An architect’s job is very responsible. He is responsible not only for the beauty and appearance of the future building, but also for its reliability, safety of residents and visitors. It happens that the mistakes of an architect lead to tragedies. Our advice site has selected known cases where miscalculations have caused disasters.
This is the Knickerbocker cinema. The building, located in Washington, was only five years old when, in 1922, its roof could not withstand a thick layer of snow. The collapse of the roof led to the death of 98 people! Yes, January 1922 turned out to be very snowy in Washington, the blizzard did not stop for several days, but the architects should have foreseen the peculiarities of the region’s climate.
A dam on the Teton River in Idaho, USA, burst due to a construction error. The result is the death of 11 people and two billion losses. During the investigation, it turned out that the authors of the project did not take into account the peculiarities of the local soil, cracks appeared and as a result, the dam burst.
On the site of the Sampoong department store in the capital of South Korea, Seoul, it was planned to build a residential building. However, in the end, the project was changed and a department store was built. In order to accommodate the escalators, individual support columns of the building were removed, which was a tragic mistake. In addition, the load on the supports was increased after the completion of the fifth floor for restaurants. Moreover, the builders warned the customer! But he just changed the contractor. As a result, in 1995 the department store, which had stood for 5 years, collapsed. 502 people were killed, over 1.5 thousand visitors and employees were injured. The executives of the contracting company received prison terms, and their property was confiscated in order to pay compensation to the victims.
In 1981, in Kansas City, USA, the hanging galleries that adorn the Hyatt Regency hotel collapsed. 114 people died, over 200 were injured. At that time, a music party was being held at the hotel, the galleries could not withstand the load. As the investigation showed, serious errors were made in calculating the permissible load on these structures. The total amount of compensation payments in this case has reached $ 140 million.
This is Shanghai, where in 2009 a 13-storey residential building just fell. He was part of the Lotus Riverside complex under construction. Fortunately, the house was not settled in time, so only one worker died. The investigation found that the foundation was built from poor quality materials and was washed away by water. The management of the construction company was sentenced to life in prison. The court considered that the consequences of the disaster after settling in the house would be much more tragic.
The collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Savar, Bangladesh killed 1,127 people! It happened in 2013. The 8-storey building housed a bank, sewing factories, and many shops. People noticed that cracks began to appear on the walls, but did not have time to evacuate. During the investigation, violations of building standards were revealed, 17 people appeared before the court, including the mayor of Savar, factory managers and engineers..
In Jerusalem, the tragedy happened in May 2001. Unable to bear the weight of the guests who had gathered to celebrate the wedding, the floor in the ceremonial hall “Versailles” collapsed. The disaster claimed the lives of 23 people, suffered 380.
The Quebec Bridge is considered one of the most beautiful and longest among the cantilevers. It still stands now, but in its history it collapsed twice – in 1907 and 1916. The first time, 75 builders died, the second time – 13 people. As a result, the Quebec Bridge over the St. Lawrence River was opened only in 1919, although construction was planned from the middle of the 19th century..
Such tragedies due to architectural and construction mistakes have not spared Russia. On Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2004, the roof of the Transvaal Park water park fell. At that time, it was the largest Russian water park, it was located in Yasenevo (Moscow region). 28 people died, including 8 children. The dome of the water park was built of thin-walled concrete and could not withstand the severity of the snow cover. The designer and head of Mosgorexpertiza were accused of the tragedy. A chapel was erected on the site of the collapsed building.
In 2006, the roof of the Basmanny market collapsed in Moscow. Some of the reinforced concrete structures also collapsed. 68 people became victims of the tragedy, including citizens of Tajikistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. 39 people were injured. As the investigation showed, the cables-cables, which supported the roof of the market, were broken. The reason for this was the unplanned reconstruction of the building and the corrosion of metal parts. In 2007, the Basmanny Market was completely demolished.
+18 – profanity
+18 – profanity
What are some examples of the most tragic mistakes made by architects that have had significant consequences on a building or structure?
What are some of the most heartbreaking mistakes that architects make, and how can they be prevented or rectified?