摘要: |
Recently I listened to an episode of the podcast Cautionary Tales during which host Tim Harford discussed the 1981 Hyatt Regency Hotel walkway collapse in Kansas City, Missouri - a disaster I'd first heard about as an undergraduate. A surprising aspect Harford related was the immediate post-collapse search and rescue effort highlighting the human cost. It struck me deeply that while I had thoroughly contemplated the engineering impacts, the effects on the people had escaped me. What's more, being part of post-disaster engineering reconnaissance teams for the 2010 Haiti earthquake and Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas in 2019 showed me that the "human" lessons we learn from significant natural hazards cannot be gleaned through laboratory testing or detailed computer analyses. The foundation of our society is intertwined with the built environment. As structural engineers, we design infrastructure that enables the economic and social lifestyles of our communities. People take for granted that engineers do their jobs correctly. However, this societal view of structural engineering is maintained only until it is not. |