The Ingenieur Vol 59 July-Sept 2014 The Ingenieur Vo. 59, July-Sept 2014 | Page 55

FEATURE

OVERSEAS CASES –
LESSONS LEARNT FROM
STRUCTURAL FAILURES

F

rom reports in both advanced and developing
countries, it is clear that failures in buildings,
highways and other man-made structures
occur all around the world.
Some happen
during construction while others when the
infrastructure is in use. Promoting transparency,
certain Governments and building development
authorities make it a point to highlight such cases
with published investigation reports. Although
reactionary, some structural failures trigger
Government action plus legislative measures to
address the issues identified.
A lot if investigative time and effort are spent
to undercover the causes of structural failures.

In general, both technical and human factors are
involved. These include:
Lack of appropriate professional design and
●●
construction experience, especially when
novel structures are needed.
Complexity of codes and specifications leading
●●
to misinterpretation and misapplication.
Unwarranted belief in calculations and in
●●
specified extreme loads and properties.
Inadequate preparation and review of contract
●●
and drawings.
Poor training of field inspectors.
●●
Compressed design and/or construction
●●
time.

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