A couple of years ago, I was contacted by a local motel owner who needed a structural engineer. One of his buildings had been condemned, and he needed a structural engineer to evaluate it and make recommendations on how to fix the problems.
When I first saw the building, my first advice was that he should rip it down and start from scratch. It was a two story, and the second floor deck was concrete and was in imminent danger of collapse. Since the deck supported the roof, the roof was also in danger. The wood columns holding up the balcony were old and rotted and warped, and couldn’t hold up the weight. As the owner wanted to salvage the property, I came up with an appropriate design.
I replaced the concrete deck with a wooden one to lighten the load. I also added additional columns between the existing ones for redundancy and strength. Finally, I added a buttress directly from the ground to the roof and firewall so that if the structural integrity of the second floor happened to be compromised, the building would not fall.
Along the way, the owner, in an attempt to save a few dollars, requested that I “tone down” the design, and I refused. I repeatedly told him that as the engineer it falls on me if the structure falls, and I will not ever compromise safety to save a few pennies. Having received my engineering education in Missouri, the lessons of the Hyatt Regency were pounded into my head (as well as the heads of every other structural engineer in the state). My reluctance to budge might have been a bit prophetic, as the building caught fire Sunday night, thanks to a clandestine meth lab in one of the first floor rooms.
(Photo by TULSA WORLD)
As you can see from the photo, my conservatism has been vindicated, as the structure is still standing. Was the fire a disaster for my former client? Absolutely. Could it have been worse? Absolutely? Imagine what would have happened if he hadn’t hired an honest and ethical structural engineer, and shortcuts had been taken that compromised strength to save a few dollars. Imagine the catastrophe if the building had collapsed with others still in it.
For twenty years, I have tried in vain to convince people that it is better to spend a few thousand dollars more to hire a professional structural engineer up front and do it right than to be cheap and not hire one. The results of trying to save a few dollars could be fatal.
