Reader Response, Final draft

On 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 the material used and even the composition of the soil might have been 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, as 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 Singapore government has stated that there are new regulations to prevent another catastrophic event, these regulations might be problematic because of the possibility of human error which might be caused by calculation error and the difficulty of effective enforcement by the Singapore government, which were both relevant to Hotel New World. 

In order to reduce the possibility of catastrophic events like the collapse of Hotel New World, Singapore’s Building Construction Authority (BCA)  has changed their regulations after the collapse to reaffirm the integrity of new buildings. In the past, regulations were not stringent which resulted in the engineer who designed Hotel New World unintentionally excluding the self-weight of the building which greatly increased the dead load limit for the building, in turn, led to the collapse of the hotel. As stated by 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 now insists on the need for an accredited checker (AC) to check on the engineer’s calculations, there might be instances that the AC fails to spot a mistake which might bring potential risks. Human error was also an issue in the past as calculations are formulated and checked by humans, however, with the help of technology, structural calculations are now done by software which will help to prevent human error, and another catastrophe from occurring.

Although the building plans were submitted to the authorities, because of the lack of enforcement, the actual design and design building plans deviated. 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 the inadequacy of the structural design. The reinforcement provided in many structural members were substantially less than what is specified in the R.C. drawings.” This means that even though there was breach of regulations, no action was taken by government's enforcers to countercheck, ensuring that the actual and design building plans tallied. In order to prevent this,, key personnel can submit their plan application at BCA’S website and act after getting approval form BCA, so as to prevent calamitous events from happening.

In conclusion, even with the implementation of the new building regulations, fatal incidents might still occur. However, this issue can be counteracted with innovative technology like a calculation software to check against an engineer’s calculations which will prevent calculation errors from occurring.  The government must be stringent and reinforce regulations that were implemented so as to ensure that regulations will be carried out to ensure the safety and structural integrity of all the projects.

(607 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-8918433aa41e8d2be8451577/web/html5/index.html?opf=tablet/BOOKSG.xml&launchlogo=tablet/BOOKSG_BrandingLogo_.png&pn=81 

 

Raffi A. Kayat, (2012, September). Hotel New World Collapse. Retrieved from Failures Wikispaces: https://failures.wikispaces.com/Hotel+New+World+Collapse



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