A Case Study : Structure Collapse

A CASE STUDY : STRUCTURE COLLAPSE Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium Roof Collapse, Terengganu Aida Fahness Mustaffa1, Asmizi Ahmad Mohamed2, Amirul Amin Suhaimi3 Faculty of Electrical Engineering Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTMSPACE),

, ABSTRACT

This paper presents the case study on the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin stadium roof collapse tragedy. The building collapsed on 2nd June 2009 and second collapsed again on 23th February 2013 while on going reconstruction work. An investigation was conducted to determine the main cause of this tragedy and there were several speculations made on the cause of the collapse such as inadequate design, poor quality control and inappropriate materials. The analysis shows that this case may be due to unwanted mistakes or negligence of the foreign contractor in carrying out their duties. Several actions were taken consistent with the moral theories and codes of ethics. This study provides a profile of major work safety accidents in Malaysia, There have been many major incidents over the years, causing the loss of hundreds of lives. Keywords: Structure Safety, Construction Building Safety, Speculations, Ethical theories. INTRODUCTION Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium located in Gong Badak, Terengganu is the largest stadium in the East Coast region of Peninsular Malaysia, it was built to replace the Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium as the state's main stadium. The construction of this stadium cost RM 270 million. It was officiated by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin on 10 May 2008. This stadium is a landmark of Terengganu and a venue for several major sporting events. Inauguration by His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Wathiqu Billah Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Ibni Almarhum Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah Shah on 10 May 2008. The stadium is considered the most advanced on the east coast and can accommodate up to 50,000 people at a time. Construction of the State Sports Complex was started in 2005 at a total cost of RM452 million, slightly lower than the original cost due to the increase in the price of building materials. The cost includes the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium which was built at a price of RM292 million while the indoor stadium is RM160 million with various sports and recreational facilities. The first major use is for the 12th edition of Sukma Games, Sukma Games 2008.

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Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium from top view in 2008

As a national pride, the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Gong Badak, suffered a major blow when its roof collapsed, just a year after it opened. No one was injured in the incident at 9am, when the massive steel roof of more than 70% stood collapsed, completely destroyed. There were no people inside, but the failure could easily endanger many people due to the large capacity of the stadium, so that only a few cars parked outside were destroyed, but the stadium, which was the venue for the Malaysian Sukma Games, last year was declared unsafe. The roof on the left wing of the stadium collapsed after the metal frame structure supporting the 300m long roof was unstable, causing it to fold. The affected zones are the main entrances, government podiums and public seats. The main use of the stadium is to host state football matches in the Malaysian Super League. Four years after the collapse, the fallen roof was released and workers dismantled the roof that did not fall. While they were working on February 20, 2013, another roof collapsed this time injuring five workers. Workers have demolished almost all of the roofs and are working to demolish the steel roof frame structure. Finally in mid-2015 the stadium roof was removed and the stadium reopened for football matches with only half of the open space for seating. The game can also only be played during the day as the stadium lights are installed on the roof. The government hopes to redesign and build the roof to bring the stadium back to the standards they had hoped for when completed.

More than half roof collapsed 2

DESCRIPTION OF LITERATURE A. Speculations This circumstance has been thought of being out of the standard because the engineers study the leftover rubble and therefore the speed of the collapse. This leads to three speculations which are: I. Inadequate design II. Poor quality control III. Inappropriate materials The first speculation for the collapse of building is suspected to be due to the design fault. The design and construction of the building had been on a particularly fast passed schedule to insure the stadium was ready for the 2008 Sukma Games. The roof structure design was also changed to the solar frame steel structure very late within the design meaning the time spent designing it was questionable at best. This lattice shell structure is extremely sensitive to movement of the supports. Any movement of the supports will cause redistribution of forces within the entire structure. Prior to the collapse problems with the structure of the roof had already begun. Damage in the frames of the roof along with bang like noises coming from the roof had been observed. Ironically repairs for the roof were actually scheduled for the exact day during which the roof subside.

The second speculation is that the poor quality control of the building caused the roof to fail suddenly and collapse. Therefore, engineers evaluate this phenomenon has occurred because less mixed concrete causes a decrease in strength or due to cracks collapse thus causing the softness of the concrete. Could it be that the two concrete buffers at both ends of the roof beams and all the perimeter poles provide the necessary rigidity? The collapse begins at a distance of almost 100 feet from the edge of the stadium to the concrete cliff that holds the end of the crescent shape. This caused the support installed on the outside of the stadium to fail, resulting in the entire roof half falling and covering the entire seating area below. The collapse of the roof not only damaged the seats but also the main entrance to the stadium and the VVIP box. To determine the exact cause, fragment samples must be brought to the laboratory for consistency and strength tests. After that, the third hypothesis made by engineers is that the main problem in the selection of raw materials used is inappropriate, in addition to the inefficiency of the staff involved in construction and the roof is poorly built. The skills of the staff hired to build the roof are not enough because the roof structure is very complex. After that, the quality of work does not reach the standard as required by the design.

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The effect view after the collapse

B. Actual Reasons Behind The Tragedy

Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium is designed to have two shell-like roofs supported by concrete supporters and space columns. The steel columns attached to the concrete stumps support the space truss along the current roof at both ends, the concrete support on each of which is implemented. Between the ends of the steel poles and the supports there is a wide gap spanning more than 30 meters. The truss consists of a tube and a steel ball connection. Prior to the fall, they reported structural damage and sporadic blows. Structural repair work is scheduled to be carried out on the day of the collapse. A year after the inauguration ceremony, the roof collapsed on a normal Malaysian weather day (hot and humid with a temperature of around 28 Celsius). About 70% of the roof including the top of the VVIP box collapsed. According to State Infrastructure Development and Public Utilities Committee said that the proposed method of work provided by the contractor to open roof frames in the center was not accurate. The loss thanks to the roof collapse are going to be fully borne by the contractor and consequently there’ll be no incidence of such incidents will cause the value increase for the project to recover the damage. They said again that the 137-meter long skeleton collapsed where two-thirds of the whole roof structure that was wanted at that point. In addition, the long gap between the final concrete stump and the 30-meter wide concrete support. There is not enough support for great strength from its own weight. In addition, bends occur on inclined limbs (tubes), a sign of load exceeding the bending capacity. The pulling of threaded screws from the steel ball connection can also be seen after the incident. This means that they have been burdened beyond their means to the point of failure. The intricate and extensive roof design requires more detailed analysis. Other factors contributing to the stated damage are poor classification of steel components indicating poor workmanship and the strength of the material used does not meet the design requirements when tested at the initial test thus reducing the mechanical strength of the structure. Roofs are also badly erected causing horrible geometry and thus, the distribution of catastrophic forces along the structure. Non-technical reasons include a lack of quality control and safety measures by the project management team which resulted in unknown errors at an early stage.

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Redistribution condition of space trusses

ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The lesson to be learned from this event is to never underestimate something unusual that is observed at random, as it can be a clue that leads to a very serious problem statement. Cracks are observed in different columns. This is because the column has been stressed to its maximum and this failure actually indicates an error in the planning phase. If unusual cracks are reported to the relevant officer before, a thorough investigation will result in the discovery of a planning error. i. ii. iii. iv. v.

vi.

Inadequate design, insufficient safety measures in design. Designers fail to take full consideration of roof structure support conditions. The roof is badly erected resulting in inconsistent geometry. There are no quality controls for on-site safety measures. Also Material and manufacturing quality do not meet the specifications. The complexity and longevity of the roof structure requires more detailed design considerations into the second sequence design analysis, which is not done. Sensitivity of spatial frame roof structure requires consideration for support flexibility in design mode, which is not done.

Defective welding on steel components, which reflects the quality of manufacture or prefabrication work, erection methods are poorly understood in installing roof structural components, and no inspection is performed during the temporary stage in erection. Inadequate temporary support is used. There is no clear quality control by the project management team. Alternative design proposals prepared by major contractors are accepted without integrated 5

inspection. Preliminary tests of the materials used show strengths under design requirements, do not meet specifications. The above factors have contributed significantly to the collapse resulting in a reduction in structural safety factors - which are far below the required norms of the design. Therefore, it can be observed that the inspection and quality control system is not well planned and implemented, not only in the work location but also in the planning and planning office by the management team. There are so many small factors that engineers cannot do that cause accidents. It seems that engineers have no responsibility and are not vigilant about safety laws and regulations. The method to help analyse and determine the project to be continued is risk benefit analysis. This method can summarize that the only ethical way is to implement the risks by sharing the benefits between the engineer and the community. Based on the planning for safety, the risk can be reduced more easily. The risk can be reduced if the engineer spends more time reviewing the design cycle before selling it. This is because to ensure that the merchandise is safe to use last, the merchandise is not necessarily 100% safe, but engineers must design the merchandise more effectively and comply with ethical laws as guidelines.

MEASUREMENT TAKEN A consulting engineer was tried in the Sessions Court for the roof collapsing at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Gong Badak on June 2, 2009. He was certified the most and work related to the proposal to build the most stadiums, referred to as the Terengganu Sports Complex. He is considered to have signed and submitted the document to the director of the State Structure Department (JKR) which is also the same as cheating the State Secretary when he believes that he is an approved examiner. The offense was allegedly committed between 15th January and 29th March 2009 at the JKR Terengganu office. The charge under Section 419 of the legal code carries a maximum jail term of seven years or a fine, or both, if convicted. An investigation committee set up by the Public Works Department to explain the downfall of the RM292 million stadium outlined several important factors during the 60-page confidential report submitted to the government one year after the incident. Among the factors mentioned were serious engineering weaknesses, poor workmanship, low materials and lack of experience in key project management teams. It also states that the project management team does not have the skills and competencies needed to manage the project and its complexity. The committee also ruled that the biggest explanation for the collapse was, among other things, the wrong design with the failure to require consideration of the supporting conditions of the roof structure. The committee also noted that the management team did not conduct the design analysis, noting that the complex architectural forms and enormous span make the structure very sensitive to any movement in the supporting structure. In 2009, Dato’ S. Subramaniam, the then Minister of Human Resources, pledged to amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 1994 to " ensure that professionals will be skilled and responsible in matters of safety requirements. is responsible for monitoring the method, so if anything goes wrong, the law will allow us to demand action, '' he said. 6

CODE OF CONDUCT The code of ethics that can be applied in this case is utilitarianism, duty ethics, and well-being ethics. Utilitarianism means that engineering companies should use quality materials and monitor the work of their employees. They cannot think of profit alone without thinking of the possible bad effects in the future. Work ethic means those responsible should take immediate action when they become aware of the problem. However, they closed their eyes and acted as if nothing had happened. Wellness ethics means that engineers should show good character and not bad character other than that they should follow all the rules and use of specifications in the project without ignoring any of them to prevent something bad from happening and which must ensure each specification has been set by responsible should be adhered to because there must be a good reason behind everything. Based on the investigation, two codes from the professional code of the Malaysian Engineering Board (BEM) that can be used in this tragedy are as follows: a) Code 5.0: Registered Engineers shall treat themselves with respect, responsibility, legally and ethics to enhance the honour, reputation and usefulness of the profession. b) Code 5.3: Registered engineers must carefully check previous facts and data he signs or endorses any statement or claim. He may not sign the document unless, where necessary, qualifications of errors and inaccuracies have been made. From the mistakes made, the engineers in Malaysia responsible for the construction of the building have violated the code of ethics BEM 5.0 and 5.3 which resulted in the collapse of the building and many deaths. Engineers should carefully review the final plan, calculations and other details before approving the plan to avoid unwanted tragedies. An investigation into the collapse of the roof of the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium was carried out after the collapse by the Malaysian government. The report was completed in December 2009 but has not yet been released to the public and to obtain a copy, it requires a large sum of money to be purchased from the government. As long as the complete report is not announced, the integrity of the person managing the project is highly questionable. It was as if they wanted to avoid blaming and quietly going out. This is in stark contrast to how most building failure investigations are conducted in the United States. In America, this report will be disseminated to the public so that the engineering and construction community can learn from the mistakes made. This along with other issues on how this stadium was originally built shows the existence of corruption in government. Fortunately there is a summary of the available reports as an alternative. Because of the failure, ten independent investigators from government agencies and professional bodies appointed by the Public Works Department (JKR) have conducted investigations. For the cause of failure briefly everything from design to construction is done incorrectly. Failure in every aspect of the building also raises questions about the owners who are also the government and their motivation when starting the project. Even after eight months of waiting for the report and full investigation, the report issued is incomplete. It also does not show who or which party should be responsible for the destruction of the stadium. With a project of this size, it is unlikely that anyone will be held accountable. Worse, the party that is 7

not even responsible for the failure is judged by the guilty person. Therefore, it is important that every time there is an accident or incident, the party responsible for the incident should be blamed. This will keep people calm and moving forward with more important actions and will not stop blaming events.

SUMMARY After many investigations, the government concluded that the collapse was due to miscalculation of the building load. Since its construction, the pillars have been completely depressed and there is only time left for the building to collapse. The issue of concern is why so many incidents occur with security problems in the construction industry. This reported incident has questioned the construction safety problem which must be seriously scrutinized by the relevant parties for the safety of the public. The saddest part of this collapse is that it is completely preventable. There is no crazy weather phenomenon causing this is merely a case of failure and the whole from design to construction. Many causes of failure can be eliminated if engineers and employees adhere to ethical guidelines and prioritize public safety over the interests of individuals. More design proposals should be considered and determined whether to suit the capabilities of the firm building its structure or not. They also cannot do the incompetent part and hand it over to a specialized company. The project should be stopped and changes should be made as soon as any signs of weakness are observed during the project. As a legitimate contractor should also use appropriate materials instead of those that do not meet the design requirements. An engineer cannot violate a code of ethics, where they need to understand the serious consequences that can be caused by a violation of that code. Instead, they should remain steadfast in their beliefs and ensure that every action or decision they make is ethically acceptable while considering the well-being of those affected. Finally, quality inspections should be performed from time to time to ensure standards are complied with.

CONCLUSION In conclusion, where the understanding of this case is achieved from the context, this case study has achieved its target. The causes of disasters, consequences and actions taken are also outlined and discussions are held on the code of ethics, the position and obligations of the parties, as well as the code of ethics.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to thanks the lecturer of Professional Engineering Practise Ir Dr Mohd Ridzuan bin Ahmad and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTMSPACE) for the all support.

REFERENCES [1] https://www.thestar.com.my/sport/other-sport/2008/05/11/terengganu-opens-eastcoasts-largest-stadium [2] https://www.theborneopost.com/2013/02/21/sultan-mizan-stadium-roof-collapse-forsecond-time-three-seriously-injured/ [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultan_Mizan_Zainal_Abidin_Stadium [4] https://www.astroawani.com/berita-sukan/terengganu-stadium-to-undergo-rm26-

million-repair-46227 [5] https://ktsadium.wordpress.com/

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