Tropicana Casino Garage Collapse Investigation

Guy Nordenson and Associates provided forensic engineering services in a litigation related to the 2003 collapse of the 10-story concrete Tropicana Casino Garage, which killed four construction workers. To assess code compliance, GNA reviewed the structure’s design documents, evaluated construction administration documents and correspondence relevant to the collapse region, and performed detailed structural analysis of the reinforced concrete elements responsible for the structural failure. GNA also studied the behavior of the structure prior to failure with nonlinear inelastic equivalent frame “pushdown” analyses (similar to a lateral “pushover” analysis, with plastic hinges representing regions of ductile response). Using software developed by Dr Anthony Ingraffea, a fracture expert at Cornell University, GNA analyzed the brittle punching shear failure of the under-reinforced concrete beam-to-column joint with linear elastic fracture mechanics in a two-dimension finite element analysis.