{"id":238,"date":"2012-07-01T16:36:26","date_gmt":"2012-07-01T16:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/?p=238"},"modified":"2012-07-04T14:45:43","modified_gmt":"2012-07-04T14:45:43","slug":"unsafe-roof-debris-an-easy-call-for-a-professional-engineer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/2012\/07\/01\/unsafe-roof-debris-an-easy-call-for-a-professional-engineer\/","title":{"rendered":"Unsafe roof debris at Elliot Lake an easy call for a professional engineer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Removing a\u00a0pile of debris is like the game of pick-up-sticks where\u00a0you lose if a stick moves.\u00a0 Only\u00a0with roof debris your “loss” might be an\u00a0injury possibly a serious one to yourself or the\u00a0survivors you’re seeking.<\/p>\n

Professional engineers know about supporting and holding things up properly.\u00a0 That’s what structural engineering is all about.\u00a0 Having a forensic structural engineer on the first response team would seem to be\u00a0a good idea.\u00a0 They are going to be involved in any event determining the cause of the collapse.<\/p>\n

Good response leadership –\u00a0which was lacking\u00a0at the\u00a0Elliot Lake roof collapse according to an editorial in Saturday’s Globe and Mail, needs good advice.\u00a0 What better place to get it than from people who design things to stand up?<\/p>\n

Swift action involving engineers is also needed because so much of the evidence associated with a collapse is of a perishable nature – some of it highly perishable.\u00a0 Steel and concrete fracture surfaces will corrode and weather, debris will be moved and memories will fade.<\/p>\n

The first steps in the forensic structural engineering investigation of a collapse\u00a0are critical and concerned with safety in the debris, the “pile of sticks”\u00a0that the debris is not\u00a0at all unlike.\u00a0 They\u00a0may also profoundly influence the success of subsequent forensic technical investigations.<\/p>\n

The engineer may be requested to\u00a0assess the safety\u00a0and stability of a structure for a variety of possible reasons:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. To assist in identifying the safest routes through the debris, or identifying areas that must be avoided until stabilized<\/li>\n
  2. To assist in identifying components that are in imminent danger of further collapse.<\/li>\n
  3. To evaluate methods of stabilizing the structure.<\/li>\n
  4. To assist in determining whether it is advisable to provide protection for the public.<\/li>\n
  5. To assist in evaluating alternative demolition or dismantling sequences.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    An argument could even be made for having the first response team to a collapse site headed up and directed by a professional engineer with a project management background.<\/p>\n

    References<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The\u00a0Globe and Mail, Saturday, June 30, 2012, page F8 Comment.<\/p>\n

    Ratay, Robert T., Forensic Structural Engineering Handbook, <\/em>Chap. 4, The First Steps After a Failure, McGraw Hill, 2000<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Removing a\u00a0pile of debris is like the game of pick-up-sticks where\u00a0you lose if a stick moves.\u00a0 Only\u00a0with roof debris your “loss” might be an\u00a0injury possibly a serious one to yourself or the\u00a0survivors you’re seeking. Professional engineers know about supporting and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":257,"href":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238\/revisions\/257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}