Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse:
Overview:
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The hotel had three suspended walkways above the main lobby.
The second and fourth-floor walkways were supported by steel rods from the
ceiling.
During a dance event attended by approximately 1,600 people, the fourth-floor
walkway collapsed.
The collapsed fourth-floor walkway fell onto the second-floor walkway.
Both walkways then fell onto the crowded lobby below.
The collapse resulted in 114 deaths.
Over 200 people were injured in the incident.
Cause of failure:
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The original design planned for both walkways to be suspended by continuous
steel rods from the ceiling.
During construction, the fabricator proposed a change: using two shorter rods
instead of one continuous rod.
One rod suspended the fourth-floor walkway from the ceiling.
The second rod suspended the second-floor walkway from the fourth-floor
walkway.
This design change increased the load on the fourth-floor walkway’s connectors.
The connectors were not designed to bear the additional weight.
The added strain, combined with the weight of people on the walkway, caused
the connection to fail.
Reference List:
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Luth, G.P. (2000) Chronology and Context of the Hyatt Regency Collapse. Journal
of Performance of Constructed Facilities, 14(2), pp. 51-61. Available at: https://0doi-org.innopac.wits.ac.za/10.1061/(ASCE)0887-3828(2000)14:2(51) [Accessed:
28 April 2025]
Hauck, G.F.W. (1983) Hyatt‐Regency Walkway Collapse: Design Alternates.
Journal of Structural Engineering, 109(5), pp. 1226-1234. Available at: https://0ascelibrary-org.innopac.wits.ac.za/doi/epdf/10.1061/%28ASCE%2907339445%281983%29109%3A5%281226%29 [Accessed: 28 April 2025].
Chernobyl disaster:
Overview:
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The 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident is considered one of the worst
environmental catastrophes in history.
The explosion was caused by human error.
The incident triggered a major global disaster.
Affected countries included Poland, Belarus, Czechoslovakia, and Ukraine.
Over 8.4 million people were exposed to radiation.
Cause of failure:
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The Chernobyl nuclear accident occurred on April 26, 1986, in Pripyat, Ukraine.
Plant managers ignored safety procedures, causing the uranium fuel in the
reactor to overheat.
A sudden power surge led to a series of explosions inside the reactor.
Efforts to shut down the reactor were unsuccessful.
The reactor core was exposed, releasing radioactive material into the
atmosphere.
Around 200 tons of radioactive material were discharged.
The radioactive spread caused illnesses, deaths, and destruction of homes in
many areas.
Reference list:
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CE Noticias Financieras (2023) 37 years after Chernobyl, how did this nuclear
disaster happen? ProQuest Wire Feed, 26 April. Available at:
https://www.proquest.com/docview/2806999138 [Accessed: 1 May 2025].