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www.thestructuralengineer.org
44 TheStructuralEngineer
February 2012
Structural-Safety.org
Alastair Soane, Director
of Structural-Safety.org
draws readers’ attention to
the latest alert published
by the programme.
Collapse of main stage
roof. Indiana USA, 2011
Professional guidance
Structural safety
There have been recent collapses of
temporary stage structures in North America
and Europe which have resulted in serious
injury and fatality. The reasons why these
failures have taken place have not yet been
published, although initially wind has been
reported as a possible contributory cause.
The design and construction of temporary
stages has been developed within the
industry to include some very large and
complex structures. Most of these are
perfectly satisfactory but catastrophic
failures include:
• Madonna concert: Marseilles, France,
July 2009 – stage roof collapse during
construction with 2 fatalities and 8 injured
• Big Valley Jamboree: Alberta, Canada,
August 2009 – stage roof failure with 1
fatality and 75 injured
• Sugerland concert: Indiana, USA, August
2011 – main stage roof collapse (pictured)
with 6 fatalities and 44 injured
• Pukkelpop music festival: Hasselt,
Belgium, August 2011 – main stage collapse
with 5 fatalities and 140 injured
• Jovanatti concert: Trieste, Italy,
December 2011 – ground support stage
structure collapsed during construction
with 1 fatality and 12 injured
The types of temporary structures involved,
appear to be similar to those which may
be used in the UK. SCOSS has therefore
published an Alert entitled: “Temporary stage
structures”, about the possible risks. It is aimed
at those who may commission, procure or
licence temporary stages and other temporary
structures (for example large outdoor TV
screens) which carry potential risks to the
public.
The Alert will be of particular interest
to owners of sites and venues; promoters;
contractors and their designers; local authority
licensing officers; building control officers and
insurers. The issue of a licence for a temporary
structure should not be any less effective than
the process of gaining approval under Building
Regulations. Structural engineers may be
involved with design, construction, checking
or licensing and must be aware of their
responsibilities.
Key points from the SCOSS Alert are that
design documentation has to include the basis
of design, loadings, calculations, drawings and
specifications, and a clear definition of the
operating limits of the structure including the
effects of all loads. Design must be carried out
by a competent designer and there should be
an independent design check by a Chartered
structural engineer. Erection should be checked
by a competent person and there should be a
completion certificate from the event organiser
to confirm these points. If there are restrictions
on wind speeds for safe operation, then speeds
must be continuously monitored.
This year there will be many temporary
structures erected in the UK to coincide with
the Olympic Games, the Queen’s Jubilee, and
other major events, and engineers associated
with these must be vigilant in ensuring
that there are no undue risks to workers,
performers, or the public.
The SCOSS Alert can be downloaded from:
www.structural-safety.org together with a
previous Alert: Temporary event structures:
’saddle span’ type tents and the Topic Paper:
Risk issues associated with large TV/video
screens at public events.
The Institution publication: Temporary
demountable structures. Guidance on
procurement, design and use (3rd ed), 2007,
provides advice on all issues related to such
structures and is widely used in the UK.
It is available to purchase at:
http://shop.istructe.org/temporary-
demountable-structures.htm. •