Lessons from failure

The Structural Engineer

De Grolsch Veste stadium failure

Sean Brady provides an overview of the technical and human factors that contributed to the partial collapse of Dutch football team FC Twente's stadium roof.

Publish Date – 26 October 2012

The Structural Engineer

Human factors and bridge failure

Sean Brady stresses the importance of managing 'human factors' to reduce human error within bridge projects, citing international examples from which lessons can be learned.

Publish Date – 30 November 2012

The Structural Engineer

The 30 year failure cycle

Could the 30 year failure cycle evident in speciﬁc bridge failures be coincidence or something more? Sean Brady looks at the technical and human aspects of this unfortunate trend.

Publish Date – 1 May 2013

The Structural Engineer

Previous failures: utilising the lessons

Sean Brady examines one of the recurring themes from the ICE's Fifth International Conference on Forensic Engineering.

Publish Date – 1 June 2013

The Structural Engineer

Lessons from the Malahide Viaduct collapse

Sean Brady investigates the contribution of 'corporate memory loss' to the failure of a railway bridge near Dublin, Ireland.

Publish Date – 25 June 2013

The Structural Engineer

Near-misses and failure (part 1)

Drawing on two high proﬁle examples, Sean Brady suggests that attitudes toward near-misses can sometimes result in complacency – with catastrophic consequences.

Publish Date – 1 August 2013

The Structural Engineer

Near-misses and failure (part 2)

Sean Brady sets out seven strategies for identifying and reacting to structural failure near-misses.

Publish Date – 1 September 2013

The Structural Engineer

The I-35W Highway Bridge Collapse: lessons learned

A forensic examination of the 2007 I-35W bridge collapse in Minnesota, responsible for the deaths of 13 people.

Publish Date – 1 October 2013

The Structural Engineer

Failure investigations and the forensic process (part 1)

In the first part of a two-part article, Sean Brady explores the differences between a good designer and a good forensic engineer.

Publish Date – 28 November 2013

The Structural Engineer

Failure investigations and the forensic process (part 2)

Sean Brady assesses the strengths and weaknesses of applying engineering analysis to the forensic process.

Publish Date – 1 January 2014

The Structural Engineer

Citicorp Center Tower: failure averted

Based on an article originally published in The New Yorker, Sean Brady reflects on the Citicorp tower crisis.

Publish Date – 3 February 2014

The Structural Engineer

Project management failure: The 1976 Montreal Olympics

Based on a recently published case study in ASCE's Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, Sean Brady highlights the systemic management failings that resulted in huge financial cost and significant reputational damage to a high profile project.

Publish Date – 28 February 2014

The Structural Engineer

The Quebec Bridge collapse: a preventable failure (part 1)

In the first of a two-part article, Sean Brady takes readers through the chain of events that led to the collapse during construction, with 75 deaths, of the Quebec Bridge.

Publish Date – 24 October 2014

The Structural Engineer

The Quebec Bridge collapse: a preventable failure (part 2)

In the concluding part of this article, Sean Brady explores in more detail the technical cause of the Quebec Bridge collapse and the human factors that lay behind this.

Publish Date – 27 November 2014

The Structural Engineer

Implicit assumptions: the expert's Achilles heel

In this intriguing tale of the Getty kouros, Sean Brady explores the role that implicit assumptions play in undermining experts' judgment.

Publish Date – 5 January 2015

The Structural Engineer

Willow Island cooling tower collapse: a lesson from nature

Sean Brady highlights the perils of sticking rigidly to a concrete construction schedule regardless of weather conditions.

Publish Date – 1 February 2015

The Structural Engineer

The Brooklyn Bridge: tragedy overcome (part 1)

To mark International Women's Day, Sean Brady presents the first of a two-part article exploring the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge and the crucial role Emily Warren Roebling played in making it a reality.

Publish Date – 27 February 2015

The Structural Engineer

The Brooklyn Bridge: tragedy overcome (part 2)

Sean Brady concludes the story of the Brooklyn Bridge, detailing how Emily Roebling defied the odds to see the project through to completion.

Publish Date – 1 April 2015

The Structural Engineer

Hyatt Regency: the human price of failure

Sean Brady tells the stories of some of the survivors, rescuers and engineers involved in the Hyatt Regency walkway collapse.

Publish Date – 1 May 2015

The Structural Engineer

Wedded to our tools: why expertise can hold us back (part 1)

In this two-part article with a difference, Sean Brady looks further afield to explore how 'expertise bias' may cloud our judgement.

Publish Date – 1 June 2015

The Structural Engineer

Wedded to our tools: why expertise can hold us back (part 2)

Sean Brady concludes this two-part article with a warning to engineers not to become over-reliant on their 'tools', but to consider how and when to apply them.

Publish Date – 1 July 2015

The Structural Engineer

Hartford stadium collapse: why software should never be more than a tool to be used wisely

While we may think of blind faith in technology as a modern affliction, Sean Brady's account of the Hartford Civic Center Stadium collapse shows that overreliance on structural analysis software is not a new problem.

Publish Date – 31 July 2015

The Structural Engineer

Human fallibility and automation: lessons of the Virgin Galactic crash

Sean Brady explores how the lessons of the 2014 Virgin Galactic crash are pertinent to all design engineers, irrespective of discipline.

Publish Date – 1 September 2015

The Structural Engineer

How engineers learn from failure (or we're a weird bunch!)

Sean Brady examines how engineers learn from failure and discovers that frustration is key.

Publish Date – 1 October 2015

The Structural Engineer

When structural failure reflects societal failure

Sean Brady explores the wider societal ramifications of devastating structural failures.

Publish Date – 1 December 2015

The Structural Engineer

Nicaragua, Panama and the dream of a canal (part 1)

With Nicaragua planning a new canal to link the Atlantic and Pacific, Sean Brady considers the lessons of the Panama Canal when engineers face up to nature on such a grand scale.

Publish Date – 1 April 2016

The Structural Engineer

Nicaragua, Panama and the dream of a canal (part 2)

Sean Brady concludes his tale of the Panama Canal and looks ahead to the potential challenges of building the proposed Nicaragua Canal.

Publish Date – 1 May 2016

The Structural Engineer

Engineering the Hanging Garden of Babylon

Sean Brady examines the remarkable engineering works that may have underpinned the Hanging Garden of Babylon – one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Publish Date – 1 July 2016

The Structural Engineer

West Gate Bridge collapse – the story of the box girders

Sean Brady relates the failure of several box-girder bridges of the 1960s and 1970s and explains how these led to new design rules and workmanship guidance.

Publish Date – 3 October 2016

The Structural Engineer

Beyond the limits of imagination: what do the Comet aircraft failures teach us?

Sean Brady recounts the tale of the Comet jet airliner crashes of the 1950s and explains how the trailblazing accident investigation revealed a failure of imagination that holds lessons for all engineers.

Publish Date – 1 September 2017

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In this collection of articles, forensic engineer, Sean Brady, introduces readers to the forensic process, examines significant historical failures and the lessons that can be learned from them, and considers the human factors that can contribute to failure.

Articles in this series

De Grolsch Veste stadium failure

Human factors and bridge failure

The 30 year failure cycle

Previous failures: utilising the lessons

Lessons from the Malahide Viaduct collapse

Near-misses and failure (part 1)

Near-misses and failure (part 2)

The I-35W Highway Bridge Collapse: lessons learned

Failure investigations and the forensic process (part 1)

Failure investigations and the forensic process (part 2)

Citicorp Center Tower: failure averted

Project management failure: The 1976 Montreal Olympics

The Quebec Bridge collapse: a preventable failure (part 1)

The Quebec Bridge collapse: a preventable failure (part 2)

Implicit assumptions: the expert's Achilles heel

Willow Island cooling tower collapse: a lesson from nature

The Brooklyn Bridge: tragedy overcome (part 1)

The Brooklyn Bridge: tragedy overcome (part 2)

Hyatt Regency: the human price of failure

Wedded to our tools: why expertise can hold us back (part 1)

Wedded to our tools: why expertise can hold us back (part 2)

Hartford stadium collapse: why software should never be more than a tool to be used wisely

Human fallibility and automation: lessons of the Virgin Galactic crash

How engineers learn from failure (or we're a weird bunch!)

When structural failure reflects societal failure

Nicaragua, Panama and the dream of a canal (part 1)

Nicaragua, Panama and the dream of a canal (part 2)

Engineering the Hanging Garden of Babylon

West Gate Bridge collapse – the story of the box girders

Beyond the limits of imagination: what do the Comet aircraft failures teach us?