Building Construction and Building Collapses Thesis

The fires burned "out of control" on six of the lower floors at #7 which seriously damaged the floor framing on several floors. When a main girder on the 13th floor "lost its connection to a critical interior column that provided support for the long floor spans" on the east side of #7, that caused the 13th floor to collapse and from there on down it was like a domino effect down to the 5th floor (Stein).

In 2005 NIST published its research on 22 collapses of buildings resulting from fires. Looking specifically at the building materials used on those 22 collapses, the NIST research revealed: 7 buildings were built with concrete; 6 were built using structural steel; 5 were built with brick/masonry; 2 buildings were built using wood; and in the remaining 2 buildings it was unknown as to what materials were used (Beitel, 2005)..

Thirteen of those collapsed buildings were 4-8 stories; 3 were between 9-20 stories high; and 6 of those buildings were 21 or more stories (Stein). The NIST study also found that "very little information" was available on building collapses "unless the fire event was significant for other reasons… [such as] loss of life" (Beitel).

In conclusion, because of the dearth of data available, NIST recommends that a "centralized database be developed, whereby structural damage and collapse can be investigated and systematically reported in the future" (Stein). Indeed a database that would contain a wealth of specific information about all building collapses due to fire should be a priority.

Works Cited

Beitel, Jesse, and Iwankiw, Nestor. (2005). Historical Survey of Multistory Building

Collapses Due to Fire. Fire Protection Engineering, 158(6).

Post, Nadine M. (2003). Experts Debate Using Structure to Resist Fire Loads. ENR:

Engineering.....