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[dik]

...from the BBC, "At least one person has died after a stage collapsed in Toronto ahead of a Radiohead concert.

Three others were injured, one seriously, in the incident at Downsview Park, medics told CBC News."

 

[thejonster]

Here's one story
1 killed when Toronto stage collapses before sold-out Radiohead concert

 

[Hacksaw82]

Another one? Yikes.

This site has pictures, before and after.

http://www.alancross.ca/a-journal-o...-stage-collapse-tragedy-in-toronto-pictu.html

On a side note, Alan is one of the best modern rock reporters / commentators around. His blog is a great read. His now defunct 'Ongoing History of New Music' podcast was unmatched.

 

[JStephen]

I thought this was a more interesting failure- Cajun Welcome Center in Morgan City, Louisiana:

http://www.wafb.com/story/18791048/visitors-center-sinking-into-swamp

 

[charliealphabravo]

A few more photographs here...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ds-British-drum-technician-Scott-Johnson.html

Anyone heard any clues yet on what the failure mechanism might have been?

I am just arm-chairing of course but to me it looks like a very large span and a lot of weight for the amount of structural material involved. Also I don't see much in the way of hard points for primary load transfer between the supports and the main span. This means that loads must be carefully distributed. A very efficient structure. I'm guessing that the space frame spanning over the stage is on a track and is raised with cables. It looked like the failure began on stage left.

I'm sure these systems work very well on paper but I suspect that they are highly dependent on proper component alignment and base stability. Internal forces induced by small component misalignment and support displacement could be very high and wouldn't be distributed well in such a sparse aluminum structure.