- Author
- American Society of Civil Engineers | NOVA
- Title
- Why the Towers Fell. (9/11: A Tale of Two Towers.)
- Coporate
- American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, NY
- Distribution
- FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: NOVA, Website: http://www.pbs.org/nova/wtc
- Keywords
- high rise buildings | building collapse | aircraft fires | aircraft accidents | survival | rescue | World Trade Center
- Identifiers
- World Trade Center (110-story-high) Towers, Manhattan, New York, September 11, 2001; NOVA/PBS, Tuesday, April 30, 2002 at 8:00 PM ET; technology/engineering
- Abstract
- For most Americans, the image of the collapse of the World Trade Center Towers was not only a scene of unforgettable horror, it was a moment of unimaginable consequence. Who could have guessed that a steel behemoth of such size and strength--a building so massive that it had its own zip code, could actually be reduced to 150 feet of dust and rubble? NOVA offers viewers an exclusive look at the American Society of Civil Engineers' (ASCE) report into the root causes of the Towers' collapse by following a team of structural and fire engineers during their fascinating and intricate study. NOVA's cameras were allowed exclusive access to the team of 25 ASCE engineers as they studied the remains of the buildings that fell on September 11. NOVA presents Why the Towers Fell, Tuesday, April 30, 2002, at 8 PM ET on PBS (check local listings). The ASCE final report is tentatively scheduled for formal release by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) April 30, 2002. In the aftermath of the collapse, the questions came quickly and urgently: was it inevitable that such a severely damaged structure would completely collapse? Or was there something about the building's design or construction that made it especially susceptible to failure? What exactly caused that failure---fire, heat, internal damage? Was the evacuation plan adequate enough to save the maximum number of lives? And are other tall buildings just as vulnerable to collapse when the blast is great and the fire uncontrolled? In the gray wasteland of smoke and dust and mangled steel that was once the third tallest building in the world, forensic engineers began sifting the wreckage for clues and answers to these and other structural truths. This blue-ribbon team of engineers is nearing the end of its task, and NOVA has been there from the beginning, following its investigation of the causes of the calamity. Why the Towers Fell presents the engineers' conclusions in the most definitive explanation yet of how and why the towers collapsed.