1979 — Aug 13, construction failure/roof collapse, Rosemont Horizon Arena, Chicago, IL–5

–5  Abernethy. “One for the Road…Rosemont Stadium Roof Collapse.” Chicagoist.com. 8-13-2012.

–5  AP. “Stadium Roof Collapses Killing Five Workers.” Daily Gazette, Sterling, IL, 8-13-1979, p3.

–5  Carper and Feld.  Construction Failure. 1997, p. 9.

 

Narrative Information

Abernathy: “On this date in 1979 [Aug 13], the roof of the Rosemont Horizon (which would later become Allstate Arena) collapsed and killing five workers and injuring 16. The wooden roof of the 20,000-seat arena was 90 percent complete when it suddenly collapsed…. an Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation revealed, “The building was in such unstable condition that anything could have set off the collapse. You could have blown on it and knocked it down.”” (Abernethy, Samantha. “One for the Road: The 1979 Rosemont Stadium Roof Collapse.” Chicagoist.com. 8-13-2012.)

 

Feld an Carper: “Failures regularly occur during construction of timber structures due to inadequate connections. On August 14, 1979,[1] the $8 million Rosemont Horizon Arena sports complex…collapsed, killing five workers and injuring 16 others…The collapse brought down the entire roof of the 20,000-seat arena. The roof was framed with 16 glued-laminated arches spanning 88 m (288 ft) and bearing on 17-m (56-ft)-long precast concrete buttresses. The stadium is 116 m (382 ft) long. Wood was selected to diminish the noise from the intense local air traffic…

 

“The 1.85-m (6.1-ft)-deep arches were tied together by 940-mm (3.1-ft)-deep girders interspersed with groups of three purlins. At the connections between arches and girders, an angle iron was connected to the arch with several bolts and to the girder with three. The last arches at the east end were being erected, and the stadium was 90 percent complete when the collapse occurred. Missing bolts were identified as a key factor early in the collapse investigation. The bolts in question were those that should have connected the laminated wood roof arches to the cross girders that ran perpendicular to them…” (Feld and Carper. Construction Failure (Second Edition). NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997, p. 170.

 

Newspaper

 

Aug 13: “Rosemont, Ill. (AP) — The roof of a multipurpose stadium under construction near O’Hare International Airport collapsed today moments after a plane thundered overhead, killing five persons and injuring 15, officials said….” (AP/Arthur H. Rotstein. “Stadium Roof Collapses Killing Five Workers.” The Daily Gazette, Sterling, IL, 8-13-1979, p. 3.)

 

Sources

 

Abernethy, Samantha. “One for the Road: The 1979 Rosemont Stadium Roof Collapse.” Chicagoist.com. 8-13-2012. Accessed 7-21-2017: http://chicagoist.com/2012/08/13/one_for_the_road_82.php

 

Associated Press (Arthur H. Rotstein). “Stadium Roof Collapses Killing Five Workers.” The Daily Gazette, Sterling, IL, 8-13-1979, p. 3. Accessed 7-21-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sterling-daily-gazette-aug-13-1979-p-3/?tag

 

Carper, Kenneth L. and Jacob Feld. Construction Failure.  John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997. Partially digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=-jnlb-oJxcEC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=true

 

Feld, Jacob and Kenneth L. Carper. Construction Failure (Second Edition). NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997. Google digitized. Accessed 7-21-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=-jnlb-oJxcEC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

 

 

[1] Inaccurate — was August 13.