Study: Inadequate Insulation Caused WTC Tower Collapse

Newsday ^ | 6/23/02 | Graham Rayman

[areafiftyone]

A new analysis concludes that inadequate fireproofing caused the Twin Towers to collapse when they did, less than two hours after they were struck and set on fire by hijacked jets.

The researchers calculated that the amount of fireproofing in the towers would have protected the steel for only 42 to 59 minutes in the South Tower, and 85 to 124 minutes in the North Tower, in a fire.

[McGavin999]

Hate to tell this guy, but Islamic militants flying huge aircraft loaded with fuel caused the collapse of the WTC.

Good grief, when are these people ever going to grow up!

[jlogajan]

Islamic militants flying huge aircraft loaded with fuel caused the collapse of the WTC.

Headline: Inadequate insulation caused loss of buildings in Hiroshima A-bombing.

[TN4Liberty]

A search for deep, untapped pockets I think.

[Tony Niar Brain]

I believe the author of this article is speaking from an engineer's point of view. The process of refining and improving building designs begins with pinpointing how and when the old designs failed. It's very grown up.

[Bonaparte]

Bingo! Same thing happened when that "marvel," the Titanic went down.

[jlogajan]

All fine and good, but engineers need to be mindful of probabilities and cost/benefit implications as well. Designing all buildings to withstand all forms of attack would be prohibitively costly. It just isn't worth it.

[goodnesswins]

BUT....engineers often live in "perfect" worlds where everything is supposed to be "perfectly" designed - WITHOUT COST CONSIDERATIONS. In other words, they are not realists when it comes to engineering, SOME TIMES.

[thucydides]

Chalk it up to the trial lawyers. Had asbestos been used as it was in the past, there would have been a sufficient delay to have much more fully evacuated the buildings.

[Erasmus]

A roster of 30 fire experts, engineers and victim's relatives have signed up to speak to the panel.

Oh, I see. The victims' relatives who will speak just happen to be fire experts or engineers. Well, OK.

What's that? You say they're just victims' relatives and that's all?

Then why in the Hell are they speaking to the panel?

Oh, that's right, it's politics.

< voice="Emily Latella" >Never Mind. < /voice >

[jlogajan]

engineers often live in "perfect" worlds

But not even close to the world of physicists, "Assume a spherical cow ..." :-)

[Lazamataz]

I believe the author of this article is speaking from an engineer's point of view. The process of refining and improving building designs begins with pinpointing how and when the old designs failed. It's very grown up.

Concur. Studies about this will give us better buildings with more security at a cheaper cost.

[paul51]

The researchers calculated that the amount of fireproofing in the towers would have protected the steel for only 42 to 59 minutes in the South Tower, and 85 to 124 minutes in the North Tower, in a fire.

Those time periods correspond with the actual time it took the buildings to collapse - 56 minutes in the South Tower and 104 minutes in the North Tower, the researchers said

Talk about 20/20 hindsight

[Lazamataz]

But not even close to the world of physicists, "Assume a spherical cow ..." :-)

Assume a spherical cow on a frictionless pasture, you mean.

[TomB]

Bingo! Same thing happened when that "marvel," the Titanic went down.

Yes, but the inquiry into the Titanic sinking led to improvements in both shipbuilding and lifesaving techniques that led to safer ships.

Hopefully someone during this inquiry will point out the fact that switching from asbestos to other, less adequate, forms of fireproofing contributed to the disaster.

Although it's worth noting that nowhere in the article is the word "asbestos" mentioned.

[OldFriend]

Heard a victim relative on FNC one morning blaming it on Bush because he was reading to children in Florida. Makes about as much sense as the lack of fireproofing being the reason the buildings fell.

[Mamzelle]

re:A search for deep, untapped pockets I think)))

Yeah, the trial lawyers' pockets, if there were any justice. How about we start by suing the Asbestos King, who has his own private island? The trial lawyers, with the help of the Democrats and the ineffective opposition of the Republicans, essentially took asbestos off the table as a fire-protector. With an hour more in rescue time, don't you think a few more people would be alive?

The lawyers did it.

[FreePaul]

A little asbestos could have saved a lot of lives. There, I've said it and I'm glad I did!

[Tony Niar Brain]

Excuse me, but engineers do not live in perfect worlds, and they most certainly do factor dollar amounts into their designs. If electrical engineers didn't consider cost, they might design processors made out of gold; they don't. They are quite conscious of a material's costs and physical limitations. You are thinking of theorists; scientists that think about models removed from reality because that's their job. Somebody has to to it.

[goodnesswins]

NO...NOT all engineers, you ARE correct....but if left to their own devices....(LIKE US ALL, LOL)....I say this because my husband has to work with design engineers and other engineers who will design and process something and have to always be brought back to REALITY - THE COST.....