Engineering firm brought in to examine State Fair stage collapse

State Fair officials announced Tuesday that they have hired an internationally known engineering firm to investigate the stage collapse.

After the stage collapsed Saturday, the State Fair Commission contacted Thornton Tomasetti on Sunday. Scott Nacheman with the firm said it is one of the top engineering firms in the world.

"Included in the portfolio is an extensive amount of experience with the design and analysis of the stage rigging both in the design phase and post collapse investigations."

The firm helped New York City during the September 11th aftermath with site safety and engineering rolls. Thornton Tomasetti was also hired to get to the bottom of the I-35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Firm officials said that investigation will be similar to the one they will be conducting at the Indiana State Fair.

The company officials arrived in town Monday. Tuesday was the first official day of the investigation. The first phase will be a fact finding, data collecting period where they will work to find information, like design plans. In the second phase, they will figure out if the stage was put up according to plan. Finally, the firm will pinpoint the cause and origin of the collapse.

Nacheman said it's important right now to figure out how this structure was built.

"Temporary structures are designed with a range of different codes depending on the codes of the local jurisdiction."

Fox59 uncovered that while the rides and food stands are inspected, the stage is not because it is not required under state law. It’s something Governor Mitch Daniels thinks may need to be re-examined.

"I thought it was a learning point for all of us that something of that size is not inspected. So it ought to be looked at."

Nacheman said an inspection may not have been enough to save the stage though because tornadic activity, straight line winds and other weather situations are not usually factored into building codes.

"Those type of loading conditions are not part of the thought process as governed by the building code for any type of structure."

The investigation will take some time to complete. The findings of the investigation will be made public when it is complete.