Research Needs Related to Forensic Engineering of Constructed Facilities

The Technical Council on Forensic Engineering created a Research Committee to identify research needs for constructed facilities that do not perform in accordance with established standards, to define research problems and assign priorities to them, and to develop effective means for implementing the results of research. In 1991, the Research Committee completed a national survey. The intent of the questionnaire used in this survey was to identify the research needs related to forensic engineering. This paper summarizes the results of that poll. It is evident that civil engineers vary considerably in their opinions about research needs within their respective fields. However, significant needs were identified for information related to historical data, corrosion, new materials, leakage, in situ monitoring, and construction flaws.