kansas City Star.

[digger]

We were coming back from vacation and saw this on the news at my grand parents house.

[siberian khatru]

As this was during the 1981 baseball strike, then-Royals pitcher Rich Gale was working as a bartender at the Hyatt that night and helped rescue people.

[Deberg_1990]

As this was during the 1981 baseball strike, then-Royals pitcher Rich Gale was working as a bartender at the Hyatt that night and helped rescue people.

Wow. Interesting. Do MLB players even do part time jobs anymore?

RIP to all those who died that day….

[eDave]

As this was during the 1981 baseball strike, then-Royals pitcher Rich Gale was working as a bartender at the Hyatt that night and helped rescue people.

I had heard at the time that George Brett was there. Coincidentally, just read through the wiki the other day when someone linked it in a discussion about the FL building. What a humanitarion, though rough time for KC. It tore that city apart.

[bevischief]

I remember seeing this on the news. I was at my grandmother's house seeing it live on tv.

[RINGLEADER]

I saw a documentary on this recently and the number of people who ended up with their feet next to their heads was horrifying. How some of those people survived is astonishing and the screw-up that caused it was something they should have seen coming a mile away. The engineers who changed the design were big time stupid.

[Deberg_1990]

The engineers who changed the design were big time stupid.

I would like to see the documentary. I imagine the screwup was something to do with trying to save money??

[Mosbonian]

My mother was a nurse who was sent there along with other medical personnel to do what they could.

She was never the same person after that...

[suzzer99]

I would like to see the documentary. I imagine the screwup was something to do with trying to save money??

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyatt_Regency_walkway_collapse#:~:text=Investigators%20found%20that%20the%20collapse,under%20the%20f ourth%2Dfloor%20walkway.

Investigators found that the collapse was the result of changes to the design of the walkway's steel hanger rods. The two walkways were suspended from a set of 1.25-inch-diameter (32 mm) steel hanger rods,[20] with the second-floor walkway hanging directly under the fourth-floor walkway. The fourth-floor walkway platform was supported on three cross-beams suspended by the steel rods retained by nuts. The cross-beams were box girders made from 8-inch-wide (200 mm) C-channel strips welded together lengthwise, with a hollow space between them. The original design by Jack D. Gillum and Associates specified three pairs of rods running from the second-floor walkway to the ceiling, passing through the beams of the fourth-floor walkway, with a nut at the middle of each tie rod tightened up to the bottom of the fourth-floor walkway, and a nut at the bottom of each tie rod tightened up to the bottom of the second-floor walkway. Even this original design supported only 60% of the minimum load required by Kansas City building codes.[21]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/HRWalkway.svg/2560px-HRWalkway.svg.png

Havens Steel Company had manufactured the rods, and they objected that the whole rod below the fourth floor would have to be threaded in order to screw on the nuts to hold the fourth-floor walkway in place. These threads would be subject to damage as the fourth-floor structure was hoisted into place. Havens Steel, therefore, proposed that two separate and offset sets of rods be used: the first set suspending the fourth-floor walkway from the ceiling, and the second set suspending the second-floor walkway from the fourth-floor walkway.[22]

This design change would be fatal. In the original design, the beams of the fourth-floor walkway had to support only the weight of the fourth-floor walkway, with the weight of the second-floor walkway supported completely by the rods. In the revised design, however, the fourth-floor beams supported both the fourth and second-floor walkways, but were only strong enough for 30% of that load.[21]

The serious flaws of the revised design were compounded by the fact that both designs placed the bolts directly through a welded joint connecting two C-channels, the weakest structural point in the box beams. The original design was for the welds to be on the sides of the box beams, rather than on the top and bottom. Photographs of the wreckage show excessive deformations of the cross-section.[23] During the failure, the box beams split along the weld and the nut supporting them slipped through the resulting gap, which was consistent with reports that the upper walkway at first fell several inches, after which the nut was held only by the upper side of the box beams; then the upper side of the box beams failed as well, allowing the entire walkway to fall.[citation needed] A court order was required to retrieve the skywalk pieces from storage for examination.[24]

[Bugeater]

I would like to see the documentary. I imagine the screwup was something to do with trying to save money??

There are several on YouTube

[Halfcan]

My mom was down there that night. We had a babysitter and she let us stay up late. It was the top story on the news for a week. There were no cell-phones then and no way of knowing if she had been killed. It was awful. She finally made it home late in the morning and was so shaken she could not talk about it. The only thing she ever said about it was: "It was the most terrible thing I have ever seen."


Many years later I asked her about it. She told me that, she and her date were standing on those sections that failed part of the night and had walked beneath them only a few minutes before the collapse. The sounds of the crash and then all the screams were deafening. Complete chaos. It really affected her for many years afterward.

[tmax63]

My mother was a nurse who was sent there along with other medical personnel to do what they could.

She was never the same person after that...

My cousin was an EMT there. I think it changed him a little as well.

[Ocotillo]

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[oldman]

For those of you in the KC area :https://www.kmbc.com/article/kmbc-to-premiere-documentary-on-hyatt-skywalks-disaster-kmbc-9-chronicle-the-skywalk-tapes-kansas-city-missouri/36998373

It'll be re-broadcast at 8 PM tonight on KCWE (ch 29).

[Baby Lee]

I would like to see the documentary. I imagine the screwup was something to do with trying to save money??

It's a combination of money and difficulty in assembling, . . . but most crucially it was a lack of comprehension of the engineering of distributed loads.

The wiki suzzer posted details it. But basically, the threaded rod itself had the strength to carry the entire load. But if it was assembled as designed, it would be one threaded rod, and each level would have to be threaded into place in order from top to bottom. So you'd have this like 4-story long rod, and you'd have to run each nut up 3 stories of threads for the highest floor, then every nut up 2 stories for the next, and so on.

So the construction crew, not being versed in the engineering said, we have the rods and we have the nuts, lets just do it story by story with breaks in between. What they didn't realize is this transfers the load from being carried by the entire 4-story rod, to the load being compounded AT EACH NUT as you went down. Those beams and nuts were not designed to carry the load that the threaded rod was. They were just designed to carry ONE floor and put it's load on that rod at each respective level.

[Deberg_1990]

Horrible. What a horrible thing for that engineer guy to live with, even though he wasn’t at fault.

[srvy]

I have posted before on this in other threads, but Havens Steel Fabricator's got a bum rap on most of the blame I always thought.

We were hired as a subcontractor for the National Bureau of Standards to collect XYZ of rods anchor bolts beam anchors and anything requested by the Federal investigation. This happened after the rescue and recovery were completed. That was strange a little creepy in itself. When I was the instrument operator on the survey party, I was away from the debris pretty much till we had to make hand measurements to the steel in the rubble pile. They cleaned up pretty good but they can't get it all for obvious reasons. That still bothers me to this day.

This is an excerpt from an article by ASCE.
https://www.asce.org/question-of-ethics-articles/jan-2007/

The engineer of record attributed the fatal design flaw to a breakdown in communication. He stated that he had assigned supervision of the project to an associate structural engineer, who was not an ASCE member. As the engineer of record was responsible for roughly 10 associate engineers, each of whom supervised six or seven projects at a time, he acknowledged that he could not personally oversee every aspect of the design. Instead, he entrusted the responsibility to the associate in charge of each project.
This happens in every engineering group I have ever worked with or for. Still, today members of the design teams are Cad operators or technicians who do the work and the engineer reviews and signs off on it with his seal. Havens steel got the majority of the blame because they didn't get a signed sealed change order. Under pressure that design group probably verbally agreed to this because the reputation that Havens had fabricating and constructing Steel.

Jack D. Gillum and Daniel M. Duncan the lead Engineers as far as I know came out of this with suspensions of licenses.

The Architect Bob Berkebile of course came out of this smelling like a rose. Its why I always say they are glorified with pretty pictures and dreams but take no responsibility.

Berkebile admits it in one of his quotes: "It was my job to design the project, and the engineers’ job to “make it stand up.”

Berkebile was not found at fault although his single rod dream was still found to be faulty and could hold only 60% of the weight. So I just dream it you build it.

This was a big mess all around for everyone That started from an architect's dream to do something different to make a name. Though he was found to have no fault it begins with what these guys want to do and engineers trying to make it work.

[srvy]

This collapse set panic all over the country on construction already built or being in the process of construction. Specifically the indoor malls.

Inspections all over the country of walkways. We did so much stress testing of areal walkways it seems all we did for five or so years.

[gblowfish]

My mother was a nurse who was sent there along with other medical personnel to do what they could.

She was never the same person after that...

My mom was the operating room supervisor at Trinity Lutheran Hospital at 31st and Main. They called her at home to rush downtown. She was on the triage team as they brought people in. We didn’t see her for three days. It changed her too, and she has worked at the VA during the Korean War.

[alpha_omega]

RIP
Think about it every time I’m at the Sheraton.

[srvy]

The Architect Bob Berkebile was interviewed by local news I think 41 news. He said he was called to the scene that night and walked in and was horrified what had seen. He said was worse than anything he encountered in Vietnam. He further went on to say he climbed op a portion of the walk that was still hanging at its anchor against the wall. On the beam, he found half a face that looked just like his friend then completely broke down. The interview ended.

Hope he learned that tried and true is much better than doing something never done before.

[Mike in SW-MO]

My Mom & Dad were invited to go that night.

If I had not had a band event that night, Dad would have been at the bar getting drinks like Jim, his best friend and golfing buddy was. Right under the Skywalk when it came down.

[srvy]

Here is the interview with the architect Berkebile I mentioned in post 22.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MO3Y5tEBkJI" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[srvy]

On another strange coincidence I had moved out to Raytown for a few years with good friends I had met in the 70s working at Worlds of Fun. It was wild times and the night of the collapse we were out in the street at 79th block of Manning throwing a frisbee trying to figure out what to do that evening.
We called a friend that said he and his brother were going to the tea dance at Hyatt Regency and invited us. We thought a bit then declined as I thought it would be nothing but old folks. We all found other things to do. Then later saw the news on tv and worried about our friend. We called and called the next day and finally got hold of him in the evening. He said he had been right under the skywalk in line for a beer said the place was packed. He then got the urge to take a leak and walked out into a lobby for a RR to piss when banging and screams. He said it was sheer panic and dust and people running for doors. He looked for his brother till he was shuffled out the door. While outside there was his brother who had been waiting in a line to get in. He said he wanted a beer so bad but a piss saved him that night.

Another coincidence was one of my roommate's friends was a fireman and a firehouse near to the Hyatt. They were the first fire crew to the scene and he pulled many people out from under the rubble. Some alive some dead and says it's the worst thing he ever saw. He was stationed at the busiest firehouse in the City. The worst story was he was working the jack and A man's leg was traped they couldn't get him free and losing blood and in and out of consciousness. They made the decision he was going to lose his leg or die. A doctor on-site was summoned and said he would bleed out and he would lose his leg most likely anyway. From what I gather is the doc made the indecision around the get and the bone just under the hip was sawn through with a Sawzall by another fireman. The friend who was manning the jack then grabbed him and pulled him free. He carried to a EMT. He made it but months later died of complications he said.

To this day it's one of the worst things he had ever seen till his retirement.

That building is cursed during construction the atrium collapsed also and we did some fact finding work there on that one also. I have never set foot in that building since.

[KChiefs1]

I was on Hwy 70 at Independence Center heading to Oak Grove when it came across Q-104 in the middle of Rick Springfield singing Jesse’s Girl.

Remember it like it was yesterday.

[Bob Dole]

My orthodontist was in the band that was playing.

[KChiefs1]

You know if that happened nowadays, there would be hundreds of videos of it happening out there. I can’t imagine the cell phones recordings there would be.

[srvy]

You know if that happened nowadays, there would be hundreds of videos of it happening out there. I can’t imagine the cell phones recordings there would be.

I remember at work when we got our first bag phone and replaced our 2 way mobile 2-way radios. hated it!!! Brought the office to your work truck.
https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-5e9158da73b3a1f3d1a1fed9dde491a1

Then came the Tac flip phone and it was worse.
https://w7.pngwing.com/pngs/793/988/png-transparent-iphone-motorola-dynatac-clamshell-design-telephone-smartphone-cellphone-electronics-mobile-phones-internet.png

[eDave]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyatt_Regency_walkway_collapse#:~:text=Investigators%20found%20that%20the%20collapse,under%20the%20f ourth%2Dfloor%20walkway.



https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/HRWalkway.svg/2560px-HRWalkway.svg.png

Basic laws of gravity tells me this was not sustainable. Dang.

[eDave]

On another strange coincidence I had moved out to Raytown for a few years with good friends I had met in the 70s working at Worlds of Fun. It was wild times and the night of the collapse we were out in the street at 79th block of Manning throwing a frisbee trying to figure out what to do that evening.
We called a friend that said he and his brother were going to the tea dance at Hyatt Regency and invited us. We thought a bit then declined as I thought it would be nothing but old folks. We all found other things to do. Then later saw the news on tv and worried about our friend. We called and called the next day and finally got hold of him in the evening. He said he had been right under the skywalk in line for a beer said the place was packed. He then got the urge to take a leak and walked out into a lobby for a RR to piss when banging and screams. He said it was sheer panic and dust and people running for doors. He looked for his brother till he was shuffled out the door. While outside there was his brother who had been waiting in a line to get in. He said he wanted a beer so bad but a piss saved him that night.

Another coincidence was one of my roommate's friends was a fireman and a firehouse near to the Hyatt. They were the first fire crew to the scene and he pulled many people out from under the rubble. Some alive some dead and says it's the worst thing he ever saw. He was stationed at the busiest firehouse in the City. The worst story was he was working the jack and A man's leg was traped they couldn't get him free and losing blood and in and out of consciousness. They made the decision he was going to lose his leg or die. A doctor on-site was summoned and said he would bleed out and he would lose his leg most likely anyway. From what I gather is the doc made the indecision around the get and the bone just under the hip was sawn through with a Sawzall by another fireman. The friend who was manning the jack then grabbed him and pulled him free. He carried to a EMT. He made it but months later died of complications he said.

To this day it's one of the worst things he had ever seen till his retirement.

That building is cursed during construction the atrium collapsed also and we did some fact finding work there on that one also. I have never set foot in that building since.

You've been very insightful.

[GayFrogs]

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[gblowfish]

That building still gives me with willies. I don't go inside if I can help it.