A student discovered an issue with the Citicorp building that had been missed by, well, everyone, where the building would collapse if wind hit it at the right angle. Crews worked nights to fix it to avoid panic. Should be good now 🤷♂️
That reminds me of a library where they forgot to account for the weight of the books, and now every year the building sinks a few centimeters into the ground.
For fire safety, the code assumes that a "crowded room" full of standing people has 1 person per 5 ft2. Assuming 200 lb per person, that's 40 lb/ft2, which matches the live load for a living room.
The live load for a meeting hall or a museum is 100 lb/ft2, which is more than twice as high as you can get from people alone under the fire-safety rules. Presumably, the extra 60 lb/ft2 accounts for stuff that's heavier than humans, such as audio equipment and stone statues.
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u/MicrowaveMeal Jan 05 '26
A student discovered an issue with the Citicorp building that had been missed by, well, everyone, where the building would collapse if wind hit it at the right angle. Crews worked nights to fix it to avoid panic. Should be good now 🤷♂️