Forensic Investigation into Bridge Collapse

Guest: Martin Gordon, PE, DFE, Professor of Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology, Rochester Institute of Technology, president of the National Academy of Forensic Engineers Investigators are still piecing together the facts that led a partially-built pedestrian bridge to collapse onto a busy highway in Florida two weeks ago, killing six people and injuring ten. Several injured survivors and families of victims who died have filed lawsuits against the companies building the bridge. The US Secretary of Transportation has also ordered an audit of the bridge project, which was partially paid for by federal funding. The job of identifying what went wrong falls to forensic engineers. They’re like crime scene investigators, but focused on what role engineering practices played in a disaster.