Collapse: Why Buildings Fall DownWe take it for granted that buildings will not collapse. Yet even some of the most prestigious building projects have ended in disaster, often causing devastating loss of life. Once a building is erected, faults in design and construction can lie dormant for years, even centuries, until conditions conspire to trigger a collapse. The result is catastrophe. Few professional failures invite such popular contempt as the architects and civil engineers who kill by getting their calculations wrong. |
