Introduction
A structure is a defined as a collection of things to support something so that it can stand on its own. When one or more things fail to support the whole system, it is called a structural failure. A lot of factors are considered when one establishment has fractures or, worse, collapsed. It may be the effect of a natural phenomenon like an earthquake; some materials failed to do their jobs; or the people who built it made an honest mistake.
Structure make-up
The structure contains loads, which can be interpreted as the forces acting on the points in the system. There are a number of loads that act on a single structure. The engineers use these loads to not only effectively make a design that will stand against the worst conditions, but also to ensure the safety of all the people who will use it. Structural engineers would want a structure to fail (Hean, n.d.). Imagine the structure as the human body, these engineers analyze, design, and maintain the skeleton so that it can withstand harsh conditions (Institution of Structural Engineers, n.d.).
Royal Palm Hotel Incident
The constructors build the Royal Palm Hotel in July 1993 at the Tumon Beach, Guam. But, one month later, on the 8th of August 1993, the hotel collapsed due to the strong earthquake that shook the island (Hamburger, n.d.). Though there were no deaths, some were injured. The investigators found out that the structure had construction flaws like the wrong orientation of the columns, confinement hoops that should be required where not found in the drawings. Also, the contractor used another type of stirrups and omitted the closed hoops in many joints. According to the report of Engr. Hamburger, the shear failure of the joints in both the special concrete frame and the crushing of the gravity columns on the second story mainly caused the collapsed. The jury blamed the contractor for the hotel’s structure failure. Engr. Hamburger’s analysis blamed the errors in the design of the building aside from the contractor. He insisted that the structural engineer was not aware of that Guam was an earthquake-prone island and that the necessary safety design requirements are not presented. The total amount of the collapse has doubled the construction cost.
Ways to minimize structural failure
What happened in the past can also be used as a reference to greatly improve something. Bering aware of the major cause of the collapse will greatly help (Exponent, Inc., n.d.). Construction of buildings and other structures have always had failures way back. And these blunders help in the development of the technologies and the techniques to further enhance the risk prevention of structures.
In November 1983, a conference on the prevention of structural failures was held in Santa Barbara, California. The main purpose of this event was to establish ways to minimize the risk of potential failure on structures. Some of the construction errors mentioned were wrong interpretation of design drawings, failure to follow the instructions in the plan and poor workmanship. Other factors like beating the deadline, settling for cheaper materials instead of the items indicated in the plan to save money, also contribute to the probability that the structure will fail.
With the technology nowadays, it is easy to track the progress of the construction, and reduce the probability of failure. Because buildings don't build themselves but the members of the project involved, improved communication should be established. Some of the recommendations mentioned were structural integrity, life safety assurance, peer review, and definition and assignment of responsibility (Consulting Engineers South Africa, 1996).
There is not better cure than prevention. To minimize the probability of having casualties in construction, all the people involved should practice the fundamentals of engineering. People should take this profession lightly. One’s carelessness might cause the death of another.
References:
Consulting Engineers South Africa. (1996). Structural Failures in Buildings – Their Cause and Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cesa.co.za/_f1l3z_/advisorynotes/87_3.pdf
Exponent: Engineering and Scientific Consulting. (n.d.). Structural Failures. Retrieved from http://www.exponent.com/structural_failures/
Hamburger, R. (n.d.). Structural Failures: A Case Study. Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Retrieved from http://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/sei/Certification/StructuralFailures_guam.pdf
Hean, Ir. Tee Horng. (n.d.). Failure Of Structures. Buletin Ingenieur. 14-20. Retrieved from http://www.bem.org.my/publication/marchmay04/CF(Failure)(14-20).pdf
