Description:

Kansas City Hyatt Walkway Collapse: Reflections after 40 Years

Abstract

On July 17, 1981, the second and fourth-level walkways through the lobby of the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel collapsed during a tea dance, killing 113. Gary Klein(Corporate) will review the events surrounding the collapse, describe the ensuing investigations by WJE and the National Bureau of Standards, and discuss the impact of this tragic event on the industry.

Bio

Gary Klein is a Senior Principal and Executive Vice President of Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates (WJE) in Northbrook Illinois. For almost 40 years, Mr. Klein has studied and delivered solutions for buildings and bridges suffering from deterioration, distress or failure.  He has investigated numerous structural collapses including the 1981 collapse of the sky walks in the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel, the 1996 collapse of the KB Bridge in the Republic of Palau, and the 2018 collapse of the Florida International University pedestrian Bridge.  

Mr. Klein received his BS and MS degrees in civil engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Mr. Klein is an honorary member of the American Concrete Since. 1995, Mr. Klein has been a member of the American Concrete Institute building code committee.  

Mr. Klein has authored more than 40 papers related to his structural investigation practice and research work, and has received numerous awards. In 2016, Mr. Klein was elected to the National Academy of Engineering “for investigations of national and international infrastructure and conveying knowledge from these investigations to the profession.”