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8-2002

Forensics and Case Studies in Civil Engineering

Education: State of the Art
Norbert J. Delatte
Cleveland State University, [email protected]

Kevin L. Rens
University of Colorado at Denver

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Original Citation
Delatte, N., and Rens, K. (2002). "Forensics and Case Studies in Civil Engineering Education: State of the Art."
J.Perform.Constr.Facil., 16(3), 98-109.

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 Forensics and Case Studies in Civil Engineering Education:
State of the Art
Norbert J. Delatte, M.ASCE,1 and Kevin L. Rens, M.ASCE2

Abstract: This paper reviews the state of the art in the use of forensic engineering and failure case studies in civil engineering education.
The study of engineering failures can offer students valuable insights into associated technical, ethical, and professional issues. Lessons
learned from failures have substantially affected civil engineering practice. For the student, study of these cases can help place design and
analysis procedures into historical context and reinforce the necessity of lifelong learning. Three approaches for bringing forensics and
failure case studies into the civil engineering curriculum are discussed in this paper. These are stand-alone forensic engineering or failure
case study courses, capstone design projects, and integration of case studies into the curriculum. Some of the cases have been developed
and used in courses at the United States Military Academy and the Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham, as well as at other institutions.
Finally, the writers have tried to assemble many of the known sources of material, including books, technical papers, and magazine
articles, videos, Web sites, prepared PowerPoint presentations, and television programs.

CE Database keywords: Engineering education; Case reports; Forensic engineering.

Introduction the Committee on Education is to develop resources to meet edu-

cational needs and to implement education programs. Although
In response to several well-publicized engineering failures, the forensic engineering is a growing eld, a void remains in forensic
ASCE Technical Council on Forensic Engineering (TCFE) was engineering education. This committee encourages the inclusion
established in 1982. The purpose of the TCFE is to of forensic engineering topics and failure case studies in civil
Develop practices and procedures to reduce failures; engineering education at the graduate and undergraduate levels,
Disseminate information on failures and their causes, provid- as well as continuing education programs. The committee also
ing guidelines for conducting failure investigations; recommends activities to promote and advance the educational
Encourage research and education in forensic engineering; and objectives of colleges and universities. Finally, the committee acts
Encourage ethical conduct in forensic engineering practice. as a source of referral for educational material with a forensic
In addition to ASCEs board of directions executive commit- engineering emphasis. It is this last point at which overlap exists
tee, the TCFE consists of six units: with the TCFEs Dissemination of Failure Information Commit-
Forensic engineering practice; tee. In fact, if one looks at the deliverables of each TCFE com-
Dissemination of failure information; mittee, it could be argued that a large percentage of the councils
Technology implementation; activity is indeed geared toward education.
Practice to reduce failures; The study of engineering failures can offer students valuable
Publication; and insights into associated technical, ethical, and professional issues.
Education. Many writers have pointed out the need to integrate lessons
The TCFEs Committee on Education encourages universities learned from failure case studies in civil engineering education
to include forensic engineering and failure case studies in civil (Bosela 1993; Rendon-Herrero 1993a,b; Baer 1996; Delatte 1997;
engineering education (Rendon-Herrero 1993a,b). The mission of Rens and Knott 1997; Pietroforte 1998; Carper 2000; Delatte
2000; Jennings and Mackinnon 2000; Rens et al. 2000d).
1
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The editor of ASCEs Journal of Performance of Constructed
1075 13th St. South, Suite 120, Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham, Bir- Facilities addressed this need in an editors note in the February
mingham, AL 35294-4440. 1998 issue. Some educators have developed upper-level courses
2
Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, 1200 Larimer St., in failure analysis and forensic engineering as electives or gradu-
Univ. of Colorado at Denver, Denver, CO 80217-3364. ate offerings, but few civil engineering undergraduates are able to
take advantage of them. It is not practical to add another manda-
tory course to already crowded civil engineering undergraduate
curricula. In some cases, failure investigations have been used as
problems for capstone design courses. Another approach is to
integrate case studies into existing courses.
This paper reviews the state of the art for using forensics and
failure case studies in civil engineering education and discusses
all three of the approaches introduced above. ment indicated, We have two MS level courses (in which under-
Many of the key technical principles that civil engineering graduates can enroll) that are dedicated to failure analysis and
students should learn can be illustrated through case studies. For performances in structural and geotechnical engineering. An-
example, the rst writer has discussed the Hyatt Regency walk- other comment went on to say, The department offers a graduate
way collapse in Kansas City, Missouri, the Tacoma Narrows level course on infrastructure surety, which is devoted almost en-
Bridge failure in Washington, and other well-known cases with tirely to what may go wrong in construction situations. And
students in statics, mechanics of materials, and other courses. As nally, one institution indicated, We will introduce a new elec-
another example, the second writer has discussed temporary steel tive undergraduate course on forensic engineering and failure in-
bracing failures on masonry walls and temporary timber bracing vestigations next spring. The two TCFE surveys indeed illustrate
on wood trusses in steel design and capstone design courses that stand-alone failure courses are rare.
(Rens et al. 2000e). These cases help students to Some universities offer forensic engineering courses as elec-
Grasp difcult technical concepts and begin to acquire an in-
tives, although these courses mainly appear at the graduate level
tuitive feel for the behavior of structures and the importance
(Carper 2000). Forensic engineering courses typically have the
of load paths and construction sequences;
educational objective of teaching students to become forensic en-
Understand how engineering science changes over time as
gineers. Since forensic engineering is generally practiced by ex-
structural performance is observed and lessons are learned;
pert engineers, these courses are usually only available to gradu-
Analyze the impacts of engineering decisions on society; and
ate students and upper-division undergraduates. Furthermore,
Appreciate the importance of ethical considerations in the en-
gineering decision-making process. these types of courses may require faculty who are practicing
In a survey conducted by the ASCE TCFEs education com- forensic engineers. Baer (1996) pointed out that faculty with the
mittee in December 1989, reported by Rendon-Herrero (1993a, b) necessary background to teach these types of course are rare.
and Bosela (1993), about a third of the 87 civil engineering These courses have been taught by Fowler at the Univ. of
schools responding indicated a need for detailed, well- Texas (UT, taken by the rst writer in 1994), Rens and Knott at
documented case studies. The response from the Univ. of Arizona the Univ. of Colorado, Denver (UCD) (Rens and Knott 1997), and
said ASCE should provide such materials for educational pur- Rendon-Herrero at Mississippi State Univ. (MSU). Table 1 shows
poses, and the response from Swarthmore College suggested some topics typically addressed in forensic engineering course
ASCE should provide funds for creating monographs on failures syllabi at these three universities.
that have occurred in the past (Rendon-Herrero 1993b). There are similarities and differences. All three courses rely
The ASCE TCFE conducted a second survey in 1998 that was heavily on case studies, written and oral student projects, and
sent to all Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology presentations. The UCD course combines forensic engineering for
(ABET)-accredited engineering schools throughout the United civil and mechanical engineers with nondestructive evaluation
States (Rens et al. 2000d). As with the 1989 survey, the lack of (NDE) methods. NDE is a tool used in many failure analysis
instructional materials was cited as a reason that failure analysis investigations that allows students hands-on laboratory training
topics were not being taught. One of the unprompted written com- with relatively inexpensive equipment. In the NDE portions of the
ments in that survey was A selected bibliography is needed on courses, students are required to use standard samples in addition
the topic, which could be accessed via the Internet. Another to making their own case studies.
comment went on to say The best things TCFE can do are (1) In one example, students acquired awed steel that contained
provide instructional materials to make it easy for a teacher to the rolling/milling aw of lamellar tearing. The student team was
incorporate failures in their courses, and (2) provide Internet ma- able to prove that the steel contained these aws by using high-
terials so instructors can give self-guided homework assign- frequency ultrasound, nondestructive testing equipment. In an-
ments. Still another responder to the 1998 survey indicated other example, students illustrated how voids in large-grained
Need published case studies such as project designs, failures, building materials such as concrete and masonry can be detected
evaluations, etc. by low-frequency ultrasound. Still other examples illustrated how
This paper provides some resources, but this is by no means a dye penetrant and magnetic particle testing can be used to high-
complete bibliography. A fairly comprehensive bibliography of light cracks and aws in metals that are not visible to the naked
references available through 1996 was published by Nicastro eye. Students are required to produce a professional report and to
(1996). Puri (1998) and Carper (2000) list several additional ref- defend it orally.
erences that could be used as well. The combination of the refer- Although the course is cotaught with a practicing failure
ences in these three papers with the references in this state-of-the- analysis engineer (Dr. Albert Knott), it does involve guest speak-
art paper provides a fair representation of the published failure ers such as NDE engineers, other practicing forensic engineers,
analysis work to date. attorneys, and technicians. All of the assigned student projects for
the UCD course are taken from actual case studies led by Knott.
Because actual case studies are used, the reports are rst sanitized
Forensic Engineering and Failure Case Study
Courses to remove any ties to the engineers, clients, and other associated
parties. Students are given photographs, actual eld notes, actual
Several papers have been written describing courses on forensic police evidence, videotapes, and other information about expired
engineering or failure case studies at various universities (Bosela projects. In some cases, students are allowed to interview the
1993; Rens and Knott 1997; Pietroforte 1998). In the previously actual assigned engineer. As in the NDE portion of the course,
mentioned 1989 TCFE survey (Bosela 1993; Rendon-Herrero student-written presentations and oral defenses are required.
1993), 8 of the 87 university respondents offered a course on The UT course concentrates on civil engineering, with empha-
failures of structures. Although not specically asked for in the sis on structural evaluations. The UT and MSU courses rely
1998 TCFE survey, 5 of the 112 university respondents speci- heavily on guest speakers, including an attorney, a petrographer,
cally mentioned a stand-alone failure analysis course. One com- and a retired judge.
Table 1. Typical Forensic Engineering Course Syllabus A review of course syllabi from fall 1991 onward shows that the
Topic Hours broad themes addressed have remained the same, with topics such
as dispute resolution techniques, construction safety, nonstruc-
(a) CE 5806, Forensic analysis and condition assessment of civil and tural failures, and dams and bridges being occasionally covered.
mechanical infrastructureUniv. of Colorado, Denver (Rens and Knott Three to ve guest lecturers are used, and some offerings include
1997) in-class mock trials or debates.
Infrastructure inspections 1.5 Pietroforte (1998) described a failure case study course re-
Failures due to expansive soils 3.0 cently developed at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in
Nondestructive evaluation (NDE)dye penetrant, 12.0 Massachusetts. This course was developed in conjunction with a
ultrasound, magnetic particle methods new Master Builder programa ve-year program leading to the
Hyatt Regency and other cases 1.5 award of a combined BSCE and MSCE degree. The course title is
Vehicular accident reconstruction 4.5 Construction Failures: Analysis and Lessons. Five case studies
Ethical issues in vehicular accident reconstruction 1.5 are presented and discussed in detail in class, and students write
Product failure investigation 1.5 term projects on cases from the literature and present the results.
NDE of timber structures 1.5 In contrast to the courses at UCD and UT, the WPI course focuses
NDE of steel structures 1.5 on failures and lessons learned, rather than the practice of forensic
NDE of masonry structures 1.5 engineering. However, it should be noted that lessons learned
NDE of concrete structures 1.5 from failures are an implied intrinsic by-product of the discussion
Depositions and court testimony 3.0 of a failed engineering projectespecially in an educational set-
Construction and product law 3.0 ting.
Ethics in engineering practice 1.5 Both Pietroforte and the rst writer (Delatte) took a course at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in fall 1984,
(b) ARE 383/CE 397 Forensic engineeringUniv. of Texas taught by Irwig and Becker, that incorporated two Boston failure
Introductionwhat is forensic engineering? case studiesHotel Vendome and 2000 Commonwealth Avenue.
Qualications, role, history of failure, failure statistics This MIT course provided a useful stimulus toward the inclusion
Causes of failuresdenition, classication, causes, of case studies in engineering education. The rst writer has
specic causes taught a course at the Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB),
Investigationplanning, client interface/schedule/ Engineering the Environment, that introduced a number of
budget, team, site observations/testing/analysis, basic civil engineering concepts through failure case studies and
document search, historical information/visual other historical examples.
documentation, literature search, synthesis, At this point it is useful to consider separately courses that
development of conclusions teach forensic engineering and courses that teach engineering
Case studiesresidential structure, concrete structure, practice through failure case studies because these different cat-
concrete materials, masonry walls, building envelope egories of courses have different objectives. The courses in the
Engineer in dispute resolutioncivil litigation process, former category (e.g., UCD, UT, and MSU) are intended to intro-
pretrial responsibilities, trial responsibilities, alternate duce graduate students with sound technical backgrounds to in-
dispute resolution vestigate methods, depositions, testimony, and other details of
Issues in forensic engineeringethics, forensic engineering practice such as writing and speaking, al-
professionalism, liability though some time is spent on technical topics. A proper denition
of forensic engineering, after all, is that it is engineering practiced
(c) CE 4003 Forensic engineeringMississippi State Univ. in a public forum, such as within the legal system.
Introduction, denitions, and discussion of legal 4.5 In the second category, courses on failure case studies can be
process of considerable value. In addition to technical material, valuable
Failure case studies and causes 1.5 lessons in engineering practice, ethics, and professionalism can be
Natural hazards and unusual loads 1.5 taught. Another option is to use such a course to teach research
Engineer as expert witness 4.5 and technical communication skills. However, it should be noted
Learning from failures 3.0 that no matter which type of failure analysis course one is con-
Investigation 6.0 sidering, each should incorporate lectures involving case studies
Fire, industrial, product liability 4.5 as these examples essentially make up the textbook.
Trafc accident and transportation 3.0 Outside the United States, students participating in a learning
Environmental systems failures 1.5
from disasters exercise at Queens Univ., Belfast, investigated a
Case studies 4.5
number of failures and disasters. The exercise was carried out in
the rst two years of the bachelors and masters degree curricula.
These researchers (Jennings and Mackinnon 2000) noted, It has
As with the UCD course, an important feature of the UT become clear how little students generally know about key disas-
course is that each student must independently carry out a build- ters which are common knowledge to their elders and which have
ing investigation, write a report, and present the results. Campus had a profound effect on the profession. The same can be said of
buildings are used in order to avoid issues of liability and con- the majority of U.S. students as well. Even though well-published
dentiality. The university also benets from free consulting ser- cases such as the Hyatt Regency walkway collapse, Willow Island
vices, although the staff is advised to consider the reports care- cooling tower, (West Virginia), or Hartford Civil Center (Con-
fully before taking any action. necticut) failure are common knowledge to moderately seasoned
The MSU course has evolved considerably over the years, and engineers, they tend to be new issues to 20-year-old engineering
the topics shown in Table 1 reect the Fall 2001 course offering. students.
Design Capstone Courses and Forensic rehabilitation advice to the owner in the form of a marked-up
Engineering student report with a typical disclaimer.
Although the term project is a tremendous amount of work,
Under the urging of ABET, many universities have developed a given that normal foundation lectures and homework such as
capstone or senior design course that gives students actual engi- footing and retaining wall analysis and design are also required,
neering problems to solve. These courses are becoming increas- Rendon-Herrero is anxious each spring to continue the tradition.
ingly important in many engineering programs (Dutson et al. A similar project at North Dakota State Univ., describing fo-
1997). Students often work in teams on projects gathered from the rensic analysis of slope stability problems around a lake, is dis-
surrounding community. Among the problems to solve may be cussed in a paper by Padmanabhan and Katti (2002). Eleven
failures or rehabilitation of existing facilities. One respondent to groups of six students each investigated the problem and pro-
the 1998 TCFE survey did indicate that failure analysis topics posed mitigation solutions. Although a failure analysis project
were introduced in the design capstone courses. was discussed in the paper, most capstone projects at that univer-
An excellent example of how to incorporate failure analysis in sity do not involve failures or forensic engineering.
the capstone design course can be found at MSU, where Professor
Oswald Rendon-Herrero has been incorporating failure analysis
topics into the civil engineering curriculum since 1973. A recent Integration Into Curriculum
paper discusses how a term project in the foundation design cap-
stone course involves failure analysis (Rendon-Herrero 1998). The 1998 TCFE survey revealed that perhaps the best way to
This course is offered on an annual basis each spring and regu- introduce undergraduates to failure analysis and lessons learned
larly has an enrollment of around 30 students. from failures was to allow case studies to permeate undergraduate
As a background to the course, it should be noted that the courses. Nearly all the respondents felt that a few lectures were
MSU region is known for its highly expansive soils, which are sufcient to reinforce basic engineering concepts. Few respon-
native to the area. Many homes suffer from distresses that range dents indicated the need for four or more lectures. Several un-
from either minor cosmetic problems to general foundation prob- prompted written comments were received, each with a theme
lems. The cosmetic problems range from dry wall cracking, inop- similar to the following comment: (design) courses should in-
erable doors and windows, elevation problems, or other func- clude failure information as a part of lecture and laboratory ef-
tional types of distresses, while the general foundation problems forts. This information should be provided at the undergraduate
can involve heaved piers or foundations, concrete cracking, or level on an ongoing basis as opposed to stand-alone courses. The
other safety issues. Before the semester begins, Rendon-Herrero respondent went on to say that Stand-alone courses should be
has a meeting with the local newspaper and runs a short story reserved for the Masters degree level courses. This nal state-
about the upcoming semester term project. The article is designed ment echoes many comments provided.
to solicit owners of homes containing functional or structural Therefore, one solution is to integrate case studies and lessons
safety distresses to submit an application to be a case study for learned into existing courses. The main obstacle to this is that
the semester-long course. MSU is located in the town of Starks- many faculty do not have time to research and prepare case stud-
ville, Miss., which has a population of around 35,000 people. ies. The review below builds on previous work (Delatte 2000) to
According to Rendon-Herrero, in a typical semester, around 35 suggest some courses, lesson topics, and cases. Available sources
homeowners respond to the solicitation. of well-developed case studies and teaching materials are also
At the beginning of the semester, each of the homeowners is identied.
interviewed by the students and each residence is ranked based on
a variety of parameters such as magnitude of problem, availability
Use of Case Studies
of and access to the home, availability of design information (that
is, design plans or specications), age of home, and friendliness The rst writer has used case studies such as these at the United
of the homeowner. After the initial interview process, the top 10 States Military Academy (USMA) and at the UAB in such
or so homes are chosen based on a three-student-per-house ratio. courses as statics, mechanics of solids, and reinforced concrete.
The term project involves six or seven tasks with milestone Some of the ways to integrate failure case studies and a suggested
benchmarks at certain intervals during the semester. As an ex- format were reviewed in Delatte (1997, 2000). These include
ample, the rst benchmark, set a short period after the semester Introductions to topics: Use the case to illustrate why a par-
begins, involves a second detailed interview of the homeowner, a ticular failure method is important. Often the importance of a
detailed inspection of the residence involving visual inspections particular mode of failure only became widely known after a
and photography, and a literature review of the published USDA failure; examples include the wind-induced oscillations of the
soil survey report. At each benchmark, Rendon-Herrero reviews Tacoma Narrows Bridge and the Air Force warehouses (Ohio
reports and offers advice to the student teams. Another benchmark and Georgia) without reinforcement for shear and dimensional
involves obtaining actual soil borings with a hand auger to pro- changes, discussed below;
duce a core in order to develop boring logs. Other soil laboratory Class discussions: Link technical issues to ethical and profes-
tests are performed and are compared to the published USDA soil sional considerations;
report, usually with a favorable correlation. Example problems: Calculate the forces acting on structural
Three weeks before the semester is over, students are required members and compare them to design criteria and accepted
to put the entire puzzle together and come up with a theory of the practice; and
residence behavior, source of problems (usually drainage or other Group and individual projects: Have students research the
water source or faulty construction), and a tentative rehabilitation cases in depth and report back on them. This will also help
scheme. Each student team defends a written and oral report. The build a database of cases for use in future classes.
nal deliverable is a wrap-up inspection report that is given to the In the writers opinion the best way to incorporate cases into
owner. Rendon-Herrero then offers his own failure theory and classroom discussions is to link them to specic topics, as sug-
Table 2. Courses, Topics, and Case Studies (based on Delatte 2000)
Course Topic Case study
Statics Free-body diagram Hyatt Regency walkway collapse
T. W. Love Dam cantilever form failure
Dynamics Mass moment of inertia and stiffness Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse
Mechanics of materials (solids) Kinetics: dynamic forces Bomber crash into Empire State Building
Stress and strain Shrinkage of concrete masonry units
and swelling of brick masonary
Structural deformation as warning Hartford Civic Center
of impending collapse
Elastic buckling Stepped roof structure, Elwood, N.Y.
Structural analysis Loads on structures Bomber crash into Empire State Building
Load paths LAmbiance Plaza collapse
Structural deformation Quebec Bridge
Hartford Civic Center
Checking computer results Hartford Civic Center
Reinforced concrete design Structural integrity of formwork New York Coliseum
Strength development of concrete Willow Island cooling tower
2000 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
Baileys Crossroads, Virginia
Punching shear in concrete slabs Harbor Cay condominium, Florida
Reinforcement development length Pittsburgh Mideld Terminal precast beam collapse
Steel design Connections Hyatt Regency walkway collapse
Steel frame connections in Northridge earthquake
Buckling Stepped roof structure, Elwood, N.Y.
Quebec Bridge
Introduction to engineering or capstone Professional ethics Citicorp Tower

gested in this section. Student response to the cases developed so body diagram of the as-built detail now requires the nut-to-beam
far has been enthusiastic. The most successful case studies are connection to transfer 2 P. The load on the connection was
those that inspire students to go out, do their own research, and doubled, and it failed. An excellent discussion of this case, with
learn more about their chosen profession. emphasis on ethical issues, is provided by Roddis (1993).
This case was revisited, with considerable new information
Courses and Lesson Topics and analysis, in four papers published in a special issue of
ASCEs Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities (Gil-
Lesson topics should be identied for required courses in a civil lum 2000; Luth 2000; Moncarz and Taylor 2000; Pfatteicher
engineering curriculum. Once these have been identied, it is 2000). In addition, all four writers published and presented abbre-
possible to suggest case studies to support the topics. Some
viated versions of ASCEs 2nd forensic congress (Rens et al.
courses, topics, and case studies are suggested in Table 2.
2000c).

Engineering Mechanics
Structural Analysis
For the purposes of this discussion, engineering mechanics refers
to courses in statics, dynamics, and mechanics of materials (also At institutions where engineering mechanics courses are taught
called strength of materials or mechanics of solids). At some outside the civil engineering department, it may be desirable to
schools, such as USMA or UAB, the civil engineering faculty address some of the cases in engineering mechanics in later
often teach these courses and can easily incorporate appropriate courses. Case studies appropriate for inclusion in a structural
case studies. Where these courses are taught by other depart- analysis course are discussed as follows.
ments, it may be necessary to address these topics in a later
course, such as structural analysis. An earlier paper discussed
Loads Acting on Structures
seven case studies developed for engineering mechanics courses
(Delatte 1997). A discussion by Puri (1998) provided comments Accurate prediction of loads acting on structures is difcult, but
as well as additional exercises and examples. extremely important. This topic is addressed in Chapter 2 of Feld
The free body diagram is the basic equilibrium analysis tool and Carper (1997). The bomber crash into the Empire State
used to determine forces acting on a body. If the diagram is not Building (New York) (Delatte 1997) as well as the Oklahoma City
drawn correctly, the forces cannot be calculated accurately and Federal Building (Oklahoma) bomb are examples of extraordi-
the design may be unsafe. The importance of a correct free body nary loads acting on buildings. In addition, introduction of basic
diagram may be shown through analysis of the Kansas City Hyatt wind, snow, or other live loads tends to be a topic overlooked in
Regency walkway collapse. A free body diagram of the original many engineering coursesthat is, usually the loads are a given
detail, on the left in Fig. 1, shows that the nut-to-beam connection parameter. It is important for instructors to discuss the nature and
supports the weight of a single deck, or P. In contrast, the free variability of both ordinary and extreme loads in lectures.
 Fig. 1. Original and as-built hanger details

Load Paths compression members of the roof space truss (Fig. 4) proved to
It is important that the designer provide a continuous load path at be inadequate, and several members failed by buckling. This case
all times to transfer all loads safely to the foundation. There are is reviewed in detail in Martin and Delatte (2001).
many competing theories as to why the LAmbiance Plaza (Con-
necticut) towers collapsed while under construction, but each Checking Computer Results
theory is based on a break in the load path. The state of construc- Petroski (1985) suggests that design of the Hartford Civic Center
tion just before collapse is illustrated in Fig. 2, which shows an roof would never have been attempted without computers because
elevation of the building with the packages of slabs being jacked the space truss would be very difcult to analyze by hand meth-
up together. Six theories are discussed in Martin and Delatte ods. He also suggests that uncritical acceptance of the computer
(2000). Several of the theories focus on the lift heads (Fig. 3) solution played an important role in the catastrophe. Computer
used to lift the slabs in position. results can never substitute for understanding structural behavior.
Several errors in application of nite-element analysis have been
Calculating Structural Deformations discussed (Bell and Liepins 1997). The engineer should know the
Accurate calculation of structural deformation is important for approximate answer before sitting down in front of the computer
two reasons. The rst is that excessive deformations may lead to and must be able to distinguish an accurate solution from one that
serviceability problems, causing nonstructural damage or making is absurd but appears precise.
continued use of the facility difcult or impossible. This is why An excellent example of known failures as a result of com-
codes limit these deformations. The second is that if deformations puter misuse can be found in Puri (1997), where a 50-page paper
during construction or while the building is in service greatly was presented by the panel at ASCEs 1st forensic congress (Rens
exceed predictions, this is a warning that the structure may be in 1997). This report outlines 52 cases on computer misuse, failure
danger of collapse. types, error sources, and lessons learned.
In two cases, higher-than-expected deformations were ignored
until it was too late. Before the Quebec River Bridge (Canada)
Reinforced Concrete Design and Concrete Materials
collapsed in 1907, killing 82 workers, compression members
were observed to be distorted by up to 57 mm (2 41 in.), indicating A large number of case studies relate to concrete design and con-
incipient buckling. An excellent account of this tragedy is pro- struction. Chapters 7 and 8 of Feld and Carper (1997) address this
vided by Roddis (1993). The collapse of the Hartford Civic Cen- topic. Topics such as formwork, shoring, and other temporary
ter in 1978 also occurred after excessive structural deformations structures are covered in the section titled Structural Integrity
observed during construction had been ignored. Bracing for the during Construction.

Fig. 2. LAmbiance Plaza construction status just before collapse

 (Lew et al. 1979). LaCome et al. (2000) further show how the
concrete maturity method can be used with the actual published
information to determine the strength of the concrete at failure.
An investigation into the collapse of a 17-story concrete high-
rise under construction at 2000 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston,
disclosed a number of irregularities and deciencies (Kaminetzky
1991), including the following, among others:
1. Lack of proper building permit;
2. Insufcient concrete strength;
3. Insufcient length of rebars;
4. Lack of proper eld inspection;
5. Various structural design deciencies;
6. Improper formwork;
7. Premature removal of formwork;
8. Inadequate placement of rebars; and
9. Lack of construction control.
Four workers were killed and 20 injured. Fortunately, the col-
Fig. 3. LAmbiance Plaza lift heads lapse occurred slowly enough for many of the workers to escape.
The collapse occurred on January 25, and low temperatures had
certainly retarded strength gain. Cores showed concrete compres-
Strength Development of Concrete sive strengths as low as 4.83 MPa (700 psi) (Kaminetzky 1991;
Twenty-eight day cylinder strength tells one how strong a con- Feld and Carper 1997).
crete cylinder cured in a laboratory is at 28 days, but doesnt Yet another formwork collapse blamed on inadequately cured
necessarily tell you much about the strength of the as-built struc- concrete occurred at Baileys Crossroads, Virginia, in March
ture. The strength gain of concrete is highly dependent on ambi- 1973. Fourteen workers were killed and 30 were injured. Shores
ent temperature. In cold weather, the concrete in a structure will were removed between the 22nd and 23rd oors of the building
be much weaker at an early age than laboratory cylinder strengths while concrete was being placed on the 24th. The collapse tore an
cured at a different temperature. 18 m (60-ft) wide gap through the building all the way to the
The Willow Island, West Virginia, cooling tower collapsed ground. The concrete, when tested, turned out to be well below its
while under construction on April 27, 1978, killing 51 workers in expected strength. The oor slab failed in punching shear at the
the worst construction disaster in U.S. history (Lew et al. 1979; columns (Ross 1984; Kaminetzky 1991; Feld and Carper 1997).
Ross 1984; Kaminetzky 1991; Feld and Carper 1997; LaCome
et al. 2000). A jump-form system was being used, with the forms Dimensional Changes in Concrete and Shear Reinforcement
secured by bolts in one-day and three-day-old concrete; the forms Two warehouse roofs at U.S. Air Force bases in Ohio and Georgia
were designed to be progressively moved up the tower as it was cracked and collapse under combined load, shrinkage, and ther-
built. The temperature had been in the mid-thirties at night. The mal effects in 1955 and 1956. Continuous 122 m (400 ft) lengths
National Bureau of Standards found that the concrete had not of reinforced concrete roof girders functioned as single units be-
attained enough strength to support the forms. The report con- cause of defective expansion joints. Other warehouses, built to the
cluded that the most probable cause of the collapse was the same plans, survived because separation was maintained between
imposition of construction loads on the shell before the concrete adjacent 61 m (200 ft) bays. These failures led to more stringent
of lift 28 had gained adequate strength to support these loads shear steel requirements in subsequent editions of the ACI Build-

Fig. 4. Hartford Civic Center roof

ing Code. In these structures, the concrete alone, with no stirrups, Structural Integrity during Construction
was expected to carry the shear forces, and the members had no
shear capacity once they cracked (McKaig 1962; Feld and Carper Although a specic course is not available that teaches all the
1997). basics of temporary design construction issues such as formwork,
shoring, masonry wall bracing, and timber truss bracing, it is a
Reinforcing Steel Placement and Punching Shear topic that can permeate other design courses, such as concrete
Numerous design errors were uncovered when the ve-story Har- design, timber design, steel design, and foundation design. Per-
bor Cay Condominium, Cocoa Beach, Florida, collapsed under haps the best course to address this topic would be a capstone
construction in 1981, killing 11 workers and injuring 23. Incred- senior design course. Chapter 11 of Feld and Carper (1997) is
ibly, no punching shear calculation had been made for the con- specically dedicated to bracing issues and failures.
crete oor slabs. Furthermore, the slabs were only 200 mm (8 in.)
thick and should have been 280 mm (11 in.) thick to satisfy the Temporary Bracing
ACI Building Code minimum. The chairs used to support the slab As temporary bracing is usually a construction-sequencing event,
steel were 108 mm (4 41 in.) high, which, coupled with the thin many times the bracing and construction process is left for the
slabs, led to a very small effective depth (Lew et al. 1982; Ka- eld crew to decide. According to Feld and Carper (1997), in the
minetzky 1991). United States alone, an average of 2,200 fatalities occur yearly in
the construction industry. The economic loss is also staggering
Development Length of Reinforcing Steel around $9 billion lost annually to accidents. According to Ka-
Unless a sufcient development length of steel is embedded in minetzky (1991), in steel construction alone insufcient bracing
concrete, the bar will pull out before it yields. In 1990 a portion of accounts for 25% of the failures during construction. Temporary
the Pittsburgh Mideld Terminal (Pennsylvania) failed during bracing is also a common failure issue in concrete construction. It
construction. In a precast concrete beam the bottom reinforcing is common for contractors to remove shoring and formwork as
bar was embedded only 185 mm (7 41 in.), which is much shorter quickly as possible. Again, sequencing is always an issue as pres-
than necessary (Thornton and DeScenza 1997). sure is always mounting to move on to the next phase of con-
struction in order to meet certain milestone deadlines. Improperly
Structural Steel Design braced timber trusses and masonry walls are also common failure
events. The second writer has been involved in several related
A number of case studies involving steel structures are reviewed case studies (Rens et al. 2000 e).
in Chapter 6 of Feld and Carper (1997). Others are discussed in But who is responsible? Contractors in charge of construction
Kaminetzky (1991). Critical issues for steel structures are connec- routinely have the attitude, if we work fast enough, we wont
tion detailing and buckling. The cases of the Hyatt Regency for have to brace it, and nothing is likely to happen (Feld and
connections and the Hartford Civic Center for buckling can be Carper 1997). However, it is generally the contractors responsi-
used if they have not been addressed earlier in the curriculum. bility to provide the necessary bracing and make decisions about
the most efcient construction sequence (Goldstein 1999). By
Connection Details
common practice and custom, engineers provide designs for com-
Many cases in structural engineering have illustrated the impor-
pleted structures, including permanent bracing but not temporary
tance of careful attention to connections. The Northridge Earth-
bracing.
quake of 1994 showed that the special moment-resisting frame
In any event, engineering education can make temporary brac-
welded connection behaved much worse than anticipated during
ing and construction sequencing a topic in capstone and structural
the event [four papers in Rens (1997), pp. 219257]. This is an
design courses. The second writer has presented a paper involving
excellent example of the dangers of extrapolating behavior from
two case studies of bracing failures and has suggested ways that
small test specimens to full-scale structures and of why codes and
simple application of related examples could integrate design and
standards continue to evolve.
construction (Rens et al. 2000e). For example, the rst case study
involved an inadequately braced 6.1 m (20 ft) tall masonry wall.
Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering A typical windy Colorado evening caused a midsized commercial
Courses in soil mechanics and foundation engineering often dis- building to collapse. The case incorporated the determination of
cuss the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but many other case studies are wind loads, also an often-overlooked civil engineering topic, and
available. Chapter 3 of Feld and Carper (1997) addresses earth- possible failure modes, including bracing buckling (steel design);
work, soil, and foundation problems, and Shepherd and Frost connection design (steel design); punching failure (concrete/
(1995) list foundation and geoenvironmental case studies. Papers masonry design); and soil anchorage failure (foundation design).
published in ASCEs Journal of Performance of Constructed Fa The second case also involved wind interacting with the construc-
cilities address several topics: tion of a large school gymnasium. Again, a typical wind event
Problem ll materials, soil shrinkage, and expansive soils caused 1124.4 m (36 80 ft) long timber trusses to collapse. To
(Gnaedinger et al. 1987; Richardson et al. 1987; Raghu and make matters worse, the failure occurred twice during the setting
Hsieh 1989; Day 1992, 1994a, b, 1995; Meehan and Karp of the trusses, each occurring over the weekendno lessons were
1994). apparently learned. This case also involved the determination of
Lateral earth pressure and retaining walls (Lin and Hadipriono wind loading and forces on connections (timber design).
1990; Day 1993; Diaz et al. 1994; Leonards et al. 1994).
Soil bearing capacity (Whitlock and Mossa 1996; Amini and Structural Integrity of Formwork
Khalilian 1997). There is an economic incentive for a builder to keep formwork as
Two books (Handy 1995; Shallow 1995) provide a thorough inexpensive as possible and to remove it as quickly as possible so
but understandable discussion of engineering geology and soil that it can be reused. Formwork is a structure, and like any struc-
mechanics and their inuence on the performance of facilities. ture can only stand if it is stable and load paths are maintained.
Table 3. Available Case Study and Disaster Videotapes
Title Description and source
To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful 1997, written and presented by Henry Petroski, producer Alec
Design Nesbitt, 51 min, published by Princeton, JH: Films for the
Humanities and Sciences: FFH 7378, distributed under license
from BBC Worldwide Americas, Inc., also available through
Films Incorporated Education, 5547 N. Ravenswood, Chicago,
IL 60640-1199
The Day the Earth Shook 1996, NOVA, written and produced by Simon Campbell-Jones
and Suzanne Campbell-Jones, Executive producer Paula S.
Apsell, 60 min, WGBH Educational Foundation
(www.wghb.org)
Earthquake 1990, NOVA, written and produced by Carl Charlson, Executive
producer Paula Apsell, 60 min, WGBH Educational Foundation
(www.wgbh.org)
Earthquakes: The Terrifying Truth 1994, written and produced by Alex Gregory, executive
producer, Dennis B. Kane, ABC Video Publishing, 50 min
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster 1990, MPI home video presentation of an ABC news production,
30 min
Disaster ProofArchitectural Failures 1996, written and produced by John Borst, SCI-TREKThe
Discovery Channel, 30 min (www.discovery.com)
The New DetectiveCase Studies in Forensic Science 1997, produced by Tom Naughton and Nicolas Valcon, written
by Stephen Zorn, 30 min, SCI-TREKThe Discovery Channel
(www.discovery.com)
Fatal FlawA Skyscrapers Nightmare 1996, A&E Investigative Reports, executive producer Andrea
Miller, directed by Roger Parsons, Kurtis Production Inc.
(www.aande.com)also discussed in Morganstern (1997)
Academic Integrity: The Bridge to Professional Ethics 1995, Center for Applied Ethics, Duke Univ., written by P. Aarne
Vesilind, directed by Jody McAuliff, 35 min
Engineering Disasters From the leaning tower of Pisa to Soyuz 11, here are the
fascinatingand sometimes tragictales of engineering gone
wrong (www.aande.com)

At the New York Coliseum in 1955 (McKaig 1962; Ka- good. Ross (1984) contains cases reprinted from Engineering
minetzky 1991), about 929 m2 (10,000 sq ft) of main exhibition News Record, a weekly publication covering the construction in-
hall collapsed during construction, killing one worker and injur- dustry that often contains examples of recent failures. Shepherd
ing 50 others. The forms were two-stories high, supported on 3.35 and Frost (1995) contains short summaries of a wide variety of
m long, 89 mm square (11 ft 4X4) timbers linked together by a cases. Two excellent recent sources of case studies are the pro-
cross beam at midheight. The crossbeams did not provide bracing ceedings of the 1st and 2nd ASCE congresses on forensic engi-
against lateral instability. Buggies were used to transport the con- neering (Rens 1997; Rens et al. 2000 c).
crete for the slab being poured, and eight buggies were on the Some books, such as Levy and Salvadori (1992) and Petroski
formwork at the time of collapse. According to the district attor- (1985), do an excellent job of explaining fundamental structural
neys ofce, the cause of failure was inadequate provisions in behavior without relying on complex theories or mathematics and
the formwork to resist lateral forces [McKaig (1962), p. 16]. are particularly appropriate for lower-division undergraduate stu-
Without proper bracing, the structure became unstable under the dents.
dynamic loading of the buggies. Formwork designs that had been
safe before the use of buggies proved unsafe under the heavier
Papers and Articles
loads. McKaig (1962) also discusses 14 other formwork failures.
Engineering News Record, addressed briey above, is a good
source of news on recent cases. Another excellent source is the
Sources for Case Materials quarterly Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, pub-
lished by ASCE. Other ASCE journals, such as the Journal of
There are many sources for case studies. These include books, Structural Engineering and Journal of Professional Issues in En
technical papers, and magazine articles, videos, Web sites, pre- gineering Education and Practice, often feature useful case stud-
pared Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, and television pro- ies. A useful bibliography on failures was assembled in a paper by
grams. Nicastro (1996), as noted earlier.

Books Video
Three excellent texts are Feld and Carper (1997), Kaminetzsky An excellent video illustrating case studies is When Engineering
(1991), and Levy and Salvadori (1992). McKaig (1962) is also Fails, written and presented by Henry Petroski. This videotape
Table 4. Available Case Study Web Sites (Based on Delatte 2000)
Topic or case URL
UAB REU site case studies (http://www.eng.uab.edu/cee/REU NSF99/rachelwork.htm)
(http://www.eng.uab.edu/cee/REU NSF99/reu nsf00/carlosebpage2.htm)
(http://www.eng.uab.edu/cee/REU NSF99/reu2001/King.htm)
Assorted case studies (http://carbon.cudenver.edu/mclark/)
(http://www.eos.uoguelph.ca/webles/james/FamousEngrgDisasters.htm)
InvestigationsSGH (http://www.sgh.com/investig.htm)
Tacoma Narrows (http://www.bergen.org/AAST/Projects/Timeline/Transportation20/tacoma/index.htm)
(http://www.nwwf.com/wa003a.htm)
(http://www.math.uconn.edu/kmoore/tacoma.html)
(http://www.stkate.edu/physics/phys111/curric/tacomabr.html)
(http://www.me.utexas.due/uer/papers/paper jk.html)
Hyatt Regency (http://www.uoguelph.ca/ajenney/webpage.htm)
(http://lowery.tamu.edu/ethics/ethics/hyatt/hyatt1.htm)

very closely parallels the book To Engineer is Human (Petroski panic). LeMessurier presented a talk on this issue at the 1 ASCE
1985) and provides dramatic footage of the Hyatt Regency walk- forensic congress (Rens 1997). Table 3 describes these and sev-
way collapse, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse, and other eral other educational videos dealing with engineering failures,
cases. natural disasters, and ethics.
Another quality video that illustrates a specic failure analysis
case study, professional ethics, and rehabilitation can be found at
the Arts and Entertainment Channel (A&E)s investigative re- Internet
ports. This story, titled Fatal FlawA Skyscrapers Nightmare, Several Web sites also provide case studies, or images to go with
describes when the engineer of record William LeMessurier went case studies, as shown in Table 4. Rachel Martins Web site, the
public about the inadequate design of the Citibank skyscraper in rst listed, provides links to many of the others. The UCD also
New York City. A paper chronicling the events can be found in has a Web site with cases and is continuing to collect more (Rens
Morgenstern (1997). The video has several clips of LeMessurier et al. 2000a, b).
documenting his trouble with peace of mind when he discovered,
after the skyscraper was already constructed and inhabited by
ofce staff, that the lateral bracing was inadequately designed. Presentations
The video illustrates how local ofcials worked with emergency
response individuals to develop a plan to evacuate a several-block The TCFEs Committee on the Dissemination of Failure Informa-
region should winds reach a critical magnitude. In the end, work- tion has prepared a set of presentations, Failure Vignettes,
ing in the evenings, a major rehabilitation was accomplished and which are targeted at architects but may also be of value to engi-
failure was avoided without public knowledge (and ensuing neering educators (Zickel 2000).

Table 5. Case Study Television Channels and Programs

Channel Web site Typical program title and description
The Discovery Channel (www.discoverychannel.com) New Detectives: Case Studies in Forensic ScienceSome of
the best clues come from the least likely places. Bafing crimes
have been solved and criminals betrayed through evidence
provided by insects, beer bottles, and other seemingly
meaningless objects
The Learning Channel (www.tlc.com) Without Warning: Bridge CollapseIn 1995, the old Songsu
Bridge in Seoul, Korea, collapsed. News reports show the gaping
hole in the popular commuter bridge and the death and
destruction below
The Arts and Entertainment (A&E) Channel (www.aande.com) Greatest Blunders of the 20th CenturyThe 20th century
witnessed a long parade of stunning achievements, from the
popularization of the automobile to the landing on the moon. But
there is a ipside to these stories, for the path to progress has not
always been smooth
Television Eng. Educ. Pract., 123(3), 111116.
Delatte, N. J. (2000). Using failure case studies in civil engineering
Several excellent, educational regular television programs deal education. Forensic engineering, K. L. Rens, O. Rendon-Herrero,
with forensic science. Some of these programs are centered on the and P. A. Bosela, eds., ASCE, Reston, Va., 430 440.
subject of pathology, but many of the procedures are well suited Diaz, C. F., Hadipriono, F. C., and Pasternack, S. (1994). Failures of
to engineering failure analysis. In particular, the gathering of evi- residential building basements in Ohio. J. Perform. Constr. Facil.,
dence, interviewing witnesses, photography, document preserva- 8(1), 65 80.
tion, and interpretation of results are common topics. A look at the Dutson, A. J., Todd, R. H., Magleby, S. P., and Sorensen, C. D. (1997).
television listings via the Internet revealed the programs listed in A Review of Literature on Teaching Engineering Design Through
Table 5. In addition, many of the videotapes shown in Table 3 are Project-Oriented Capstone Courses, J. Eng. Educ., 86(1).
occasionally broadcast. Feld, J., and Carper, K. (1997). Construction failure, 2nd Ed., Wiley, New
York.
Gillum, J. D. (2000). The engineer of record and design responsibility.
J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 14(2), 6770.
Summary, Recommendations, and Conclusions Gnaedinger, J. P. (1987). Open hearth slagA problem waiting to hap-
pen. J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 1(2), 78 83.
The formation of the TCFE and its representative committees in Goldstein, E. W. (1999). Timber construction for architects and builders,
the early 1980s marked an important benchmark for failure analy- McGraw-Hill, New York.
sis and education. Since that time, numerous articles and a wealth Handy, R. L. (1995). The day the house fell, ASCE, New York.
of other sources have been published on the subject. The cases Jennings, A., and Mackinnon, P. (2000). Case for undergraduate study
and sources identied in this paper represent a starting point in of disasters. J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 14(1), 38 41.
the development of case studies in civil engineering education. Kaminetzky, D. (1991). Design and construction failures: Lessons from
This paper also reects 20 years worth of evolution of failure forensic investigations, McGraw-Hill, New York.
LaCome, M. L., Blankespoor, A., and Rens, K. L. (2000). Concrete
analysis education. It is hoped that the interest will grow expo-
maturity: A valid nondestructive evaluation and forensic tool. Proc.,
nentially over the next 20-year period as well.
2nd Forensic Congress, ASCE, Reston, Va. 172182.
Leonards, G. A., Frost, J. D., and Bray, J. D. (1994). Collapse of
geogrid-reinforced retaining structure. J. Perform. Constr. Facil.,
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Levy, M., and Salvadori, M. (1992). Why buildings fall down: How struc
Rachel Martin and Suzanne King gathered much of the back- tures fail, Norton, New York.
ground material for this paper; Martin prepared Figs. 1 4. Their Lew, H., Fattel, S., Shaver, J., Reinhold, T., and Hunt, B. (1979). Inves
work was supported by the National Science Foundation Re- tigation of construction failure of reinforced concrete cooling tower at
search Experiences for Undergraduates site at the University of Willow Island, W.V., U.S. Dept. of Labor, OSHA/National Bureau of
Alabama at Birmingham under Grant No. EEC-9820484. Profes- Standards, Washington, D.C.
sor Oswald Rendon-Herrero of Mississippi State University pro- Lew, H. S., et al. (1982). Investigation of construction failure of Har-
bour Cay Condominium in Cocoa Beach, Florida. Rep. S/N 003-003
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0245-8, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards,
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Lin, H.-M., and Hadipriono, F. C. (1990). Problems in deep foundation
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