I read the report in yesterday’s Chronicle Herald about flying pieces of metal injuring four people on a popular ride in Yarmouth.<\/p>\n
It occurs to me at this distance that this should be a fairly easy failure to investigate\u00a0with\u00a0a visual assessment by perhaps an experienced\u00a0mechanical engineer.\u00a0 For certain, to\u00a0at least enable a tentative statement of cause.<\/p>\n
This is because the surfaces from which the metal came loose are likely to be exposed to view.\u00a0 And because there are likely to be other units (chairs?)\u00a0in the ride apparatus that are identical with the\u00a0metal still in place.\u00a0 This would afford a before and after comparision of the in-place condition of the pieces of metal.\u00a0 This type of comparision can yield good evidence.<\/p>\n
(A failure in engineering\u00a0occurs when something in the built environment doesn’t perform properly)<\/p>\n
A visual assessment doesn’t sound very technical but\u00a0it is always\u00a0valuable and sometimes all that is necessary.\u00a0 And it is an essential part of the main steps\u00a0in the failure investigation process:<\/p>\n
One time, I investigated the reason a piece of ice fell from a structure and struck and injured a person.\u00a0 My investigation was based\u00a0almost entirely on a\u00a0visual assessment of\u00a0the exposed surfaces of the\u00a0structure.\u00a0 I did this to some extent from a distance with binoculars and a camera with telescopic lens.<\/p>\n
I\u00a0also was able to compare the condition of the part of the structure involved with other unaffected parts of the structure and other structures in the area that were\u00a0the same.<\/p>\n
I analysed the data – largely taken from a visual assessment, formed my opinion, submitted my report, and,\u00a0I understand,\u00a0a dispute that had been ongoing for several years was resolved within a few months.<\/p>\n
This situation with the falling ice\u00a0seems very similar to the situation\u00a0in Yarmouth with the flying pieces of metal.<\/p>\n
At the very least, an initial hypothesis could be formed as to the cause of the problem based on a simple visual assessment.\u00a0 This hypothesis could then be investigated by more detailed forensic engineering investigation, if this in fact\u00a0is\u00a0necessary.<\/p>\n
The Nova Scotia Department of Labour are investigating and I’m certain we’ll know the answer soon enough.<\/p>\n
References<\/strong><\/p>\n American Society of\u00a0Civil Engineers, Guidelines for Failure Investigation<\/em>, 1989<\/p>\n The Chronice Herald, Thursday, August 2, 2012, page A6<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I read the report in yesterday’s Chronicle Herald about flying pieces of metal injuring four people on a popular ride in Yarmouth. It occurs to me at this distance that this should be a fairly easy failure to investigate\u00a0with\u00a0a visual … Continue reading