Forensic engineering : a professional approach to investigation ; proceedings of the international conference organized by the Institution of Civil Engineers and held in London, UK, on 28-29 September 1998

Forensic engineering is a broadly defined term used to describe the technical investigation of failures that lead, or may lead, to either civil or criminal legal proceedings. These proceedings centre on failures of constructed environments (from serviceability to catastrophic) and include a variety of case histories covering the investigation of bridge structures Title Page 1 Editor's preface 3 Contents 5 INTRODUCTION 7 GROWTH OF FORENSIC ENGINEERING 8 RANGE OF ACTIVITIES 10 CONCLUSIONS 15 RISK MANAGEMENT 17 INSURANCE - CHAIN MAIL OR STRING VEST? 19 SOME OF THE LEGAL PRINCIPLES EXAMINED 19 WHAT INSURANCES MIGHT BE INVOLVED? 21 CLAIMS MANAGEMENT 23 AN EPILOGUE 24 INTRODUCTION 25 LAWYERS REQUIREMENTS 28 LORD WOOLF'S PROPOSALS 30 SUMMARY 32 INTRODUCTION 33 PROCUREMENT 34 DESIGN 35 CONSTRUCTION 36 OPERATION 37 COLLAPSE 37 INVESTIGATION 37 THE TRIAL 40 SAFETY IN PORTS. CIRIA GUIDE ON PROCUREMENT, OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE 41 LESSONS AND COMMENTS 42 "FORENSIC ENGINEERING" 44 Reference 44 AIMS OF PAPER 45 THE FACTS 46 CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR LATENT DEFECTS 47 BASIS OF THE CONVICTIONS AND SENTENCES 48 RELATED DEVELOPMENTS IN THE LAW 53 RISK ASSESSMENT, QUALITY ASSURANCE AND STANDARDS 61 CONTRIBUTION TO STRUCTURAL SAFETY 64 INTRODUCTION 67 SEVERE CRACKING IN A RIGID FRAME STRUCTURE 67 FLEXURAL SHEAR FAILURES IN POST-TENSIONED CONCRETE BEAMS 68 CORROSION OF EXTERNAL PRESTRESSING 70 PREMATURE COLLAPSE OF A WATER TOWER 72 CONCLUSIONS 74 REFERENCES 74 ABSTRACT 75 INTRODUCTION 75 LINEAR ELASTIC FRACTURE MECHANICS, LEFM 76 A NON-LINEAR FRACTURE THEORY FOR CONCRETE 76 LEFM AS A FORENSIC TOOL FOR LARGE CONCRETE STRUCTURES 78 CONCLUSION 82 REFERENCES 82 ABSTRACT 83 HURRICANE ANDREW 83 THE NORTHRIDGE EARTHQUAKE 84 FORENSIC IMPLICATIONS 90 REFERENCES 90 INTRODUCTION 91 THE ROLE OF EXPERT EVIDENCE 91 THE ROLE OF EXPERT 92 APPOINTING AN EXPERT 96 EXPERT'S ASSISTANCE TO A PARTY 96 UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT 97 CONCLUSION 97 INTRODUCTION 98 FORMS OF EVIDENCE 98 THE ROLE OF TESTING 102 FORESEEABILITY 103 THE USE OF DESIGN STANDARDS 103 PRESENTING THE EVIDENCE IN COURT 104 DISCUSSION 105 CONCLUSIONS 106 ABSTRACT 107 INTRODUCTION 107 EVIDENCE OF DETERIORATION AND DEGRADATION OF CONCRETE 109 SITE HISTORY 109 SITE CHEMISTRY 109 CONCRETE DEGRADATION MECHANISM 110 MICROSCOPIC EVIDENCE OF BIOLOGICAL ATTACK ON CONCRETE 112 CONCLUSIONS 114 REFERENCES 114 1. INTRODUCTION 115 2. PHILOSOPHY OF INVESTIGATION 116 3. TWO CASE STUDIES 120 4. COMMON FAILURE MODES 123 5. SOME LESSONS LEARNT FROM FAILURE INVESTIGATIONS 130 6. CONCLUDING REMARKS 131 7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 132 8. REFERENCES 132 ABSTRACT 133 GENERAL BACKGROUND 133 SUBSEQUENT HISTORY/EVENTS 134 THE INVESTIGATION - DATA SOURCES 135 EXPLOSION LOCATION AND ESCALATION 137 POTENTIAL FUEL SOURCES 138 DEVELOPING AND REFINING ACCIDENT SCENARIOS 138 OBSERVATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 139 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 143 REFERENCES 143 BACKGROUND 144 FORENSIC ENGINEERING INVESTIGATIONS 145 CONCLUSION 151 INTRODUCTION 154 LINES OF COMMUNICATION 154 INNOVATION, FAILURE, OSTRACISM AND REDISCOVERY IN CONSTRUCTION 157 DEFICIENCIES IN STANDARDS AND GUIDANCE 158 FORMAT FOR COMMUNICATION OF FAILURES 159 CONCLUSIONS 160 REFERENCES 162 INTRODUCTION 163 THE COMPUTER'S CONTRIBUTION TO ERROR 164 THE COMPUTER'S CONTRIBUTION TO ERROR REDUCTION 166 THE COMPUTER'S CONTRIBUTION TO INVESTIGATION 167 GETTING THE BENEFITS WHILST AVOIDING THE PITFALLS 167 CONCLUSIONS 168 REFERENCES 169 Conference overview 170 Discussion 172 Content: Setting the scene Examining a high profile case Approach to technical investigation Supporting the legal process Picking up the pieces Incident reconstruction Lessons to be learned