The Hindenburg Disaster
By 1937, giant hydrogen airships were sailing through the world’s skies, ferrying thousands of passengers across oceans and continents. These airships, also called zeppelins, promised quicker transport times than ...
The Sinking of The Titanic
It’s an old adage that sometimes the unthinkable happens. Well, sometimes the unsinkable happens too. In the early morning hours of April 14, 1912, the largest luxury passenger liner ever built...
The Chernobyl Disaster
The town of Pripyat in the Soviet Socialist Republic of Ukraine was new, pleasant and boasted both prosperity and job security as the location of the advanced, modern Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant ...
Lessons Learned: The Collapse of World Trade Center Building 7 (WTC)
Unlike the Twin Towers, WTC 7 was not directly hit by an airplane, yet it collapsed completely, making it the first known instance of a tall building brought down primarily by uncontrolled fires. This article aims to explore the structural causes behind the collapse of WTC 7 from an engineering perspective.
BP Refinery Explosion
The vapor cloud found an ignition source - most likely a running vehicle or a spark from a nearby contractor's trailer - and ignited. The resulting explosion was equivalent to approximately 1,000 to 2,000 kilograms of TNT, and it was felt up to five miles away.
Lessons Learned: The 1999 Aggie Bonfire Collapse
On November 18, 1999, the traditional Aggie Bonfire, an iconic annual event at Texas A&M University, suffered a devastating structural failure that led to the death of twelve people, while injuring twenty-seven. The Aggie Bonfire was more than a mere bonfire; it was a towering structure of log stacks reaching nearly sixty feet high, an emblem of Aggie spirit and camaraderie. The collapse, which occurred during construction, was a shocking tragedy that deeply affected the University and the broader community.