Reader Response, Draft #3

In the webpage "Hotel New World Collapse," Kayat (2012) explains the various theories and reasoning behind the collapse of the Hotel New World. There were a few speculations made by the engineers who examined the collapse during the investigations that followed. According to Klimkowski (2005, as cited in Kayat, 2012), a possible act of terrorism, strength of material used or even the composition of the soil might be some of the reasons behind the hotel’s fall. However, these assumptions were eliminated as the engineers evaluated all of these areas and were able to prove that another reason was responsible. Neale (2001, as cited from Kayat, 2012) mentioned that the collapse was due to 'under-designed columns and foundations' as the building’s original engineers excluded the building's weight, which was part of the dead load calculation. The same cited author concluded that overloads, lack of proper maintenance and poor engineering contributed to the collapse.

Although the government stated that there are new regulations to prevent another catastrophic event, these regulations are problematic because of human error and effective enforcement which were relevant to hotel new world

In order to reduce catastrophic events like the collapse of hotel new world, building construction authority (BCA)  has changed their regulations after the collapse to reaffirm the integrity of the building. An example would be the engineer who designed hotel new world, excluded the self-weight of the building which greatly increased the dead load limit for the building, which in turn led to the collapse of the hotel. As stated in Neale(2001, as cited in Kayat, 2012), ‘In fact, the root of the catastrophe was during the design stage. The structural engineer and draftsman neglected the weight of the building, a rudimentary and costly mistake.’ Although the government insists on the need for an accredited checker (AC) to check on the engineer’s calculations, there will still be instances that the AC fails to spot a mistake which might bring potential risks. Human error was an issue to hotel new world as calculations are formulated and checked by humans which explains why it was the main reason for the collapse.

Although the building plans were submitted to the authorities, because of the lack of enforcement, the actual and design building plans deviated. For instance, the collapse of hotel new world. According to Thean, Vijiaratnam, Lee, Broms (1987), ”…as revealed by the investigation on the basement substructure, the construction deviated considerably from the R.C. drawings and that compounded to the inadequacy of the structural design. The reinforcement provided in many structural members were substantially less than what are specified in the R.C. drawings.” This means that even though there were breach of regulations, no action was taken by government's enforcers to counter check during the construction stage of the building and also to ensure the actual and design building plans tally. This shows the lack of enforcement which was supposed to be reinforced during the construction of hotel new world which also resulted in one of the causes of the collapse.

In conclusion, even with the implementation of the new building regulations, fatal incidents still occur at present. This proves the lack of enforcement and also human error which might cause the collapse of a structure or a building.

(545 words)

Reference 
Neale, B. S. (2001, 1 December). Forensic Engineering: The investigation of failures. (p.127-p.130). London: Thomas Telford publishing

Thean, L. P., Vijiaratnam, A., Lee, S. L., & Broms, Bengt B. (1987, 16 February). The Inquiry of The Collapse of The Hotel New World. (p.62-p.62). Singapore: The Singapore National Printers. Retrieved from http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/data2/BookSG/publish/2/2b6b1c5c-8918-433a-a41e-8d2be8451577/web/html5/index.html?opf=tablet/BOOKSG.xml&launchlogo=tablet/BOOKSG_BrandingLogo_.png&pn=81 


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