CONTENTS 08.09.11
New Civil Engineer
lst Floor,GreaterLondonHouse HampsteadRoad,LondonNWl 7EJ EDITORIALENQUIRIES Email: [email protected] EDITOR1Antony Oliver (020)77284541 antony.oliver DEPUTYEDITOR1Mark Hansford (020)77284543 mark.hansford CHIEFSUBEDITOR1Andy Bolton (020) 77284537 andy.bolton NEWS EDITOR1AlexandraWynne (020) 77284540 alexandra.wynne ONLINE EDITOR1Jo Stimpson (020) 77284544 jo.stimpson REPORTER1Declan Lynch (020) 77284546 declan.lynch
ICE1Olivia Gagan
(020) 77284539 olivia.gagan SENIORREPORTER1MarissaLynch (020) 77284545 marissa.lynch ADVERTISING
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www.nce.co.uk 1 08.09.11 NEWCIVILENGINEER3
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SPECIAL REPORT 9/11 ten years on
Engineers have learned much from the Twin Towers collapses
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STRUCTURES Sandwell College
A new educational facility has overcome a series of challenges
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05 News
Post 9/11recommendations go unheeded
12 News
Edinburgh tram extended after council U-turn
14 News online
A snapshot of the civil engineering week
Ten years ago Ibis week NCEs cover summed up the destruction ofNewYork's Twin Towers with a single word: "Unthinkable".
Looking back, it remains true. The 11 September terrorist attackwas an unimagi- nable event that changed the course of history, prompting conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan and spawning a new breed of terror attack in London and worldwide.
The realisation that Iwo 417m taIl buildings could be felled in less than 90 minutes did also prompt questions about engineers' Iole in protecting society from Ibis new threat.
"Certainly the dynamics ofwhat happened are creaI to set but could structural engineers have clone anything about it?" l asked back then. "Asan industrywe must learn from what bas happened and make whatever adjustments are necessary to design codes - if any turn out to be necessary."
Ten years on it is creaI that engineers have learnt some of the lessons, although some
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SPOiUGHT
Marine
Anew ferry terminal is taking shape at Pier Head in Liverpool
Alsoin this issue
Letters
High Speed 2, Aid for Africa, transport hubs
Interview
Aecom Europe's new chier executive Steve Morriss
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18
25 ICENews
Drive for technician apprentices
Comment
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AntonyOliver
havestillto be embraced(seePS).It is also clear that, while no-one cali rule out attack by aircraft, the skyscraper is here ta star.
Cilies across the world continue to develoD landmark tall buildings such as Shanghai's ' 492m World Financial CellIer, Hong Kong's 484m International Finance Centre and the mammoth 828m Burj Kalifa in Dubai.
London's 310m Shard is DOWunder construc- tion, as is the 541m One World Trade CellIer growing froIDGround Zero.
Yet Ibis desire to build ever taller under- Hiles a second, perhaps more important challenge we also highlighted 10years ago.
"We must think about the human side to Ibis tragedy and the work to restore public faith in the infrastructure icons that we help to create," l wrote. "Having seen the pictures from New York, fOUcould understand if maTIr people thought long and bard about going back to work in the world's megatowers."
Perhaps the resilience ofhuman nature bas
infrastructureshow
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Jtheinfrastructureshow'
17-19 October 2011. NEC Birmingham
l'it is clear that while no-one (an ever rule out future attack by aircraft, the skys(raper is here to stay"
Englneer! have kept the fait~ in tall.buildings despite 9/11
helped to banish any such fears. But rd argue that it is more likely down to the efforts of the engineering professionals who have demon- strated that high rise structures are still safe.
We DOWbetter appreciate design for struc- tural resilience and modelling tire impact.
Design codes have also been revised. And we have SetHvery important work clone on evacuation strategies.
As current Standing Committee on Struc- tural Safety chairman Gordon Masterton put it 10 years ago, "living in cilies with buildings thatwe admire and enjoy is one of our basic freedoms. We caTInatreact ta the events in New York by cowering away ~ndarkened bunkers. That ...would be a victory for terror."
We have DOtand the evidence that the war on terror is being won is evident in the staggering infrastructure that continues to be designed and constructed around us. Long may it continue.
E Antony Oliver is NCE's Editor
