Learning From Construction Failures

Much of the knowledge used to design, build, and operate engineered facilities and products is gained by learning from failures. As catastrophic building failures become ever more costly, this book helps readers understand key issues, from determining the causes of failure and isolating failed parts to lessening personal liability through proper contracting, planning, and management.

First published in 1968, Jacob Feld's Construction Failure has longbeen considered the classic text on the subject. Retaining all ofthe key components of Feld's comprehensive exploration of the rootcauses of failure, this Second Edition addresses a multitude ofimportant industry developments to bring this landmark work up todate for a new generation of engineers, architects, andstudents. In addition to detailed coverage of current design tools,techniques, materials, and construction methods, ConstructionFailure, Second Edition features an entire chapter on theburgeoning area of construction litigation, including a thoroughexamination of alternative dispute resolution techniques. Like theoriginal, this edition discusses technical and procedural failuresof many different types of structures, but is now supplemented withnew case studies to illustrate the dynamics of failure in actiontoday. Jacob Feld knew thirty years ago that in order to learn from ourmistakes, we must first acknowledge and understand them. With thisrevised volume, Kenneth Carper has ensured that Feld'snow-posthumous message will continue to be heard for years tocome. Jacob Feld's comprehensive work on failure analysis has now beenskillfully amended to address current design and constructiontools, materials, and practices. Building on the first edition'speerless examination of the causes and lessons of failure,Construction Failure, Second Edition provides you with expandedcoverage of: * Technical, procedural, structural, and nonstructural failures * Natural hazards, earthworks, soil and foundation problems, andmore * Reinforced, precast and prestressed concrete, steel, timber,masonry, and other materials * Responsibility and litigation concerns, dispute avoidance, andalternative dispute resolution techniques * Construction safety issues * Many different types of structures, including dams andbridges Construction Failure has as much to teach us today as it did thirtyyears ago. This revised volume is an essential resource for designengineers, architects, construction managers, lawyers, and studentsin all of these fields.

Expert guidance from an engineer with 40 years' experience investigating and analyzing distressed and failed structures. Pinpointing both the causes and the consequences of errors in design, construction, and maintenance, Kaminetzky discusses numerous types of structures and construction materials, identifying the critical flaws that have led to failure time and time again. Includes detailed case histories of building failures and collapses, and abundant photographs and drawings. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Forensic engineering encompasses any engineering discipline that has the potential to be used for the technical investigation of failures. This volume presents papers from leading experts on how to learn from failures of constructed environments (from serviceability to catastophic), and on the implications for construction professionals.

Contracts for Construction and Engineering Projects provides unique and invaluable guidance on the role of contracts in construction and engineering projects. The work explores various aspects of the intersection of contracts and construction projects involving the work of engineers and other professionals engaged in construction, whether as project managers, designers, constructors, contract administrators, schedulers, claims consultants, forensic engineers or expert witnesses. Compiling papers written and edited by the author, refined and expanded with additional chapters in this new edition, this book draws together a lifetime of lessons learned in these fields and covers the topics a practising professional might encounter in construction and engineering projects, developed in bite-sized chunks. The chapters are divided into five key parts: 1. The engineer and the contract 2. The project and the contract 3. Avoidance and resolution of disputes 4. Forensic engineers and expert witnesses, and 5. International construction contracts. The inclusion of numerous case studies to illustrate the importance of getting the contract right before it is entered into – and the consequences that may ensue if this is not done – makes this book essential reading for professionals practising in any area of design, construction, contract administration, preparation of claims or expert evidence, as well as construction lawyers who interact with construction professionals.

On March 17 1989, the Civic Tower of Pavia collapsed without apparently any warning sign, killing four people. After an experimental and analytical investigation lasted nine months, the collapse cause was found in a progressive damage dating back many years and due mainly to the heavy dead load put on top of the existing medieval tower when realising a massive bell-tower in granite. Other case histories have been collected as the collapse of the St. Marco bell-tower in Venice in 1902, of the Sancta Maria Magdalena bell-tower in 1992 in Dusseldorf, the damages of the bell-tower of the Monza Cathedral and of the Torrazzo in Cremona. Later on, in 1996 the collapse of the Noto Cathedral showed that similar progressive damages can take place in pillars of churches and cathedrals. The experimental research aimed to show the reliability of this interpretation went on and it is still continuing since 1989 and it is described in the book. After a careful interpretation of the experimental results, also based on experiences from rock mechanics and concrete, the modelling of the phenomenon for massive structures as creep behaviour of masonry was implemented. The book has the scope of helping architects and engineers to deal with the continuous damage of heavy structures and, to understand the signs of the phenomenon while proposing some modelling, but also to give guidelines for the on site investigation, monitoring and repairing of the damaged structures.

Written by an engineer and construction lawyer with many years of experience, The Application of Contracts in Engineering and Construction Projects provides unique and invaluable guidance on the role of contracts in construction and engineering projects. Compiling papers written and edited by the author, it draws together a lifetime of lessons learned in these fields and covers the topics a practicing professional might encounter in such a project, developed in bite-sized chunks. Key topics included are: the engineer and the contract; the project and the contract; avoidance and resolution of disputes; forensic engineers and expert witnesses; and international construction contracts. The inclusion of numerous case studies to illustrate the importance of getting the contract right before it is entered into, and the consequences that may ensue if this is not done, makes The Application of Contracts in Engineering and Construction Projects essential reading for construction professionals, lawyers and students of construction law.