The following is a collection of selected resources about major types of failures and incidents. It is intended to be a starting point for your research, not an exhaustive list. For further research, please try the UBC catalogue for books, subject-specific databases for journal articles (Compendex, Web of Science, GeoRef, and Academic Search Complete), come to one of our workshops or talk to an engineering librarian.

Failure categories:

General Resources
Aircraft / Spacecraft / Marine
Bridges
Buildings
Dams
Earthquakes

Guide to the sources:

Most items are available in the UBC Library - follow the links to find out where to get the books. If UBC has access to the full-text of a journal article online, it is linked to from this bibliography; if not, there's a link to the journal information in the catalogue, so you can get the print version of the article. If you want to access full-text articles online from off-campus, remember to set up a VPN connection.
The icons below let you know what type of resource it is:

Book or report
Journal article
Video
Website

General Resources

Introductory (Basic) Case Studies of Engineering Failures

Failed Technology: True Stories of Technological Disasters (Freiman F and Schlager N)

Case Studies of Engineering Failures

Design Paradigms: Case Histories of Error and Judgement in Engineering (Petroski H) [table of contents online]

Engineering Catastrophes: Causes and Effects of Major Accidents (Lancaster J) [table of contents online]

Failures in Civil Engineering: Structural, Foundation, and Geoenvironmental Case Studies (Shepherd R and Frost JD)

Man-made Catastrophes (Davis L)

Minding the Machines: Preventing Technological Disasters (Evan W and Manion M)

Pushing the Limits (Petroski H)
When Technology Fails: Significant Technological Disasters, Accidents, and Failures of the Twentieth Century (Schlager N)

Failure Analysis

Failure Analysis of Industrial Composite Materials (Gdoutos EE)

How Did That Happen?: Engineering Safety and Reliability (Wong W)

Inviting Disaster: Lessons from the Edge of Technology: An Inside Look at Catastrophes and Why They Happen (Chiles J)

To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design (Petroski H)

Internet Resources

Engineering Failure Watch from iCivilEngineer - The Internet for Civil Engineers

Engineering Disasters and Learning from Failure from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the State University of New York (Stony Brook)

Disasters & Failures from Engineering Research Guide of the University Library at California State University (Long Beach)

Engineering Disasters: Selected Websites from Queen's University Engineering and Science Library

Videos

Engineering Disasters, More Engineering Disasters, and Engineering Disasters 3 (Modern Marvels series)

Failure Analysis in Materials Research (Louthan MR and the Materials Research Society)

Aircraft/Spacecraft/Marine

Columbia Space Shuttle
(2003)

NASA - Space Shuttle Columbia and Her Crew (NASA)

Comm Check: The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia (Cabbage M) [table of contents online]

Air France Concorde crash
(2000)

Final Report (British European Airways)

Piper Alpha marine disaster
(1988)

The Public Inquiry into the Piper Alpha Disaster (Cullen WD)
  "Learning from the Piper Alpha Accident: A Postmortem Analysis of Technical and Organizational Factors," Risk Analysis, vol. 13, no. 2, 1993 (Paté-Cornell ME)

Challenger Space Shuttle
(1986)

Challenger: The Final Voyage (Lewis RS)

The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance at NASA (Vaughan D)
Prescription for Disaster (Trento J)
Challenger: A Major Malfunction (McConnell M)
Report to the President (Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident)
Report to the President (Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident)
Implementation of the Recommendations of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident (NASA)

"Launching the Space Shuttle Challenger: Disciplinary Deficiencies in the Analysis of Engineering Data," IEEE Transactions on Manufacturing Technology, vol. 38, no. 1, 1991 (Lighthall FF)
Engineering Disasters (Actuality Productions)
"A Major Malfunction...": the Story Behind the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster (Maier M)

Ocean Ranger marine disaster
(1982)

Report / Royal Commission on the Ocean Ranger Marine Disaster (Canada - Royal Commission)
"The Ocean Ranger Oil Rig Disaster: A Risk Analysis," Risk Analysis, vol. 9, no. 1, 1989 (Heising CD and Grenzebach WS)

Bridges

Interstate 35W Bridge, Minneapolis, MN
(2007)

Schoharie Creek Bridge, NY
(1987)

Why Buildings Fall Down: How Structures Fail, Chapter 9 (Levy M and Salvadori M)
"Scourge of Scour," Civil Engineering, vol. 57, no. 7, 1987 (Murillo JA)
"Analytical Studies of the Schoharie Bridge Failure," Hydraulic Engineering Proceedings, 1988 (Lagasse PF et al)
"The Collapse of the Schoharie Bridge: A Case Study in Concrete Fracture Mechanics," International Journal of Fracture, vol. 51, no. 1, 1991 (Swenson D and Ingraffea A)
"Lessons from Schoharie Creek," Civil Engineering, vol. 58, no. 5, 1988 (Thornton CH et al)

De La Concorde Overpass
Laval, PQ
(2006)

There are not yet many articles in the engineering literature found on this topic, but we will update this page as the information gets published. The report from the public inquiry into the overpass failure, headed by Pierre Marc Johnson, is due to be released October 15th, 2007.
"Clues Sought in Bridge Collapse," Engineering News-Record, vol. 257, no. 15, 2006

Mianus River Bridge, CT
(1983)

"Highway Accident Report: Collapse of a Suspended Span of Route 95 Highway Bridge over the Mianus River, Greenwich, Connecticut, June 28, 1983" (National Transportation Safety Board) [document #HAR-84/03]
"Disaster of the I-95 Mianus River Bridge: Where Could Lateral Vibration Come From?" Journal of Applied Mechanics, vol. 51, no. 3, 1984 (Gorlov AM)
"New Mianus Bridge Report Disputes Earlier Study," Civil Engineering, vol. 55, no. 4, 1985
"Anatomy of Fracture: Mianus River Bridge," Engineering News Record, vol. 218, no. 8, 1987 (Failla KS)

East Chicago Highway Ramp, IL
(1982)

"Report Eyes Ramp Failure," Engineering News Record, vol. 209, no. 9, 1982
"Ramp Failure Cause Detailed," Engineering News Record, vol. 209, no. 18, 1982
"Investigation of East Chicago Ramp Collapse," Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, vol. 110, no. 1, 1984 (Carino NJ)

Silver Bridge, WV
(1967)

"Causes of Silver Bridge Collapse Studied," Civil Engineering, vol. 38, no. 12, 1968
"Vibration Studies Relating to the Failure of the Point Pleasant Bridge," Public Roads, vol. 36, no. 8, 1971 (Varney RF)
"Point Pleasant Bridge Collapse Mechanism Analyzed," Civil Engineering, vol. 41, no. 7, 1971 (Dicker D)
"Pt. Pleasant Bridge Collapse: Conclusions of the Federal Study," Civil Engineering, vol. 41, no. 7, 1971 (Scheffey CF)
"Ohio River Bridge Disaster," Engineering, vol. 211, October 1971 (Langley M)
"When Cracks Become Breakthroughs," Technology Review, vol. 85, Aug./Sept. 1982 (Petroski H)
"Implications of Recent Structural Failures on Education and Research," Civil Engineering for Practicing and Design Engineers, vol. 3, no. 9, 1984 (Hanson JM) <available through CISTI>
"Silver Bridge Collapse Recounted," Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, vol. 7, no. 4, 1993 (Lichtenstein AB)

Second Narrows Bridge, BC
(1958)

"Findings on Second Narrows Bridge Collapse at Vancouver," Civil Engineering, vol. 29, no. 2, 1959 (Master FM and Giese JR)

Tacoma Narrows Bridge, WA
(1940)

In the Wake of Tacoma: Suspension Bridges and the Quest for Aerodynamic Stability (Scott R)
"Collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge," Scientific Monthly, vol. 51, December 1940 (Farquharson FB)
"Legacy of Galloping Gertie 25 Years After," Civil Engineering, vol. 35, no. 10, 1965 (Goller RR)
Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster (Doole S and Champneys A)
Why Buildings Fall Down: How Structures Fail, Chapter 7 (Levy M and Slavadori M)
Design Paradigms: Case Histories of Error and Judgement in Engineering, Chapter 9 (Petroski H)

Quebec Bridge, PQ
(1907 & 1916)

[1907] Bridge at Quebec (Middleton WD)

[1907] "Quebec Bridge Disaster," Scientific American, vol. 97, no. 10, 1907
[1907] "Collapse of the Quebec Bridge," Engineering, vol. 84, no. 22, 1907 (Skinner FW)
[1907] "The Compression Members of the Quebec Bridge," Engineering News, vol. 58, no. 14, 1907
[1907] "Report on the Quebec Bridge Disaster," Scientific American, vol. 98, no. 17, 1908
[1916] "Further Light on the Quebec Bridge Disaster," Scientific American, vol. 115, no. 14, 1916
[1907] "Structural Failures and Engineering Ethics," Journal of Structural Engineering, vol. 119, no. 5, 1993 (Roddis WK)
[1907] The First Quebec Bridge Disaster - A Case Study (Tarkov J and Holtz N)

Buildings

World Trade Center, New York (2001)

The World Trade Center: A Bibliography (UBC Library)
NIST and the World Trade Center (National Institute of Standards and Technology)
"Dissecting the Collapses," Civil Engineering, vol. 72, no. 5, 2002
"Why did the World Trade Center Collapse? Science, Engineering, and Speculation," JOM, vol. 53, no. 12, 2001 (Eagar TW and Musso C)
"Could the World Trade Center Have Been Modified to Prevent its Collapse?" Journal of Engineering Mechanics, vol. 128, no. 7, 2002 (Newland DE and Cebon D)
"Structural Responses of World Trade Center under Aircraft Attacks," Journal of Structural Engineering, vol. 131, no. 1, 2005 (Omika Y et al)
"How Did the WTC Towers Collapse: A New Theory," Fire Safety Journal, vol. 38, no. 6, 2003 (Usmani AS et al)

Oklahoma City, OK
(1995)

Lessons From the Oklahoma City Bombing: Defensive Design Techniques (Hinman ED and Hammond DJ)
Learning From Construction Failures: Applied Forensic Engineering (Campbell P)
"Oklahoma City Aftermath," Civil Engineering, vol. 65, no. 10, 1995 (Prendergast J)
"Lessons Learned on Improving Resistance of Buildings to Terrorist Attacks," Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, vol. 18, no. 2, 2004 (Corley WG)
"The Oklahoma City Bombing: Summary and Recommendations for Multihazard Mitigation," Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, vol. 12, no. 3, 1998 (Corley WG et al)
"The Oklahoma City Bombing: Structure and Mechanisms of the Murrah Building," Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, vol. 12, no. 3, 1998 (Sozen MA et al)

Save-on-Foods parking deck collapse, Richmond, B.C.
(1988)

Report of the Commissioner Inquiry Station Square Development (Closkey D)
Construction Failure, Chapter 6.2.2.a (Feld K and Carper K)
"Station Square Revisited: Distortional Buckling Collapse," Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, vol. 21, no. 3, 1994 (Essa H and Kennedy DJ)
"Supermarket Roof Collapse in Burnaby, B.C., Canada," Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, vol. 4, no. 3, 1990 (Jones CP and Nathan ND)
"Discussion: Supermarket Roof Collapse in Burnaby, B.C., Canada," Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, vol. 6, no. 1, 1992 (Baer BR)
"Closure to Discussions: Supermarket Roof Collapse in Burnaby, B.C., Canada," Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, vol. 6, no. 1, 1992 (Jones CP and Nathan ND)

Harbour Cay Condos, FL
(1981)

Investigation of Construction Failure of Harbour Cay Condominium in Cocoa Beach, Florida (Lew HS)

Kansas City Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse, MO 
(1981)

The Hyatt Skywalk Disaster and Other Lessons in the Regulation of Building (Waugh WL and Hy RJ)
Why Buildings Fall Down: How Structures Fail, Chapter 15 (Levy M and Salvadori M)
"When Cracks Become Breakthroughs," Technology Review, vol. 85, no. 6, 1982 (Petroski H)
"Implications of Recent Structural Failures on Education and Research," Civil Engineering for Practicing and Design Engineers, vol. 3, no. 9, 1984 (Hanson JM) <available through CISTI>
"Communications Failure in Hyatt Regency Disaster," Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering, vol. 115, no. 3, 1989 (Banset EA and Parsons GM)
"Structural Failures and Engineering Ethics," Journal of Structural Engineering, vol. 119, no. 5, 1993 (Roddis WK)
"Chronology and Context of the Hyatt Regency Collapse," Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, vol. 14, no. 2, 2000 (Luth GP)
Engineering Disasters (Actuality Productions)

Tower of Pisa

Learning From Construction Failures: Applied Forensic Engineering (Campbell P ed.)
Why Buildings Fall Down: How Structures Fail, Chapter 10 (Levy M and Salvadori M)
"'Acts of God': the Symbolic and Technical Significance of Foundation Failures," Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, vol. 10, no. 1, 1996 (Morley J)
Fall of the Leaning Tower: History of Interventions (NOVA)
"Preserving Pisa's Treasure," Civil Engineering, vol. 72, no. 3, 2002 (Burland J et al)

Dams

Levee Failures
New Orleans, LA
(2005)

"Protecting New Orleans," Scientific American, vol. 294, no. 2, 2006 (Fischetti M)
"Into the Breach," Scientific American, vol. 294, no. 2, 2006 (Fischetti M)
"The Big Uneasy," Civil Engineering, vol. 76, no. 10, 2006 (Reid RL)
Preliminary Report on the Performance of the new Orleans Levee Systems in Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005 (Seed R, et. al.)
Performance Evaluation of the New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana Hurricane Protection System (US Army Corps of Engineers, Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force)

Teton Dam
(1976)

Report to U.S. Department of the Interior and State of Idaho on Failure of Teton Dam (Independent panel to review cause of Teton Dam failure)
Engineering Disasters (Nash BM)
"Teton Dam," Lessons From Dam Incidents: USA-II. (International Commission on Large Dams - Subcommittee of Dam Incidents and Accidents)
The Failure of Teton Dam (Pacific Northwest Region, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation)

Earthquakes

Kobe, Japan
(1995)

Hyogoken-Nanbu (Kobe) Earthquake of January 17, 1995: Lifeline Performance (Schiff AJ)
The January 17, 1995 Hyogo-ken-Nanbu (Kobe) Earthquake: Performance of Structures, Lifelines, and Fire Protection Systems (Chung R)
Report on the Disaster Caused by the 1995 Hyogoken Nanbu Earthquake (Ministry of Construction, Japan)
"Damage to Concrete Structures Due to the January 17, 1995, Hyogo-ken Nanbu (Kobe) Earthquake," Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, vol. 23, no. 3, 1996 (Mitchell D et al)
"Lessons from Kobe," Civil Engineering, vol. 65, no. 4, 1995 (Matso K)
"Kobe Earthquake Bodes Ill for Others," ENR (Engineering News-Record), vol. 234, no. 21, 1995
"Engineering Brains Challenged in Wake of Kobe's Seismic Brawn," ENR (Engineering News-Record), vol. 234, no. 4, 1995 (Normile D)

Northridge, CA
(1994)

Northridge Earthquake: Lifeline Performance and Post-Earthquake Response (Schiff A)
Northridge Earthquake, January 17, 1994: Preliminary Reconnaissance Report (Hall JF)
Preliminary Report on the Northridge, California, Earthquake of January 17, 1994 (Canadian Association for Earthquake Engineering)
"Performance Assessment for a Reinforced Concrete Frame Building," Earthquake Spectra, vol. 16, no. 3, 2000 (Browning J et al)
"Analysis of Mid-Rise Steel Frame Damaged in Northridge Earthquake," Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, vol. 12, no. 4, 1998 (Hajjar, JF)
"Northridge Fractures: Are We Learning the Right Lessons?" Civil Engineering, vol. 65, no. 3, 1995 (Campbell HH)
"Analysis of the Failure of Interstate 10 Freeway Ramp During the Northridge Earthquake of 17 January 1994," Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, vol. 24, no. 2, 1995 (Broderick BM and Elnashai AS)

For further research, try searching these article databases: Compendex, Web of Science, GeoRef, and Academic Search Complete with your keywords.
To access these resources off campus, please set up remote access on your computer.

Please contact an engineering librarian if you require any assistance with your research and citations.

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Maintained by Aleteia Greenwood and Eugene Barsky
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