Deadly garage collapse due to building's nearly 100-year-old age

[joe_padavano]

1 hour ago, John_S_in_Penna said:

The motive that caused that hotel disaster wasn't merely to save money.

They were honest mistakes.  From what I have read in engineering

circles, one idea of the steel detailer to improve constructibility

unwittingly put more load on the threaded hanger rods.  And before that,

the  engineer or architect had designed built-up box beams by welding two steel

channels together, which assembly behaved in a way he didn't anticipate.  

 

So it wasn't a case of sneaking anything by, to keep more money

for himself.

 

"...improve constructability..." is code for "reduce construction labor". The engineers who designed the skybridge specifically intentionally designed the support rods and the connections to the different levels to avoid having upper platforms carry the loads of the lower ones - all loads were carried directly in the continuous support rods, which were sized for that load. The "improved constructability" change used individual support rods between each level, with the result that the loads from each of the lower levels were sequentially carried by the subsequent platform above it, transferring this much larger combined load into the next support rod. The original design required the builder to thread support nuts a long way up the one-piece rods, which is why they took it upon themselves to change the design. Unfortunately, they were not engineers and overlooked the now significantly higher loads in the platforms. Was there a better design than the one the engineers came up with? Yeah, I can think of a few that still satisfy the original concept of only carrying load in the support rods, but the builder who made the change did not do this.

[MochetVelo]

On 4/21/2023 at 11:33 PM, Crusty Trucker said:

 

 

How's the Brooklyn Bridge doing? Built in 1883, it's 130 years old! Can we assume it's OK, too?

 

 

The Brooklyn Bridge is currently undergoing a $300M restoration and cleaning.  Still holding up well, they say.

[nat]

On 4/22/2023 at 12:34 AM, Studemax said:

I stand by my post - 100%.

 

 

 

Most rocket surgeons major in some form of engineering in college, only to later earn a PhD in aerospace engineering. After 4 years of college, 4 years of medical school, and 4 years of PhD, rocket surgeons must complete a 10-year rocket surgery residency.

      

[ply33]

3 hours ago, nat said:

Most rocket surgeons major in some form of engineering in college, only to later earn a PhD in aerospace engineering. After 4 years of college, 4 years of medical school, and 4 years of PhD, rocket surgeons must complete a 10-year rocket surgery residency.

Assuming they graduated high school at 18 the youngest fully qualified rocket surgeons are about 40 years old?

[Dr B]

15 hours ago, nat said:

 

 

Most rocket surgeons major in some form of engineering in college, only to later earn a PhD in aerospace engineering. After 4 years of college, 4 years of medical school, and 4 years of PhD, rocket surgeons must complete a 10-year rocket surgery residency.

      

Don't forget the 3 year clinical fellowship training and the two 1 year post-doctoral research position requirements after residency!

 

Robert

Edited April 24, 2023 by Dr B (see edit history)

[John348]

11 hours ago, Dr B said:

Don't forget the 3 year clinical fellowship training and the two 1 year post-doctoral research position requirements after residency!

 

Robert

I guess if you dropped out of under grad school it could have an entire different meaning, let alone career path

 

 

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by John348 (see edit history)

[ply33]

5 hours ago, John348 said:

I guess if drop out of under grad school it could have an entire different meaning, let alone career path

 

 

 

I have never seen those photos before. Looks like stills shot on the set for the movie Dr Strangelove. My roommate in college had the entire script to that movie memorized.

[John348]

4 hours ago, ply33 said:

I have never seen those photos before. Looks like stills shot on the set for the movie Dr Strangelove. My roommate in college had the entire script to that movie memorized.

Yes it is

[46 woodie]

Well, it looks like something good is taking place because of this tragedy. I read in one of the N.Y.C. newspapers this morning that six parking garages have been shut down so far by the NYC Building Department.  It's too bad that someone had to die to get the Building Dept. to do their job.

[Leif in Calif]

Different situation here due to earthquakes, but San Francisco requires all buildings 4 stores and above to be inspected by a structural engineer every five years.