World Trade Center building disaster: Stimulus for innovations

The September 11 terrorist attack have caused colossal destruction and significant damage to a number of buildings in the World Trade Centre (WTC) vicinity in New York City. The twin towers of the WTC suffered significant damage from the impact of the planes; however, they withstood the impact. The severe fires that followed the impact brought down the twin towers. In addition to the twin towers, a number of other buildings including WTC 7 suffered full or partial collapse, or significant damage as a result of fires. Thus, fire issues played a major part in the collapse of the twin towers and other WTC buildings. In this paper a brief overview of the factors leading to the collapse of the twin towers and WTC 7 is presented. The overall damage to the buildings and infrastructure in the vicinity of the WTC is reviewed and discussed. Finally, the various innovations as well as research that are needed to address issues relating to improved building and infrastructure performance under extreme and multiple loading conditions are highlighted.