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- Banqiao Dam Failure. The Banqiao Dam failure in 1975 was the collapse of 62 dams in Henan, China, which was caused by Typhoon Nina. Occurring in August 1975, it is the third deadliest flood in history and resulted in the loss of lives in the range of 85,600 – 240,000.
- Bhopal Disaster. The Bhopal Gas Tragedy, also known as the Bhopal Disaster, occured in December 2nd-3d, 1985 in a pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.
- Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster. The well-known Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred on April 26th, 1986. The power for the number four reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant dropped to almost zero, which in turn caused a nuclear chain reaction within the reactor.
- Pennsylvanian Johnstown Flood. The Great Flood of 1889, also known as the Johnstown flood, occurred following the failure of the South Fork Dam, upstream of Johnstone town, Pennsylvania.
- Surfside Condominium Collapse in Miami, Us
- The Hillsborough Disaster in Sheffield, UK
- The 2017 Puebla-Morelos Earthquake, Mexico
- Morandi Bridge Collapse in Genoa, Italy
- Grenfell Disaster in London, UK
What happened
On 24 June 2021, the Champlain Towers South building in Miami collapsed, resulting in the death of 98 people. The condominium had substantial concrete structural damagein its pool deck area, mainly from failed waterproofing. This damage was identified in 2018, with repairs estimated to cost USD$9 million, but they were never completed. Before the building collapsed, inspections were mandatory 40 years after construction, and every 10 years onwards. Champlain Towers South was in its 40th year...
What’s changed
After the disaster, building inspections and recertifications were brought forward to 30 years after construction. Furthermore, as of 2023, Miami-Dade County will require all condominiums and homeowner associationsto release financial statements, maintenance and engineering reports, planned capital projects and insurance certificates to a public database.
What happened
On 15 April 1989, football fans were crowded and crushed against the high steel fencing in Leppings Lane Terrace at Hillsborough Stadium. Ninety-seven lives were lost due to this disaster. In a critical assessment of the disaster, ICE found deviations from the Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds concerning geometry, layout and spacing between barriers on the terrace. As these are necessary for adequate safety, ICE concluded it demonstrated “poor professional judgement”. A reportinto the disaste...
What’s changed
The report recommendedremoving perimeter and lateral fencing and called for all-seater stadiums, which revolutionised safety at football grounds and sport arenas. However, in 2021, the UK government announced that from 1 January 2022, standing will be allowed at specific areas of five designated football stadiums. This is part of a review of the banon standing in stadiums.
What happened
On 19 September 2017, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit central Mexico, killing more than 200 people and toppling dozens of buildings in Mexico City. It struck exactly 32 years after an 8.1 magnitude earthquakekilled more than 9,000 people and left 100,000 homeless.
What’s changed
After the 1985 earthquake, building codes changed and protections against earthquakes were established. But after the 2017 event, surveysfound that severely damaged structures corresponded to old seismic codes (1942-1976), highlighting that even after 1985, the city’s earthquake resilience wasn’t optimal. In fact, many damages and collapses were observed in buildings designed according to 1987 and 2004 codes, implemented after the 1985 earthquake. To avoid this extent of damage, studieshave r...
What happened
On 14 August 2018, after a strong summer storm, a portion of the Morandi motorway bridge collapsed, killing 43 and leaving 600 people homeless. Located in Genoa, the bridge was cable-stayed and featured single post-tensioned concrete stays and spans measuring over 200m. By 1979, the bridge's designer, Riccardo Morandi expressed concern about the rate of degradationof the bridge, citing the marine environment and nearby pollution as contributors. When investigators assessed the scene after the...
What’s changed
In 2020, architect Renzo Piano unveiled the new Genoa San Giorgio Bridge, replacing Morandi bridge. The new bridge will be continuously monitoredusing internal sensors, which will be supported by robots to assess the bridge’s external structure.
What happened
On 14 June 2017, the cladding on the Grenfell tower in London caught fire, resulting in 72 people losing their lives and untold trauma for their families and many others living nearby. The inquiry into the disaster found that the construction company had used cheaper, flammable cladding that’d even been prohibited in other countries. This highlighted failures across the construction industry in the UK, particularly regarding construction product regulation. The UK government commissioned Dame...
What’s changed
The Fire Safety Billwas introduced in 2020, amending the 2005 version. This bill should result in greater clarity over responsibility for fire safety in buildings containing more than one home. In 2021, the Building Safety Billpassed, seeking to verify the competence of built environment professionals and provide residents with more power in the decision-making process.
Related links
1. Why the expansion of the CROSS confidential reporting scheme into fire safety matters to all civil engineers 2. In Plain Sight: assuring the whole-life safety of infrastructure - final report 3. Grenfell and Italian road-bridge collapses highlight the failure to recognise complex management systems
- The Hindenburg Disaster – a catastrophe that put a halt to the era of passenger airships. The Hindenburg was a German passenger airship that caught on fire and was destroyed during an attempt to dock with its mooring mast, in Manchester Township, New Jersey, in 1937.
- The collapse of the Quebec Bridge – an engineering failure made twice. The Quebec Bridge, in Canada, actually collapsed twice. The first time was in 1907, and the second time happened in 1916.
- Titanic – The sinking of the “unsinkable” ship. Titanic is one of the most well-known engineering disasters of all time. The passenger liner was on its first transatlantic voyage from Southampton to New York in April of 1912 when it fatefully collided with an iceberg and sank.
- The nuclear plant explosion in Chernobyl – the engineering catastrophe that rocked the world.
Oct 19, 2021 · Edenville and Sanford Dams were two of four dams owned by Boyce Hydro Power along the Tittabawassee River in Michigan. The dams were built in the 1920s to generate hydroelectricity. Edenville Dam was constructed just upstream of the confluence with the Tobacco River. It was an earthfill embankment dam with two spillways and a powerhouse.
Sep 16, 2020 · A committee’s Democrats say two fatal crashes were a “horrific culmination” of engineering flaws, mismanagement and oversight lapses. A congressional report released on Wednesday followed an ...
Dec 22, 2020 · Dec. 22, 2020. The 2018 collapse of a bridge in northwestern Italy that killed 43 people was a result of problems in the structure’s conception, design, construction and, more recently ...
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Jul 10, 2020 · The crash of two 737 MAX passenger aircraft in late 2018 and early 2019, and subsequent grounding of the entire fleet of 737 MAX jets, turned a global spotlight on Boeing’s practices and culture. Explanations for the crashes include: design flaws within the MAX’s new flight control software system designed to prevent stalls; internal pressure to keep pace with Boeing’s chief competitor ...
