Temporary Stage Collapse at Indiana State Fair 1

[Forensic74]

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2011/08/14/hall.in.state.fair.stage.collapse.cnn?iref=allsearch

In the wake of the stage collapse at the indiana state fair, what are the design requirements on this type of structure? Are they even inspected??

 

[BAretired]

Another stage collapse in Belgium just a few days after the Indiana State Fair.

http://www.etidbits.com/stage-collapse-kills-injures-71-in-belgium=7654

BA

 

[dcriner]

It's noteworthy that about a year ago, a temporary tower being used by a Notre Dame football videographer collapsed in a windstorm, killing the worker. This happened in South Bend, Indiana. It seems that Indiana may have an enforcement problem.

 

[Forensic74]

I'm not sure that the building dept has anything to do with the use of scissor lifts like the one that toppled at Notre Dame. For what it's worth though, Indiana is one of two states in the US that doesn't formally have special inspections in the code. Not that special inspections could have been applied here, nor are they correctly enforced elsewhere the midwest....that's another thread altogether.

 

[charliealphabravo]

so what state level official or department is typically responsible for regulating these temporary structures? i'm reading now that neither the fire marshal nor the city building department had jurisdiction since it is on state land. perhaps the department of agriculture or the department of labor? and do they employ any structural engineers or only amusement ride inspectors? i'm beginning to doubt that this could have been avoided under the current system since no one with any structural knowledge is included in the process once the original structural package is fabricated and sold. again i'm just arm chairing and give full deference to those with first hand knowledge.

 

[SnTMan]

hokie66, just telling you what I saw..

 

[sandman21]

You can have a PE look at these structures and do inspections in the period they build them, our firm has done it, the city and there inspector out there to do there’s as well. It’s no different than any other job.

I am thinking that this is not a design issue but a construction issue, just from looking at some of the pictures. But thats my WAG

 

[JedClampett]

Here's a story that they might of had a tarp or something over the structure that was designed to release at a 20 mph wind, but was still in place at failure.
Sounds like a scary design concept.

 

[csd72]

Jed,

This is actually a quite common design philosophy on temporary fabric structures.

 

[MikeHalloran]

According to the story, the tearout panel _did_ release at 20 mph earlier in the week, and was then reinstalled, apparently in a way that prevented it from releasing until the wind reached 70-ish mph. Big oops there.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[JedClampett]

It might be common, but it's still scary for two reasons:
1) How do you design something, especially a fabric, to fail at a certain load? It seems easy, but in practice, it's pretty hard.
2) It would be tempting to the staff to say, "...hey that tarp keep blowing off its mounting. People are getting rained on. Someone go up there and wire it up better."

 

[SnTMan]

Considering the stage top is intended for outdoor events, a panel blowing out at 20 MPH is going enough of a headache to guarantee it will get wired in securely. Too low a design windspeed unless the top is designed for say 30 MPH max.

Regards,

Mike

 

[B16A2]

I think this issue boils down to the fact that the building industry want's to avoid using a licensed SE in every way possible..and then when something fails everyone is surprised. I think a licensed SE should be obtained any time a large temporary structure with potential to kill a lot of people is erected. I'm willing to bet that any of the struggling SE's in the area would have been happy to review the fair's large temporary structures for less than $1500....and now the state is going to pay out millions. Its ludicrous.

I think these structures should be designed for the standard code level loads. Nobody has a good handle on the probabilities and life safety risk, therefore any loading reductions are merely a guess.

This is a code issue, and the good ol boy engineering mentality came back to bite Indiana on this one.