Collapse of Katowice Fair Building

The Katowice Fair Building in Poland collapsed on 28 January 2006. It was a steel building having dimensions 96.360 × 102.875 m in the general plan. The roof was constructed from truss elements, supported on 6 internal and 66 external columns situated along external walls. The results of engineering investigations on the reasons of total collapse of Katowice Fair Building structure has presented herein. Generally the collapse occurred as a consequences of: incorrect arrangement of the structure, unsufficient strength and rigidity of main structural elements, and finally of the overloading action of thick ice – snow layer. The following parameters have been estimated: the reliability model of the structure system, arrangement of bracings, construction of main columns, main girders and supporting, field connections of elements and shaping of the roof surface.