Essay Example on Ethical Aspect Financial and duration are two of the main factors for all the construction project

Ethical Aspect Financial and duration are two of the main factors for all the construction project Even though structural analysis software state of the art is not commonly used during that time Hartford Civic Centre designers and engineers proposed to use this in the city of Hartford as they claimed that it will reduce time during the design process and save money nearly half a million dollars The city of Hartford decided to go ahead with this even though there are still no experts in this field Designers fully relied on the software analysis for the safety and security check of the Hartford Civic Centre During construction excessive deflection was brought to the attention of the design engineer s a couple of times However nothing has been done about it and the engineers were confident in their design so they ignored all the warnings that occurred during the construction plus the computer analysis also confirmed and gave the engineers a reason to be even more confident in their design Engineers should pay close attention to any unexpected deformations and should investigate all causes Unexpected deformations provide an important initial signal that the structure behaviour is different than the design or what has been expected from the engineers and designers 

All the deformations like deflection or cracking in a structure normally indicates the structural deficiencies and the investigation and repair should be carried out immediately as it can increase and extend to the whole structure failing 1 4 2 Technical Aspect Throughout the Hartford Civic Centre construction project the engineers fully depended on the computer analysis software to assess the safety of their design It would make sense if they double checked all of the calculations by hand or sat down and went through all of the design calculations together as a team to avoid any miscalculations or underestimation of the loading Using computer systems and relying on the result from it can give an engineer a false sense of accuracy and security As the load of the snow from the snowstorm that occurred the night before and on the day of the collapse is higher than the estimated variable action the total load causing the roof to collapse is still less than half of the total design loads This shows that the cause of why the roof collapsed is not just because of the loading from the snow but also from other contributing factors causing the roof to collapse 

The main investigator LZA found that the computer systems used by structure engineers only included the top and bottom chords and the main diagonals Where the roof loads are not designed to be applied across all of the roof members but it only applied at the top chord main panel points As the intersection point of the horizontal and diagonal member is not at the same point this will weaken the buckling capacity If the intersection point is at the same point this will massively increase the buckling capacity in all these members From the investigation on this failure LZA concluded that the space frame trusses and frames is a good safe and valid structural systems However the roof failure can be caused by some incorrect construction work 1 4 3 Construction Procedures Aspect The Hartford Civic Centre project contract was divided into five subcontractors coordinated by a construction manager Due to this it allowed for mistakes to slip through and miscommunication to occur throughout this process As the contract has been divided into five different subcontractors there will be confusion over who was responsible for the entire project 

The architect recommended to have a qualified structural engineer on site during the construction process as they had an overall insight of the project but the construction manager did not want to hire a structural engineer as this is an additional expense to the project He decided to inspect the project himself although he is not qualified to carry out this task This failure would not of occurred if the qualified structural engineer had been hired because they will of noticed errors like bowing deflection of the member and the pool joints support The construction manager had set himself up to take full responsibility if the project failed which when it did he denied all responsibility Due to the result of this failure it shows the importance of having a structural engineer present especially along with the designer to help perform the field inspection As the designer understands the structure as from when it is being built they will notice any warning signs or deformation of the structure The LZA investigation report showed that the quality control had been poor The department of licences and inspection of the city of Hartford did not require the project peer review as it is normally required for projects of this size in present day If this was required during that time period the designed deficiencies responsible for the arena s collapse probably would have been discovered The peer review is essential and useful for safety measures for high occupancy buildings and structures experimenting with new design techniques From this disaster it changed the process and inspection for this type of construction in Connecticut This is one of the few states that changed to require a peer review of a certain building