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"--

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

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.

In this edited volume on advances in forensic geotechnical engineering, a number of technical contributions by experts and professionals in this area are included. The work is the outcome of deliberations at various conferences in the area conducted by Prof. G.L. Sivakumar Babu and Dr. V.V.S. Rao as secretary and Chairman of Technical Committee on Forensic Geotechnical Engineering of International Society for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering (ISSMGE). This volume contains papers on topics such as guidelines, evidence/data collection, distress characterization, use of diagnostic tests (laboratory and field tests), back analysis, failure hypothesis formulation, role of instrumentation and sensor-based technologies, risk analysis, technical shortcomings. This volume will prove useful to researchers and practitioners alike.

This book presents a selection of the author‘s firsthand experience with incidents related to reinforced and prestressed concrete structures, helping readers gain an understanding of errors that can occur in order to avoid making them. He includes mistakes discovered at the design stage, ones that led to failures, and some that involved partial structure collapse all of which required remedial action to ensure safety. The book focuses on specific incidents that occurred at various points in the construction process, including mistakes related to structural misunderstanding, extrapolation of codes of practice, and poor construction.

Proceedings of the Sixth Congress on Forensic Engineering, held in San Francisco, California, October 31-November 3, 2012. Sponsored by the Technical Council on Forensic Engineering of ASCE. This collection contains 144 peer-reviewed papers presenting findings intended to help forensic engineers develop practices and procedures to reduce the number of failures, disseminate information on failures, and provide guidelines for conducting failure investigations and for ethical conduct. Topics include: bridges; building envelopes; critical infrastructure; design practices; disaster risk management; education; emerging technologies; fires; floods; flooring; geotechnical failures; hurricanes, tornadoes, and extreme winds; investigative methodologies; practices to reduce failures; professional practice; research and testing; residential construction; and structural failures. This will be valuable to engineers, researchers, educators, and students involved in forensic engineering.