The Comet air crashes should teach and remind all engineers that, while all the analysis and design tools might be at your disposal, an engineer can only analyze and truly design for the situations they can actually imagine.
Tag: Lessons from Failures
This second article in the series on temporary works discusses temporary works failures and how structural engineers can learn from them
In 1879, inadequate design, ineffective supervision, poor workmanship, tight budget restrictions, time constraints and a general lack of understanding of the response of structures to dynamic forces from wind culminated into one of the deadliest structural failures of all time; the Tay Bridge collapse.
Inspection of activities on a site during construction is a very high-risk operation requiring expertise and experience. Site inspections are of paramount significance as they aim to minimize the risk of accidents arising within the construction site…
In 2007 under-engineering, inefficient regulation, ever increasing dead loads combined with inadequate inspections led to the deadliest structural failure in Minnesota’s history. The immediate aftermath saw an investigation board commissioned to probe the cause of the failure. The investigation would discover a systematic collapse in the very layers of defense the engineering profession creates towards preventing catastrophic failures
” An implicit assumption is an assumption that underlies a logical argument, course of action, decision or judgement that is not explicitly voiced nor necessarily understood by the decision maker1. In other words, implicit assumptions are those assumptions we make without even realizing it, hence they may go undetected.
While many engineers make the very valid argument that software prevent errors and human fallibility, many other engineers including this writer make the equally valid argument that these tools contribute to creating errors. Are these software’s actually aiding us to become better engineers or are they actually replacing us, at least, in cognitive sense, as engineers?
High above St. Lawrence River, on a hot sunny day in August, 1907, workers were working on the Quebec bridge when suddenly, the sound of twisting metals pierced the air, and the giant cantilever bridge under construction failed, crashing into the river with enormous force, such that people miles away in Quebec City believed an earthquake had hit.
Approximately 50 years ago, the west gate bridge in Melbourne, Australia collapsed under construction killing over 30 people in what is now widely regarded as Australia’s worst construction accidents ever
At approximately 22 minutes past 6:00 pm on 21st of August 2009, a train was travelling across the viaduct, when the train driver suddenly noticed a portion of the viaduct had begun to collapse