HARTFORD CIVIC CENTRE
ARENA ROOF COLLAPSE.
BY GROUP 11:
STEPHEN DENT-NEVILLE
SEÁN KEANE
EOIN NORTON
Background
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Background
• Constructed in 1973.
• Housed a basketball
court and seating for 5,000
spectators.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Background
• Collapsed on the 18th of
January 1978.
•Large snowstorm had
caused heavy loading.
• Just 5 hours after a fully
attended game.
• No injuries.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Design and Construction
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Design and Construction
• Used an innovative space frame technology.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Design and Construction
• Used an innovative space frame technology.
• Required using a complicated, expensive and
innovative computer program.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Design and Construction
• Used an innovative space frame technology.
• Required using a complicated, expensive and
innovative computer program.
• Saved half a million dollars.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Design and Construction
• Roof spanned 91.44m x 109.72m.
• 25.29m above the ground.
• Completely assembled on the ground.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Design and Construction
Proposed Roof:
• Horizontal steel bars with
6.4m spacing.
• 9.14m diagonal members.
• Braced by an intermediate
layer.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Design Flaws
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Design Flaws
There were numerous design flaws
associated with the space frame roof.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Design Flaws
• Insufficient resistance to buckling.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Design Flaws
• Insufficient resistance to buckling.
• The slenderness ratio of the built up diagonals
violated section 1.18.2.4.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Design Flaws
• Insufficient resistance to buckling.
• The slenderness ratio of the built up diagonals
violated section 1.18.2.4 (AISC).
• Another violation was that bolt holes punching
through some members exceeded 85% of the gross
area.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Design Flaws
• Dead loads were underestimated by more than 20%.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Design Flaws
• Dead loads were underestimated by more than 20%.
• Under design led overloading in members:
- East & West face exterior top layer compression: 852% overloaded;
- North & South face exterior compression members: 213% overloaded;
- Interior East-West compression members: 72% overloaded.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Design Flaws
• Dead loads were underestimated by more than 20%.
• Under design led overloading in members:
- East & West face exterior top layer compression: 852% overloaded;
- North & South face exterior compression members: 213% overloaded;
- Interior East-West compression members: 72% overloaded.
• Computer model incorrectly assumed all of the top
chords were laterally braced.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Collapse
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Collapse
• When built, deflection was twice predicted value.
Engineers said such deviations from initial analysis
were to be expected.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Collapse
• When built, deflection was twice predicted value.
Engineers said such deviations from initial analysis
were to be expected.
• Unusual deflections were noticed numerous times:
– Inspection company;
– Subcontractor;
– Member of public.
All were ignored.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Collapse
• Collapsed in less than 10 seconds.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Collapse
• Collapsed in less than 10 seconds.
• Multiple causes given:
– Inadequate top chord bracing;
– Torsional buckling of compression members;
– Faulty weld connection.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Collapse
• Collapsed in less than 10 seconds.
• Multiple causes given:
– Inadequate top chord bracing;
– Torsional buckling of compression members;
– Faulty weld connection.
• All of the above can be attributed to a lack of
redundancy.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Conclusions
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Conclusions
• Use of untested, non-conventional design and computer
analysis.
– Design extremely susceptible to buckling (not analysed by computer).
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Conclusions
• Use of untested, non-conventional design and computer
analysis.
– Design extremely susceptible to buckling (not analysed by computer).
• Cost cutting led to inadequate inspection and quality
control:
– No on-site engineer.
– Connections weren’t assembled according to the design.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
Conclusions
• Use of untested, non-conventional design and computer
analysis.
– Design extremely susceptible to buckling (not analysed by computer).
• Cost cutting led to inadequate inspection and quality
control:
– No on-site engineer.
– Connections weren’t assembled according to the design.
• Unexpected deflections were overlooked.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
References
• G. C. Andrews (2008), Canadian Professional Engineering
and Geoscience: Practice and Ethics.
• Martin, Rachel, and Delatte, Norbert J. (1999), Another Look
at Hartford Civic Center Coliseum Collapse.
• Norbert J. Delatte, Beyond failure: forensic case studies for
civil engineers.
• Levy, Matthys and Salvadori, Mario (1992), Why Buildings Fall
Down: How Structures Fail.
• Salvadori, Mario, Why Buildings Stand up.
21/10/2011
Hartford Civic Centre Roof Collapse
Group 11
HARTFORD CIVIC CENTRE
ARENA ROOF COLLAPSE.
Group 11:
Stephen Dent-Neville
Sean Keane
Eoin Norton