In 1977, the seventh tallest skyscraper in New York was opened: the Citicorp Center. Just a year later, it turned out: It could collapse, killing half of Manhattan. A mistake in the structural design almost led to a disaster. How did it come about? You can find this out in our post.
In 1996, a terrible fire disaster occurred at Düsseldorf Airport. We have drawn many conclusions from this in Germany when it comes to fire protection. But how did the accident come about? In this post, you will read how the disaster happened and what we learned from it.
What do you think of when hearing the term "Berlin Airport"? Nine years late, seven postponed openings, and a failure all along the line. Germany normally enjoys a very good reputation in the global construction industry. We have many excellent engineers doing internationally recognized work. So how can a mammoth project like Germany's most important airport end in such a disaster? We turn to the facts and consider: What could have been done better? Be excited!
In the case of this disaster, civil engineers were not guilty. Nevertheless, we will look the behind horizon and talk about this tragedy, which took the lives of too many people.
In the first half of the 20th century, a disaster happened in the United States that every civil engineer is familiar with. The collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge was fascinating in a very special way. What did we learn about structural design from it? Was there anything good about this collapse?
Past events have shown us how severe the consequences of floods can be. People die, livelihoods are lost, vast areas are destroyed - but how did we get this far? Have floods always determined our lives? How can we continue to minimize the consequences?
During South Korea’s building boom of the 1990s, a huge department store is built in Seoul. However, after six years of operation, a disaster with serious consequences takes place. 500 people die. Almost a thousand are injured. How can such a serious disaster occur? Who is to blame? How could it have been prevented?