The Station Square collapse, also known as the Save-On-Foods collapse and "Cave-On-Foods", was a major structural failure of a new supermarket and parking facility in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. On April 23, 1988, within minutes of the grand opening of a new Save-On-Foods store, a 6,400 square foot (590 m2) portion of the roof collapsed, sending the rooftop parking deck and 20 automobiles crashing into the produce section below. There were no fatalities, and 21 people were treated in hospital. In the years following the collapse, recommendations from a commission of inquiry resulted in significant changes to the practice of architecture and engineering throughout British Columbia.
Collapse At 9:00 am on the morning of April 23, 1988, customers were let into the store as part of a grand opening sale for senior citizens. Within 10 minutes an employee noticed water spraying from an overhead pipe that had burst. It was buckling under pressure from a roof beam that was twisting out of shape above a steel column. The 4.5-minute-long structural failure was heard and witnessed by many of the store occupants, including several who took photographs of the twisting and crushed beam. Evacuation alerts were issued through the public address system, and the store was emptied in less than 5 minutes. The mayor of Burnaby, Bill Copeland, who presided over the opening ceremonies, assisted in directing the evacuation of approximately 600 customers and 307 employees. Four structural bays of the roof, measuring 27 by 23 metres (89 by 75 ft), collapsed into the produce section. One store employee was trapped under the debris and was removed by first responders using forklifts; he suffered a crushed pelvis. Several people were blown off their feet by the rushing air from the collapse.
Background and cause The $100 million Station Square development project was begun in 1985 by Georgilas Investments. In 1986, Station Square/Wesbild purchased the as-yet unbuilt project. The supermarket facility was a $5.4 million part of the newly constructed mixed-use Station Square, complex in the Metrotown area of Burnaby, a suburb of Vancouver. The facility was owned and developed by Wesbild Enterprises and Station Square Developments Inc.. Urban Design Group were the architects. Amako Construction Ltd. was the general contractor. Two structural engineering firms were involved: Tamm Tacy and Associates and MSS Group who were engaged during construction to provide additional structural verification. Save-On-Foods, then owned by the Overwaitea Foods division of Jim Pattison Industries (now Jim Pattison Group), was a tenant, not the owner or developer of the building. Before construction started, one of the contractors bidding on the work proposed adding car parking onto the roof. The owner asked the architects and engineers to determine if this was feasible; they did and recommended changes to the design of the structure for additional support and to provide access by way of a moving walkway. The structural failure was a direct result of the failure of the roof beam to support the weight of the rooftop parking structure and automobiles above. It was determined that the steel beam was undersized for its intended purpose and did not have bracing required to resist buckling above where it was supported on the column. Several factors were determined by the Commissioner of Inquiry into the collapse to have contributed to the collapse. These included, in part or in combination, errors on the part of the engineers, contractors, and steel supplier/mill. It has also been argued that then-industry standard procedures in engaging and valuation of engineering services and certification of contractors' work were also contributing factors.
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