TY - GEN
T1 - World Trade Center building disaster
T2 - Canadian Society for Civil Engineering - 31st Annual Conference: 2003 Building our Civilization
AU - Kodur, V. K.R.
PY - 2003
Y1 - 2003
N2 - The September 11th terrorist incidents caused colossal destruction and significant damage to a number of buildings in the World Trade Center (WTC) vicinity of New York and the Pentagon in Washington. It was the worst building disaster in history resulting in the largest loss of life from building collapse in North America. Following the disaster, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (SEI/ASCE), the City of New York and several other federal agencies and organizations established an "Experts Team" to investigate the collapse and damage to the buildings. The BPAT (Building Performance Assessment Team) study was led by FEMA, SEI and ASCE. The investigation consisted of visiting Ground Zero, a survey of the WTC site, land-fill and steel recycling centres, review of videotape records, eyewitness accounts, interviews with building design teams, and analysis using computer models. Based on this information, the team produced a detailed report which was published by FEMA. On May 1st, 2002, the results and recommendations of the BPAT investigation into the collapse of the World Trade Center were presented to the U.S. House Science Committee. The BPAT team, as part of the WTC investigation, has identified a number of issues arising from the disaster. These issues were compiled based on the observed building performance of the Twin Towers and other damaged buildings in the vicinity of the site, and is applicable to buildings in normal and under extreme events. Since the release of the BPAT report, some of the recommendations are being incorporated in to a number of tall buildings (often referred to as "post 9-11 construction"), without any further research or detailed studies. The 9-11 disaster offers a unique opportunity for innovations to address various issues related to improved building performance. An overview of the results from the building performance investigation of the World Trade Center disaster will be presented. The overall damage to the buildings and infrastructure, in the vicinity of the WTC, will be reviewed discussed. The conclusions and proposed recommendations on various issues, documented in the FEMA report, will be reviewed. Case studies relating to post 9-11 construction will also be presented. Finally the various innovations (as well as research) that are needed to address issues relating to improved building and infrastructure performance will be highlighted.
AB - The September 11th terrorist incidents caused colossal destruction and significant damage to a number of buildings in the World Trade Center (WTC) vicinity of New York and the Pentagon in Washington. It was the worst building disaster in history resulting in the largest loss of life from building collapse in North America. Following the disaster, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (SEI/ASCE), the City of New York and several other federal agencies and organizations established an "Experts Team" to investigate the collapse and damage to the buildings. The BPAT (Building Performance Assessment Team) study was led by FEMA, SEI and ASCE. The investigation consisted of visiting Ground Zero, a survey of the WTC site, land-fill and steel recycling centres, review of videotape records, eyewitness accounts, interviews with building design teams, and analysis using computer models. Based on this information, the team produced a detailed report which was published by FEMA. On May 1st, 2002, the results and recommendations of the BPAT investigation into the collapse of the World Trade Center were presented to the U.S. House Science Committee. The BPAT team, as part of the WTC investigation, has identified a number of issues arising from the disaster. These issues were compiled based on the observed building performance of the Twin Towers and other damaged buildings in the vicinity of the site, and is applicable to buildings in normal and under extreme events. Since the release of the BPAT report, some of the recommendations are being incorporated in to a number of tall buildings (often referred to as "post 9-11 construction"), without any further research or detailed studies. The 9-11 disaster offers a unique opportunity for innovations to address various issues related to improved building performance. An overview of the results from the building performance investigation of the World Trade Center disaster will be presented. The overall damage to the buildings and infrastructure, in the vicinity of the WTC, will be reviewed discussed. The conclusions and proposed recommendations on various issues, documented in the FEMA report, will be reviewed. Case studies relating to post 9-11 construction will also be presented. Finally the various innovations (as well as research) that are needed to address issues relating to improved building and infrastructure performance will be highlighted.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33645727470&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:33645727470
SN - 1894662040
SN - 9781894662048
T3 - Proceedings, Annual Conference - Canadian Society for Civil Engineering
SP - 2331
BT - CSCE 31st Annual Conf. Proceedings
Y2 - 4 June 2003 through 7 June 2003
ER -
