Construction of the Empire State Building
Course Project

7/28/2012
By: Amanda Barnard
For Professor Davy

Table of Contents
I. Introdcution……………………………………………………………………………….. 2
II. Fault Tree One……………………………………………………………………………. 3
III. Discussion of Fault Tree One……………………………………………………… 3-5
IV. Fault Tree Two………………………………………………………………………….. 5
V. Discussion of Fault Tree Two……………………………………………………… 6-7
VI. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………. 7 I. Introduction

The Empire State Building (ESB) was one of the tallest buildings of its time. John Jacob Raskob was the president of GM in the 1020’s and enjoyed being the leading capitalist of America. After he was forced to resign in 1929, he sold all his stock and decided to buy a piece of property to do something that the world has never seen before (CBS Team, 2004). That was to make the biggest building in the world. Raskob hired the company Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon to design the building that he envisioned.
During the planning of the ESB, Raskob became aware of the structure that Walter Chrysler was building (the Chrysler Building). Chrysler also wanted to build the tallest building ever made and he kept the final height a secret in order to do so. Raskob’s team had designed a building originally at 80 stories high. Not knowing what height they had to overcome, they continued to develop their plan (CBS Team, 2004).
On January 22nd, 1930, construction began for this skyscraper. Scheduled to be completed by May 1, 1931, the ESB was finished 45 days earlier than their deadline. They also completed the building with a total cost of $40,948,900, which put it under budget. The budget for the building was $50 million (CBS Team, 2004).
Costing the lives of 5 people, this $41 million skyscraper that stands 102 stories high (not including the needle) became the highest one in the world ("Wonder of the," 2001). The ESB also stayed the tallest building in the world until the World Trade Centers were built in New York in 1972 (“Wonder of the,” 2001).
II. Fault Tree One

III. Discussion of Fault Tree One
Looking at fault tree number one, it becomes clear that in the case of the Empire State Building collapsing can be caused by numerous items. Keep in mind the fault trees are designed to be looked at before any project is implemented. The Empire state building is made up of a steel frame and steel and concrete floors (Willis & Friedman, 1998). Most of the steel frame parts were assembled at the plants and delivered to the site where they could simply be put in place (Willis & Friedman, 1998). This allowed for faster construction of the Empire State Building. These steel frames had to carry the weight of the building as the number of floors had increased, as well as occupants’ weight and the power from the blowing wind (Willis & Friedman, 1998).
Some things that could have led to the collapsing of the ESB would be any type of damages to the outside walls or columns. This could be done from wind storms, fire, or airplane crashes. In facts July 28, 1945 a B-25 Mitchell bomber had crashed into the 79th floor on the north side of the ESB (Kingwell, 2006). (Perez, 2012)

If the materials and structure of the floors concrete slabs were incompetent, it would have done much more damage than it had and cause the ESB to collapse rather than being contained to just one floor with no impact on the stability of the building. The floors themselves are comprised of 4 inch thick concrete slabs that are 7 feet between each steel beam (Willis & Friedman, 1998). This proved to be a stable technique considering its withstanding the crash of 1945.
Another concern that could have led to the collapse of the ESB would have been fires and failure of sprinklers or fire alarm systems. Since steel and concrete do not burn, they are a safer choice of material to use while building skyscrapers such as the ESB. However, they may not burn but as the fire continues, the material will weaken. It is important to have a functioning fire alarm system with a working sprinkler system as well. If the fire burns too long and the sprinklers run out of water, the building floors may start to fracture and weaken, leading to a collapse.
If and when floors begin to develop these fractures be it from the stress from the gravity pulling down on them or the fires that occur, they will weaken floors of the ESB. When these floors become weakened, they will be more apt to collapse on floors beneath them. Between the gravity of the building and the force of a collapsing floor, it may cause a ripple effect to underlying floors and eventual collapse of the monumental ESB.
IV. Fault Tree Two

V. Discussion of Fault Tree Two
By looking at the previous diagram, one can see that in that fault tree, the closure of the Empire State Building can be caused from things such as safety violations or even material violations. First we will look at the safety violations. These violations can stem from many things such as lack of safety protection to be worn by workers, lack of safety rails on the building, improper use of safety equipment, and even nature’s risk. Referring to nature’s risk, this means things such as snow, rain, winds, hails, and the like. Being that these workers worked every day, even Sunday, until the building was constructed, it was imperative that they were prepared both physically with the proper equipment and clothing as well as mentally by getting enough sleep and eating well to keep their strength. As shown below in the photographs, these workers were high in the sky with their safety fall protection worn. http://kaidi-thinctank.blogspot.com/2008/09/empire-state-building-worker-1950.html; (Perez, 2012)

If they fail to wear their protective gear or follow the safety rules, then the building could possibly close. While the builders were building up on the outside, the electricians and such were working on the inside to get it done as they were building. This saved an abundance of time. Now if people were to not follow the safety guidelines the building would close meaning it would have set back the development for unknown periods of time both inside and out. It would stop all work from being able to be completed (Tauranac, 1995).
Though safety could have led to lack of work and the overall closing down of the ESB, it was not the only thing. Looking back at the fault tree a few pages back, failed or missed inspections could have caused a close down as well. One example is the elevators that are in the building. During the time of construction the building code only allowed for a 700 feet per minute elevator. Raskob took a chance and installed the 1200 foot per minute elevator but only ran it at 700. Eventually the code changed and Raskob, being clever and thinking ahead, simply change the speed of the elevators (CBS Team, 2004).
Set out by the American Institute of Steel Construction, there are guidelines for the direct materials to follow. The steel that the Empire State Building is comprised of must meet certain standards set by the AISC. If they fail to do so or miss their materials inspections dates, they will be forced to close due to their lack of cooperation to meet certain code requirements. Failure to do so may also lead in fines as well which would increase the overall projected cost of the construction of the ESB as well.

VI. Conclusion
Overall risk is simply that. It is a risk. Something that is possible to happen that people may not like to happen because it may have negative consequences. Even though people think of risk as a negative thing, it can be a positive thing if they prepare. Having an idea of possible faults and risks can make a team better prepared for the project and those unexpected events in their occurrence.
No one expected a plane to fly into the Empire State Building in the mid 40’s, but making their building fire safe with coated steel and working sprinkler systems and fire alarms, allowed the people to contain the fire to one area, and save numerous more lives than had already been lost that day. Failure to have had those alarm systems in that case would have been more devastating and even had the potential to make the building collapse from fire and fracturing the core of the building and making it weaker.
Also, having taken precautionary measures to provide fall protection gear for their workers, allowed for a safer work environment to keep the work moving forward. If the workers were to fail to use such material or even by lacking in sleep or nutrition, it could have put the others at risk as well as bringing all the work to a halt.
By following AISC standards in their material inspections and ensuring that all material was indeed inspected allowed for the work to continue. It also allowed for extra security in its construction because they knew that the material was safe and inspected. They followed code in their construction to ensure not only to have a fast build time but also a high quality building.
Being the first tallest building in the world has to have in mind a high value, do they not? They are after all, setting the standards for other buildings in the future after their making. It is not only great to be the tallest and record breaker, but it is best to be the best overall.

Sources with Authors:
CBS Team. (2004, Febraury 17). Empire state buliding- a landmark. Retrieved from http://www.cbsforum.com/cgi-bin/articles/partners/cbs/search.cgi?template=display&dbname=cbsarticles&key2=empire&action=searchdbdisplay
(CBS Team, 2004)
Kingwell, M. (2006). Nearest thing to heaven: The empire state building and american dreams. Binghamton, New York: Vail-Ballou Press. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=oO6EPOt1GvIC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=Construction of the Empire State Building&ots=H3GU56MXdl&sig=pnSxEXYUU2c8kqtTnqa6CPDB9yc
(Kingwell, 2006)
Perez, J. (2012, May 01). Empire state building: The 8th world wonder (photos). Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/05/the-8th-world-wonder/
(Perez, 2012)
Tauranac, J. (1995). The empire state building: The making of a landmark. New York, New York: St. Martin's Press. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=wyJN2YulEHoC&oi=fnd&pg=PA11&dq=Construction of the Empire State Building&ots=QCJJIwEkHv&sig=KBg4dYDQwGpES0iDXRf-dudM0QI
(Tauranac, 1995)
War, D., & Zunz, O. (1992). The landscape of modernity: New york city, 1900-1940. (pp. 160-181). New York, New York: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ngqS2QSy-rUC&oi=fnd&pg=PA160&dq=Construction of the Empire State Building&ots=APi_zIzh_h&sig=NbAZ9vNca6X1WvRkGncHW4zPE5g
(War & Zunz, 1992)
Willis, C., & Friedman, D. (1998). Building the empire state. New York, New York: W. W. Norton & Company Inc. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=C4ntsnrgCCQC&oi=fnd&pg=PA33&dq=Construction of the Empire State Building&ots=jtxf1PLNE9&sig=VSTlgZsXu3BNXTFBjuC-6KHCwYg
(Willis & Friedman, 1998)

No-Author Sources:
The official site of the empire state building. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.esbnyc.com/
("The official site," 2012)
Wonder of the world databank: Empire state building. (2001). Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/wonder/structure/empire_state.html
("Wonder of the," 2001)