Hatrack River Forum: Another one for the Civil Engineering Textbooks

This is topic Another one for the Civil Engineering Textbooks in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/americas/12/08/theater.collapse/index.html

The real question is do they have the collapse on tape so your professors and the history channel can torture you with it.
[Big Grin]

AJ

[ December 08, 2003, 03:56 PM: Message edited by: BannaOj ]

Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :

Heh. I wonder how many engineers out there didn't have to watch a video of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsing when they were in school.

Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :

Well I am an engineer and I didn't have to watch it in class. But, that is mainly because I'm a chemical engineer, though didn't see it in the three years of Mech E classes I took either.

I got to watch it multiple times anyway as a kid since my Dad is a Civil! (oh yeah and now I watch it because my bf is unCivil too)

AJ

Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :

Gee, I've seen videos of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsing, and I never studied any engineering. [Wink]

Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :

Yes, Ela but among Civil engineers is has reached the level of a cult classic. Right up there with Princess Bride, believe me. If I'm remembering the jargon correctly it is the death knell of the closed box truss in the modern era. Or something like that anyway.

AJ

Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :

Oh, I believe you, AJ.

Engineers are weird anyway. [Wink]

Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :

::shrug:: I'm an electrical engineer and I definitely had to watch it in school. It was during my Advanced Systems class. I think we were studying frequency response and resonance. That would make sense, anyway.

Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :

quote:
Engineers are weird anyway.

Amen.

Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :

My dad used to work in this 4 story building that was built in an inverted pyramid. That was interesting to begin with. The other interesting thing was what they had decided to do for frequency issues in case of an earthquake. The entire building was sitting on giant rollers that were supposed to help it roll so it didn't hit its destruction harmonic frequency.

Interesting stuff. Now he works in a building inside an airplane hanger that was originally designed to house the space shuttle.

AJ

[ December 08, 2003, 04:43 PM: Message edited by: BannaOj ]

Posted by ana kata (Member # 5666) on :

I wonder if 9/11 footage will be in engineering classes in the future. I've seen the Tacoma Narrows bridge footage dozens of times. When I was in Tacoma at a paper mill, that was one place I wanted to go see. (I didn't have time for sight seeing, as it turned out.)

What other structure collapses do we have actual footage of? I can't think of any others. There was a balcony in Kansas City that they overloaded by about 3 times and then everyone started dancing in rhythm. But were there cameras going during the actual collapse? I can't remember.

I do find things like that fascinating. I want to understand why and how in great detail. Particularly I don't want any of my projects to end up on any such list of monumental catastrophes. [Smile]

Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :

I think they do have that balcony collapse on tape too, but only from a distant vantage point. The 9/11 analysis is fascinating from a structural perspective. I expect it will probably be a lot longer subsiding in the national consiousness before anyone is brave enough to show that in an engineering class. Though for all I know it may have already been done.

AJ