{"id":3805,"date":"2015-07-30T02:28:40","date_gmt":"2015-07-30T02:28:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/?p=3805"},"modified":"2015-07-30T02:28:40","modified_gmt":"2015-07-30T02:28:40","slug":"what-is-forensic-civil-engineering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/30\/what-is-forensic-civil-engineering\/","title":{"rendered":"What is forensic civil engineering?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I thought to\u00a0re-issue my answer to this question (see\u00a0below) after reading an updated edition – 2012,\u00a0of\u00a0‘Guidelines for Forensic Engineering Practice’.\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0The\u00a0comprehensive Guidelines\u00a0<\/em>were originally\u00a0published by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in 2003.\u00a0\u00a0ASCE saw changes in the practice of forensic engineering in the years after 2003.\u00a0 These included\u00a0changes in how forensic engineering\u00a0should be\u00a0defined.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

As stated in the Preface to the\u00a0Guidelines<\/em>, regarding society in general:<\/p>\n

“Design codes and standards, construction safety regulations, tools of investigation and analysis, and dispute resolution rules and procedures have evolved since 2003, when the first edition of the Guidelines<\/em> was published.<\/p>\n

“More importantly, forensic engineering has matured, becoming a more accepted, organized, and active field of practice.”<\/p>\n

I also thought to re-issue my answer to this question because a friend visited my blog recently and promptly left because “I don’t understand anything about that (forensic engineering)”, she said.\u00a0 No surprise, really, because her profession has no need\u00a0for such services.\u00a0 Still,\u00a0my friend’s comment made me think that I better continue to make clear what forensic engineering is about.\u00a0 Lest counsel and insurance claims managers promptly leave too.\u00a0 People who really need to know about forensic civil engineering.<\/p>\n

Civil engineering, including geotechnical and structural engineering, is basically concerned with the planning, design and construction of the built environment. \u00a0For example, structures – and the components of these, also their infra-structure – like buildings, roads, bridges, dams, land drainage and earth works, water and sewage treatment, distribution and\u00a0collection systems, wharves and harbour works, etc.<\/p>\n

Sometimes these structures or their components fail. \u00a0That is, they don’t work as planned and designed, they break, or they occasionally fall down completely – catastrophically.<\/p>\n

Civil engineers as problem solvers determine the cause of these failures, and also the cause of personal injury accidents – by carrying out a forensic civil engineering investigation.<\/p>\n

In Eastern Canada today,\u00a0following\u00a0on\u00a0the Guidelines<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Forensic engineering can be\u00a0defined as applying engineering\u00a0principles, education, and knowledge to problems\u00a0– failures and accidents, where liability\u00a0is most often\u00a0resolved in a tribunal but may be decided in a legal forum.<\/p>\n

We investigate and determine the cause of problems and explain technical issues\u00a0to lay\u00a0people.\u00a0 Increasingly we advise on how to fix the problem.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Guidelines<\/em> are a good reference for counsel and insurance personnel and readily available on inter-library loan.\u00a0 Actually\u00a0a good read in some situations, like legal practice handbooks are a good read for experts. \u00a0Chapter headings in the 2012 edition indicate the thorough coverage of the practice of forensic engineering:<\/p>\n