ENGINEERING DISASTERS

What is Engineering?

Discipline dealing with the art or science of applying scientific knowledge to practical problems

Examples: building skyscrapers jet planes developing new materials transmitting signals though light pulses etc

Engineers provide a solution society's needs and problems on a number of other scales with a unique blend of technology and science

What is a disaster?

A disaster is:

Natural or man-made

Large scale

May result in physical

damage or destruction,

loss of life or sometimes

permanent change to

the natural

environment.These are usually financial burdens on the

budget.

What are Engineering Disasters?

Engineers design and build objects.

The objects, naturally, have a limited life.

Engineers are expected to avoid a catastrophic failure

before the expected life ends.

Being unsuccessful at this, the object breaks down causing

wide scale damage to related personnel, environment etc.

This is an engineering disaster.

Causes of Engineering Disasters The primary causes of

engineering disasters are usually considered to be: human factors (including

both 'ethical' failure and accidents)

design flaws (many of which are also the result of unethical practices)

materials failures extreme conditions or

environments, and, most commonly and importantly

combinations of these reasons

Causes of Engineering Disasters

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich conducted a study and

classified the causes from an engineers end into the following:

insufficient knowledge (36%)

underestimation of influence (16%)

ignorance, carelessness and negligence (14%)

forgetfulness and error (13%)

relying upon others without sufficient control (9%)

objectively unknown situation (7%)

imprecise definition of responsibilities (1%)

choice of bad quality (1%)

other reasons were computed up to constitute 3%

Examples of Engineering Disasters

I. Minnesota Bridge Collapse: The bridge was built over the Mississippi River,

Minneapolis in 1967 by the Hurcon Inc. and

Industrial Construction Company.

The bridge collapsed during the evening of 1st

August 2007, consuming the lives of thirteen

people while injuring approximately 145 people.

Detailed study revealed that the gusset plates

used were too thin (0.5 inches) to bear the

weight.

Moreover, Minnesota Department of Transport

had added two inches of concrete to the bridge

deck over its lifetime resulting in twenty percent

more weight to be carried by the bridge.

Examples of Engineering Disasters

II. Hyatt Regency Hotel Walkway Collapse

This was a major disaster that occurred on July 17, 1981 in Kansas City, Missouri

114 people were killed while more than 200 got injured

On that eve, the walkways on the second, third, and fourth floor of the hotel were packed with visitors as they watched over a dance competition.

This new design could barely handle the weight of the structure itself, much less the weight of the hundreds of spectators standing on it.

This new design could barely handle the weight of the structure itself, much less the weight of the hundreds of spectators standing on it.

Examples of Engineering Disasters

III. 1970’s DC-10 Disasters

Flight 191 lost its number one wing

engine after taking off from O’Hare

International Airport in Chicago, USA,

May 25, 1979.

The engine separated upwards and

ripped through the leading edge of the

wing; rupturing hydraulic lines.

The left wing stalled, the plane rolled left

and crashed before the flight crew could

recover.

All 271 people on board, plus two on the

ground, were killed in this accident.

Other examples

Chernobyl Nuclear Power

Plant Disaster-1986

St. Francis Dam Flooding-1928

Skylab-1973

How to avoid engineering disasters?

Engineers must follow their code of ethics Be honest to their jobs Explore about each possibility and think

twice before finalizing a decision Carrying out regular maintenance checks Government should also introduce check-

ups and follow ups at each stage and introduce laws against anyone violating the set regulations.

References

"English Dictionary - With Multi-Lingual Search." All Words. 18 Oct. 2009

<http://www.allwords.com/word-disaster.html>.

Minnesota Department of Transport Inspection Guideline. "Inspection Guidline July

2007." Minnesota Department of Transport. 19 July 2007. 24 Sept. 2009

<www.dot.state.mn.us/.../pdfs/inspection-guidelines_july-2007.pdf>.

Minnesota Department of Transport Fact Sheet. "Interstate 35W Mississippi River

Bridge, Minneapolis Fact Sheet - Oct. 16, 2007." Minnesota Department of Transport.

16 Oct. 2007. 24 Sept. 2009 <www.dot.state.mn.us/i35wbridge/pdfs/factsheet.pdf>.

Srinivasan, Vasudevan, and Gary Halada. "Engineering Disasters and Learning from

Failure." 8 Dec. 2008. 24 Sept. 2009 <http://www.matscieng.sunysb.edu/disaster/>.

"Top 10 Worst Engineering Disasters." Listverse. 4 Dec. 2007. 18 Oct. 2009

<http://listverse.com/2007/12/04/top-10-worst-engineering-disasters/>.

"What is Engineering?" Whiting School of Engineering, John Hopkins University. 18

Oct. 2009 <http://www.jhu.edu/virtlab/>.

Thanks