Case Studies On Failure Investigations In Structural And Geotechnical Engineering

Failures of structures occur in all parts of the world as the result of design errors, construction defects, abuse or misuse, ageing and deterioration of the structure, lack of maintenance, as well as environmental effects such as wind, flood, snow, earthquake and, of course, human errors. They can result in catastrophic human costs as well as heavy financial losses to all involved, including local economic growth deceleration, expensive delays and repairs, as well as other repercussions, such as legal actions to responsible parties. ‘Welcome’ effects of these unfortunate events include a better understanding of the origins and causes of structural failures, their corresponding lessons learnt, and a more effective mitigation of their occurrence through changes in codes, standards, guidelines, and practice. In several countries the investigation process of the causes of failures, responsibilities, and resolution of the consequent claims have created an active, demanding, and specialised field of professional practice – often referred to as Forensic Structural Engineering – with well-defined technical and legal procedures. This bulletin is the result of the work lead by the Task Group 5.1 ‘Forensic Structural Engineering’. It provides understanding of the origins, causes, and consequences of failures, their forensic investigations, and the lessons learnt from them. The aim of the bulletin is not only to describe different examples but, mainly, to use emblematic case studies to show procedures that can be used when dealing with structural failures. In addition to obtaining a deeper insight into the technical causes for structural failure, the reader would be duly informed about the different countries’ legal issues related to the investigation process. The bulletin is aimed at young, mid-career and experienced structural engineers who want to acquire a better understanding of failure mechanisms towards improving their design, inspection, construction, administrative, and other project-related practices to avoid pitfalls that may lead to failures. It also aims at those wanting to acquire a working knowledge of the challenging professional practice of forensic structural engineering.

Failures of structures occur in all parts of the world as the result of design errors, construction defects, abuse or misuse, ageing and deterioration of the structure, lack of maintenance, as well as environmental effects such as wind, flood, snow, earthquake and, of course, human errors. They can result in catastrophic human costs as well as heavy financial losses to all involved, including local economic growth deceleration, expensive delays and repairs, as well as other repercussions, such as legal actions to responsible parties. 'Welcome' effects of these unfortunate events include a better understanding of the origins and causes of structural failures, their corresponding lessons learnt, and a more effective mitigation of their occurrence through changes in codes, standards, guidelines, and practice. In several countries the investigation process of the causes of failures, responsibilities, and resolution of the consequent claims have created an active, demanding, and specialised field of professional practice - often referred to as Forensic Structural Engineering - with well-defined technical and legal procedures. This bulletin is the result of the work lead by the Task Group 5.1 'Forensic Structural Engineering'. It provides understanding of the origins, causes, and consequences of failures, their forensic investigations, and the lessons learnt from them. The aim of the bulletin is not only to describe different examples but, mainly, to use emblematic case studies to show procedures that can be used when dealing with structural failures. In addition to obtaining a deeper insight into the technical causes for structural failure, the reader would be duly informed about the different countries' legal issues related to the investigation process. The bulletin is aimed at young, mid-career and experienced structural engineers who want to acquire a better understanding of failure mechanisms towards improving their design, inspection, construction, administrative, and other project-related practices to avoid pitfalls that may lead to failures. It also aims at those wanting to acquire a working knowledge of the challenging professional practice of forensic structural engineering.

"This book gives examples of failed civil engineering projects and the lessons learned from the failures. The case studies were gathered by ASCE's Forensic Engineering Division"--

Prepared by the Education Committee of the Forensic Engineering Division of the American Society of Civil EngineersFailure Case Studies: Steel Structures, provides case studies of failures observed in steel structures between 1970 and 2013. Designed to promote learning from failures by disseminating information regarding previous failure cases, each case study is comprised of a summary description of a documented civil engineering failure followed by lessons learned from the failure and references for further study. Case studies include West Gate bridge collapseUniversity of Washington stadium collapseDamage to steel moment resisting frames during the Northridge EarthquakeColorado State Route 470 overpass collapsePittsburgh Convention Center expansion joint failureI-35W bridge collapseElliot Lake Algo mall collapse; andSkagit River Bridge collapse.This book supplies a summary of the published findings from eight steel structure failure investigations and a valuable collection of references that can be used by civil engineering students and practicing engineers to improve their failure literacy. Engineering professors and students can use these case studies as the basis for class discussions, a starting point for further research, and a reminder that learning from past failures can avoid similar failures in the future and lead to improved engineering practices. Practicing engineers can use the book as a continuing education resource to improve their practice and to avoid similar failures.

The main goal of this introductory text is to demonstrate how basic concepts in Soil Mechanics can be used as a “forensic” tool in the investigation of geotechnical failures. This, in turn, provides a good opportunity to show how to use available procedures in the formulation of useful simple models. Geotechnical failure is understood here in a broad sense as the failure of a structure to function properly due to a geotechnical reason. Some of the geotechnical failures selected are well known for their impact on the geotechnical community. Others are closer to the author’s experience. They have been organized into three main topics: Settlement, Bearing Capacity and Excavations. They cover a significant proportion of every day’s activity of professional geotechnical engineers. No attempt has been made to create a comprehensive handbook of failures. Instead, the emphasis has been given to creative applications of simple mechanical concepts and well known principles and solutions of Soil Mechanics. The book shows how much can be learned from relatively simple approaches. Despite this emphasis on simplicity, the book provides a deep insight into the cases analyzed. A non-negligible number of new analytical closed-form solutions have also been found. Their derivation can be followed in detail. In all the cases described an effort was made to provide a detailed and step by step description of the hypothesis introduced and of the analysis performed.

Norbert Delatte presents the circumstances of important failures that have had far-reaching impacts on civil engineering practice, organized around topics in the engineering curriculum.

This report provides short descriptions of 50 real-world examples of performance failures designed specifically for classroom use.

"This book gives examples of failed civil engineering projects and the lessons learned from the failures. The case studies were gathered by ASCE's Forensic Engineering Division"--