Design Deficiencies Caught During Construction Administration Phase 2

[FootNMouth]

All,

I am going to be giving a presentation to first year graduate engineers about the construction administration phase of a project. In order to provide concrete examples on the importance of the CA phase I was hoping to use some specific example of when a major design flaw was caught or created during the CA phase.

The one example that I can think of at the moment is the Kansas City Hyatt pedestrian bridge collapse in which a detail was modified and eventually approved during CA that led to the failure.

 

[hokie66]

You might research the Harmon Tower in Las Vegas, which is being demolished before completion. Mostly due to construction defects, but adequate coordination between design and construction could have prevented it. You will find some discussions on Eng-Tips.

 

[SlideRuleEra]

The L'Ambiance Plaza collapse in 1987 was the second most deadly construction accident in US history (28 dead). The building design was stable when complete, but not while under construction. This paper addresses the accident in a way you may find useful:

http://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1037&context=encee_facpub

http://www.SlideRuleEra.net

http://www.VacuumTubeEra.net

 

[FootNMouth]

Thank you for the responses. I have incorporated both of these examples.

 

[NS4U]

The issue at the Citicorp center in the late 70s also arose from an approved change during construction that wasn't caught by the designer.

 

[hokie66]

This is the building which NS4U means.

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

 

[bookowski]

Check out the Tropicana parking garage collapse. While there is no agreed upon fault the arguments focused on a change during construction to the rebar that was approved in shop drawings, the change was from loose bars to contractor v/e solution of pre-welded grids. During this change it may (or may not depending which side you are on) have resulted in inadequate anchorage of perimeter bars.