{"id":7240,"date":"2019-03-18T11:38:50","date_gmt":"2019-03-18T14:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/?p=7240"},"modified":"2021-01-13T15:31:14","modified_gmt":"2021-01-13T19:31:14","slug":"update-where-does-an-experts-initial-hypothesis-come-from","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/2019\/03\/18\/update-where-does-an-experts-initial-hypothesis-come-from\/","title":{"rendered":"Update: Where does an expert\u2019s initial hypothesis come from?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I commented last month on the basis for an expert’s hypothesis during the merit assessment stage and gave a few examples. (Ref. 1) You may remember that the hypothesis or initial oral report<\/em>\u00a0comes from:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Your briefing<\/li>\n
  2. The expert’s experience<\/li>\n
  3. Published data on causes<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The examples of published data were quite informative. (Refs 2, 3, 4) The most detailed was about the 209 ways a building can fail – useful information and readily available to the expert when assessing cause. (Ref. 2)<\/p>\n

    There’s more.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 A building is only one type of structure in the built environment.\u00a0 There are actually about 18 different types as listed below. (after Ref. 4)\u00a0 Each structure can fail in several different ways.\u00a0 The causes have been researched and published for most of the 18 like the 209 causes for a building.<\/p>\n

    (It was Ref. 4 that prompted this blog update – it extends our understanding of failure and accidents to all types of structure)<\/p>\n

    Your urban environment where you live contains some or all of the following types of structure:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Bridges<\/li>\n
    2. Dams<\/li>\n
    3. Tunnels<\/li>\n
    4. Roads and highways<\/li>\n
    5. Embankments<\/li>\n
    6. Excavations<\/li>\n
    7. Natural, and man-made fill slopes<\/li>\n
    8. Buildings like residential, commercial, industrial and multi-story (There are more buildings in the world than any other type of structure)<\/li>\n
    9. Foundations<\/li>\n
    10. Basements<\/li>\n
    11. Retaining walls<\/li>\n
    12. Infra structures like pipelines<\/li>\n
    13. Water, storm and sewer pipelines<\/li>\n
    14. Tanks<\/li>\n
    15. Storage bins<\/li>\n
    16. Chimneys and stacks<\/li>\n
    17. Towers; both guyed and free standing<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      The causes of failure of these structures are categorized according to the:<\/p>\n