The Destruction of Building 7's RemainsORIGINAL SITE IS DOWN: http://www.wtc7.net/steeldisposal.html Engineering is a science that melds theory and experience to create robust structures. Unintended structural failures are rare events that warrant the most careful scrutiny, since they test engineering theory. That is why the NTSB carefully documents aircraft crash scenes, and preserves the aircraft remains, frequently creating partial reconstructions in hangers. If an investigation reveals a mechanical or design fault, the FAA usually mandates specific modifications of equipment or maintenance procedures system-wide, and future aircraft are designed to avoid the fault. Unintended structural failures are less common in steel
frame highrises than in aircraft. Being the only such building in
history in which fire is blamed for total collapse, Building 7's
remains warranted the most painstaking examination, documentation, and
analysis. There was no legitimate reason not to dismantle the rubble
pile carefully, documenting the position of each piece of steel and
moving it to a warehouse for further study. Yet, despite the paramount importance of the remains, they were hauled away and melted down as quickly as possible. The steel was sold to scrap metals vendors and most was soon on ships bound for China and India. Some of the smaller pieces and a few token large pieces of steel marked 'save' were allowed to be inspected at Fresh Kills landfill by FEMA's BPAT volunteers. This illegal evidence destruction operation was conducted over the objections of attack victims' family members and respected public safety officials. Bill Manning, editor of the 125 year old Fire Engineering Magazine, wrote in an article condemning the operation: Officials running the "cleanup operation" took pains to make sure the structural steel didn't end up anywhere but in blast furnaces. They installed GPS locater devices on each of the trucks hauling loads from Ground Zero at a cost of $1000 each. One driver who took an extended lunch break was dismissed. 3 References 2. Experts Urging Broader Inquiry in Towers' Fall, New York Times, 12/25/01 3. GPS ON THE JOB IN MASSIVE WORLD TRADE CENTER CLEAN-UP, securitysolutions.com, [cached] |