Skip to content

Ask an Academic

  • Home
  • Ask a Question
  • Contact Us
High rise building construction

The Failure of the Ronan Point Tower Block

September 20, 2019 by AskanAcademic.com

This answer discusses the failure of the Ronan Point tower block, highlighting the issues in construction and building regulations.

Question

What caused the failure of the Ronan Point tower block?

Answer

In 1968 the entire south-east corner of Ronan Point in Newham, East London, collapsed, after a resident, Ivy Hodge, struck a match in her kitchen on the 18th floor, causing a gas explosion. The building, a 22-storey tower block, had been constructed using a Large Panel System. In this system pre-fabricated concrete sections were completed off-site and then built up on-site with use of a crane and bolted together. The explosion caused the load-bearing walls of Hodge’s flat to be blown out, leaving the floors above unsupported, leading to their collapse. Due to weaknesses in the connections between vertical walls and floor slabs in the floors below, this sudden load lead to the progressive collapse of all the flats below Hodge, on this side of the building. Four of the residents were killed instantly, and a further seventeen were injured in the collapse.

An enquiry found that, while the building complied with regulations at the time, the walls could not withstand pressures from small explosions, and could not have held up against unusually high wind speeds or bowing caused by fire. As such building regulations were updated and the building was partially rebuilt using strengthened joints.

Some architects involved in the enquiry, however, were not satisfied that the building was safe, due to a number of other issues with the quality of construction itself. There were a number of unfilled gaps between floors and walls, leaving the building without fire separation, to prevent fires from lower floors spreading upwards. Also the connections between floors were found to be insufficient, with all the force transferred through steel rods, rather than spread evenly across the surfaces, resulting in areas of high stress.

The building was eventually evacuated and demolished in 1986, in a forensic manner, so that the extent of the construction issues could be fully assessed. A number of cracks were found in the concrete in lower levels and it was alleged that particularly high winds would have led to the building’s total collapse.

References

Post navigation

Previous Post:

The Clash of Civilisations

Next Post:

Separation of Powers and The Rule of Law

Search Q&As

Categories

  • Art Media and Literature (74)
  • Business and Management (256)
  • Computing and ICT (14)
  • Construction and Engineering (35)
  • Education (90)
  • Environmental Sciences (2)
  • Finance and Economics (91)
  • Health (64)
  • Languages (12)
  • Law (88)
  • Mathematics and Statistics (2)
  • Medical Sciences (19)
  • Politics and International Relations (83)
  • Research Methodology (1)
  • Science (49)
  • Social Sciences (101)

Archives

Who We Are

Askanacademic.com is owned and operated by All Answers Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales. Company Registration No: 4964706. VAT Registration No: 842417633. Data Controller No: Z1821391.

Registered office:
Venture House
Cross Street
Arnold
Nottingham
NG5 7PJ

Main Navigation

  • Home
  • Ask a Question
  • Contact Us

Legals

  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy

Popular Categories

  • Business and Management
  • Law
  • Finance and Economics
  • Health
An an Academic Logo
© 2023 Ask an Academic | WordPress Theme by Superb Themes
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Reject
Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT