The Hotel New World Collapse

case study on forensic investigation of The Hotel New World Collapse

1. The Hotel New World Collapse ( March 15, 1986)  Presented by PARVATHY SUNIL A ROLL NO. 4 M.Tech SE 1

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3. A six story building located in Singapore, housed multiple local institutions and establishments such as offices, a branch bank, and a nightclub On March 15, 1986, the Hotel New World collapsed in less than 60 seconds at approximately 11:30 am The result was the entrapmentt of fifty people, seventeen of whom were eventually rescued, and thirty-three who were killed INTRODUCTION 3

4. After the Hotel New World collapsed, building codes and standards were improved throughout Singapore as well as the implementation of engineering ethics INTRODUCTION 4

5. It had thirty six reinforced concrete columns that supported six concrete floors, totalling a weight of 6,000 tons A parking lot was composed of the underground while a bank branch took up most of the ground floor The next floor was a popular nightclub The remaining floors were occupied by a budget hotel named The Hotel New World HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION 5

6. All the mechanical equipment such as water tanks and air conditioning units, which were used to cool off the building in the hot climate, resided on the roof. The total height came to be twenty four meters The building experienced no severe impact or structural damage during its lifetime. In 1975 however, there was a gas leak in the building that poisoned thirty-five people HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION 6

7. March 14th At 7pm, the hostess of the nightclub hears a noise and witnesses a crack in one of the columns while setting up for the evening March 15th At 10:10 am, another crack was heard which resulted in falling debris DAY OF COLLAPSE 7

8. At 10:45 am, the receptionist heard a “loud bang” from somewhere in the building At 11:10 am, a passerby claimed to have felt an earthquake and the receptionist heard another loud noise At 11:21 am, one the workers attending to the cracked column saw debris falling from the ceiling to the ground DAY OF COLLAPSE 8

9. At 11:26 am, the whole building started to vibrate and shake as it was on the verge of collapsing In less than one minute, one of the tallest buildings in Singapore transformed into rubble and dust DAY OF COLLAPSE 9

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11. First, many engineers who examined the rubble and the speed of the collapse led to the belief that an internal explosion caused by a bomb or terrorist attack was responsible for the collapse As investigations progressed, no evidence of an explosion was found FORENSIC STUDY 11

12. Secondly, Samples were brought into labs for strength and consistency testing The concrete met all of the international safety standards, concluding that the strength of the material was not the problem FORENSIC STUDY 12

13. Third, They examined the land under the building and realized that it was not an issue and there was no failure in the foundation Then the investigators referred back to the plans and realized that each failure corresponded to different columns; they failed because they were stressed to their limit This was proven by examining the concrete on the microscopic level FORENSIC STUDY 13

14. When the concrete is stressed to the limit, tiny cracks also known as micro-cracks invisible to the naked eye in the particles are developed Such cracks reduced the weight that is supported by the piers and initiated a progressive collapse FORENSIC STUDY 14

15. The investigators found heavy equipment in the rubble that was not in the original design plans During its fifteen years of life span, the owner of the building had added extra weight FORENSIC STUDY 15

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17. However, all this extra weight that was added to the structure fell under the live load category and was already accounted for Found that the extra weight added to the building is not the proper reason for failure FORENSIC STUDY 17

18. Finally, the engineers returned to their blue prints and calculations and realized that the building’s dead load was not accounted for in the original design FORENSIC STUDY 18

19. After heavy examination and study of the collapse, it was clear that the collapse of the New World Hotel was not caused by an explosion, nor by improper construction, material deficiency, swamp land or by the live load added to the building by the owner The building failed because the engineers did not account for the building’s weight or dead load during the design phase CONCLUSION 19

20. This monumental mistake meant that the building was on the verge of collapse ever since it was built The building's columns were stressed to their limit since their construction and the collapse was a matter of time Also, the substantial loads added to the building that caused an overload to the poorly constructed structure contributed to the collapse, as well as the lack of proper maintenance and engineering CONCLUSION 20

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