The student’s professor said that the building’s columns were misplaced. To address this problem, LeMessurier designed a chevron shaped exoskeleton system of giant braces that would redistribute the building’s weight securely down to the stilts. LeMessurier began by saying, "I have a real problem for you, sir." LeMessurier’s actions have been under scrutiny since the scandal became public and there are questions regarding whether his actions were entirely ethical, if he had acted to protect his reputation or the public. http://www.peo.on.ca/Ethics/code_of_ethics.html (accessed February 25, 2013), In 1998 the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) Board of Ethical Review (BER) had reviewed a hypothetical case very similar to the Citicorp fiasco and concluded that the need to avoid widespread panic did not justify the preservation of the facts and lack of public communication. With the help of the NYPD, they worked out an evacuation plan spanning a 10 block radius. Other Names: Citicorp. Ella possessed wind speeds that could have reasonably reached the Citicorp Centre’s structural limit though the Citicorp team and LeMessurier refused to release a public statement outlining the potential risks to the public. LeMessurier and his team worked with the Citicorp higher-up to coordinate emergency repairs on the building. The situation became especially critical when Hurricane Ella was expected to make landfall in New York during peak hurricane season in September. The Citigroup Center (formerly Citicorp Center and also known by its address, 601 Lexington Avenue) is an office skyscraper in New York City, located at 53rd Street between Lexington and Third Avenues in midtown Manhattan. The New Yorker, May 29, 1995 P. 45. The columns would act as stilts raising the building … In June 1978, LeMessurier received a phone call from an engineering student writing a paper on the Citicorp building. [2] Andrews, Gordon C. Canadian Professional Engineering and Geoscience: Practice and Ethics, Fourth Edition. In 1999 the BER had opened the subject to all NSPE members and the results were published in NSPE’s, …discouraging untrue, unfair or exaggerated statements with respect to professional engineering. To avoid St. Peter’s Church at the corner of the site, LeMessurier placed four nine-storey high structural columns at the centre of each face rather than at each corner. LeMessurier explained that there was a church on the northwest corner of the site that they had to build around. CITY PERILS about a structural defect uncovered in June, 1978 in Citibank's $175 million Citicorp Center tower which could have caused it … The Citigroup Center was a massive structure constructed in the heart of Manhattan in 1977. LeMessurier’s idea permitted each corner of the building to cantilever out 72 feet, which allowed Stubbins to delicately nestle the new church building into the northwest corner of the property while maintaining the use of the entire lot for Citicorp. LeMessurier had a duty to publicize the problem with the building. Reed was well equipped to understand the problem. In 1999 the BER had opened the subject to all NSPE members and the results were published in NSPE’s Engineering Times largely echoed the BER’s conclusion (Eugene, 2002). Public panic could happen, but would likely be reduced since LeMessurier was already working on rectifying the design flaws. The NSPE decision  regarding LeMessurier's actions aligns with the idea of Kant’s duty based ethics and utilitarianism [1]. This landmark skyscraper was the world’s 9th tallest upon completion, employing several structural innovations: four mid-side trussed columns at the base support the tower, which cantilevers over the city block below; loads are directed to the main columns by 15-story super braces; the world’s first tuned mass damper controls building motion under wind loads. However, due to the white lies, only LeMessurier and Citicorp officials knew the truth. This makes LeMessurier’s actions unethical according to the utilitarianism theory. http://www.nspe.org/resources/pdfs/Ethics/EthicsResources/EthicsCaseSearch/1998/BER98-9-app.pdf, http://www.peo.on.ca/Ethics/code_of_ethics.html, https://ethics.wikia.org/wiki/Citicorp_Fiasco?oldid=4612. LeMessurier and Stubbins went to see Reed at the bank's ornate executive offices, in an older building on Lexington Avenue, across the street from Citicorp Center. Utilitarianism states an action is ethical if it provides the greatest benefit to the most number of people with intensity, duration and equality distribution factors considered [2]. This makes LeMessurier’s actions unethical according to the utilitarianism theory. The structure was designed by Hugh Stubbins and William LeMessurier was the main consulting engineer on the project, who was very involved in much of the design process too. In 1998 the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) Board of Ethical Review (BER) had reviewed a hypothetical case very similar to the Citicorp fiasco and concluded that the need to avoid widespread panic did not justify the preservation of the facts and lack of public communication. [1] "Case No. NSPE. This machine, built at his behest and perched where the bells would have been if the Citicorp tower had been a cathedral, was essentially a four-hundred-and-ten-ton block of concrete, attached to huge springs and floating on a film of oil.

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