Tofu-dreg Hotel

There have been many terrible things that happened on the Ides of March, and one of them happened in 1986. That's right. We're talking about the Hotel New World Collapse in Singapore. But what we hardly know about this building collapse was that Hotel New World was one of those tofu-dregs building projects, and it was showing troubling signs several years before that fateful Ides of March in 1986...

The inquiry on the Hotel New World Collapse found that the concrete used in Hotel New World's construction did meet international building safety standards, the quality of the building foundations also met international building safety standards, and the soil the building was built on was stable. However, the one factor that made Hotel New World a tofu-dregs building project was that the draftsman did not factor in dead weight.

For a structure with building plans that did not factor in dead weight to last 15 years is an incredible feat, and that's because Hotel New World was built on stable soil with building foundations and concrete that met international building safety standards. Unfortunately, 33 people died, including Hotel New World's owner because the building plans did not factor in dead weight. As a result, tofu-dregs building projects are no longer allowed by Singapore's construction authorities, resulting in no building collapses after Hotel New World's collapse.