TIME & LOCATION
Nov 26, 2025, 14:30-16:00
Room 323, School of Transportation
Nov 27, 2025, 14:30-16:00
Department of Geotech Engineering, School of Transportation
TOPIC 1
Systems for Structural Failure Investigations in the United States
The United States lacks a comprehensive system for investigation of structural failures. However, there are a number of systems that may be brought into play following a collapse. Transportation facilities such as bridges are investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Investigations of other structural collapses are often left to independent forensic engineers hired by the parties to actual or potential litigation following the incident. The findings of these investigators may remain confidential and may or may not ever be published. It is also possible that multiple conflicting possible causes are published, such as the L’Ambiance Plaza lift slab collapse. In some cases, construction collapses are investigated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), but those investigations are often limited to whether or not any OSHA safety rules were violated. Thus, the contributions for OSHA investigations to improving engineering practice may be limited. In contrast, the United Kingdom has a confidential reporting system on structural safety (CROSS). This system allows for anonymous report submission.
TOPIC 2
The Failure Investigation Process
Engineering design may be seen as an attempt to use science, mathematics, and other principles to prevent failures. Most of the time the attempt is successful – but the times it is not successful can provide useful lessons for students and practitioners. The lessons learned from failures have often led directly to changes to engineering codes and procedures. This lecture will illustrate the failure investigation process through an example case study.
ABOUT THE LECTURER
Dr. Norbert J. Delatte, Jr., P.E., is the M.R. Lohmann Endowed Professor of Engineering and the Head of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Oklahoma State University.
Dr. Delatte is the author of Beyond Failure: Forensic Case Studies for Civil Engineers (ASCE Press, 2009) and Concrete Pavement Design, Construction, and Performance, 2nd Edition (Taylor and Francis, 2014). In addition, he is the Editor of ASCE’s Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities.