- Author
- Kodur, V. K. R.
- Title
- Fire Plays a Devastating Role: World Trade Center Building Performance Study.
- Coporate
- National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
- Journal
- Construction Canada, Vol. 45, No. 2, 59-64, March 2003
- Report
- NRCC-46133
- Keywords
- World Trade Center | disasters | building collapse | damage | flameproofing | fire protection | egress | structures
- Identifiers
- Building Performance Study (BPS); WTC and the Twin Towers; World Trade Center (110-story-high) Towers, Manhattan, New York, September 11, 2001; damage assessment; key issues; aircraft impact; redundancy and robustness; fire structure interaction; interaction of professionals
- Abstract
- The 9/11 terrorist incidents caused colossal destruction and significant damage to a number of buildings in the World Trade Center (WTC) vicinity of New York City (NYC), N.Y. It was the worst building disaster in history resulting in the largest loss of life from building collapse in North America. Following the disaster, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (SEI/ASCE), NYC and several other federal agencies and organizations established a team of experts to investigate the collapse and damage to the buildings. The building performance study (BPS) was led by FEMA, SEI and ASCE. The BPS team consisted of experts in tall buildings, steel structures, connections, fire engineering, blast effects and structural investigations.1 The BPS team visited Ground Zero, surveyed the site, landfill and steel recycling centres, reviewed videotape records, eyewitness accounts, conducted interviews with building design teams and performed analyses using computer models. Based on this information, the BPS team compiled a report that was presented to the Science Committee of the U.S. Congress in May 2002.2 A brief overview of the factors leading to the collapse of the Twin Towers, the extent of damage and some of the key recommendations from the BPS, are presented here.