Presentation: The World Trade Center Collapse – A Case Study
Abstract: One needs to understand how the World Trade Center was constructed, to comprehend why the towers collapsed.
When the World Trade Center was designed, most skyscrapers were built with a dense grid of steel beams and columns that had limited open floor space on each floor.
The architect and engineers for the World Trade Center used a revolutionary design and construction method to maximize the open floor spacing and still build as high as possible.
The structural steel framework design was the most significant feature of the towers. Most buildings spaced the vertical steel columns evenly across the floor. The tower design was different, and called for the columns to be moved to the exterior walls and the central core of the structure. These columns supported the buildings weight, but without lateral or side to side support from the floors, these columns would have buckled. Therefore, the floors were built upon trusses, similar to beams, which connected and bridged the distance between the core columns and the exterior columns. The trusses were connected to the columns with bolts on each end. The result of this design created a large open floor area without column interferences.
This case study will attempt to clarify various details of the collapse, indicating that the building was not structurally deficient, but still the towers collapsed.
We will examine the design, the airline impact, the fire, the ultimate collapse, and the lessons learned from the collapse.
PMI Talent Triangle Skill: Technical Project Management
Biography: Mr. Schulman is a seasoned manager and executive with over 40 year’s experience. His activities have included extensive field operations and project management experience on numerous major commercial, institutional, healthcare, educational, hospitality, mixed-use, residential, office/corporate, public assembly, sports, transportation, and government construction projects in the Mid-Atlantic area since 1975, and prior to that in New York City. The general contracting, construction management, design/build, and real estate development projects typically ranged in size from $5 million to over $100 million. He has diverse project experience and background with contractors, developers, owners, architects, engineers, and consultants in both the private and public sectors. Mr. Schulman has a track record of satisfying clients and delivering project results on schedule and within budget.
Since joining the Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland in 1994 as an adjunct professor, Mr. Schulman has participated and taught several classes in the Civil Engineering graduate program in project management. He currently teaches Cost Engineering & Control, Sustainability Fundamentals for Project Managers, and Project Administration.
Mr. Schulman has been a full time construction manager, senior project manager, project executive, and vice president at several construction firms, development organizations, and the government at the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) in Bethesda, MD.
