The tallest build in a famous city is 62 storeys high and covered in glass panels. The proud owners of the new building were horrified when glass panels started to fall off the building, causing danger and damage in the surrounding area. It transpired that the glass manufacturer had been negligent in supplying glass which was not properly pre-stressed, as specified in the building designs. The company that owed the building instituted a lawsuit against the glass company claiming millions of dollars worth of damages. They had an excellent case and would have won the suit, but one week before it was due to start they dropped all claims against the glass company and received no compensation whatsoever. Why?

Son of The Household Cavalry

The building was owned by Bill Gates and he always knew there was trouble with Windows Jan 20 03, 12:28 AM

Friar Tuck

I think this refers to Boston. In the early 1970s, the new Hancock Tower in Boston, one of the first tall buildings clad entirely with large mirrored glass panels, began shedding its 500-pound windows, one by one. The window material had been used in much smaller buildings, where it caused similar {problems;} the Hancock designers overlooked this fact. Sheets of plywood - more than an acre of them - were put up in place of the missing windows, and for years the streets in the neighborhood were covered with tunnels to protect pedestrians from the falling glass. The building also caused neighboring utility lines and foundations to crack, and induced nausea in its occupants when heavy winds blew. I have not yet been able to track down why they dropped the claim. Jan 20 03, 12:46 AM

Kainantu

This site explains in detail the reasons for the falling glass, Friar Tuck and information about the *dispute... The dispute over the failure was settled among the parties, and all 10,344 insulating glass units were replaced with single sheets of fully tempered glass. The tempered glass had special problems of its own, but that's another story. Although the original lawsuit was settled, the legal controversy was not over because an insurance company and the glass manufacturer did not agree as to whether this loss was covered under the manufacturer's product liability policy. In 1990, 17 years after the problem first became evident, that dispute was settled after SGH Principal-in-charge, Thomas A. Schwartz, testified in Boston's Federal Court as to the real cause of the failure. Contacting SGH The Principal-in-charge on this project was Thomas A. Schwartz. Tom would be happy to answer your questions and can be reached at taschwartz@sgh.com http://www.sgh.com/practiceareas/buildingtechnology/hancock/hancock.htm *too much information for here Jan 20 03, 5:35 AM

dicky knee

Having trouble keeping your John Hancocks straight? This list should help. John Hancock Center is the 1127' tall building in Chicago John Hancock Tower is the 788' high Building in Boston, the subject of this page John Hancock Building is another Boston building at 495 feet. John Hancock is the famous gentleman from Massachusetts with the largest signature on the Declaration of Independence. Jan 20 03, 5:45 AM

RND

The Truth - The company that owned the building was an insurance group. They discovered late in the proceedings that one of their companies carried the insurance coverage for the glass company's liability. So if they had won the suit, they would have had to bear the the ultimate cost of compensating themselves! Jan 20 03, 5:15 PM