Editor’s Note

The Editorial Board for this journal frequently identifies a relevant topic to serve as the focus of a special topic issue. Leading practitioners and academicians are invited to prepare solicited manuscripts, and our general readership is also encouraged to submit manuscripts on the selected topic. Examples of previously published special topic issues include these titles: Lessons from the Collapse of L’Ambiance Plaza; Investigation of the Bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building; Lessons from the 1994 Northridge Earthquake: Performance of Steel Moment Frames; Legacy of the Kansas City Hyatt Tragedy: 20–year Retrospective Review; Blast Mitigation and Design against Terrorism; Nondestructive Evaluation Applications; and Performance of the Pentagon: Terrorist Attack of September 11, 2001.

Our next issue, to be published in November 2006, will be a special-topic issue titled Mitigating the Potential for Progressive Disproportionate Structural Collapse. Twelve invited papers written by 24 knowledgeable professionals from the United States and England comprise the issue. Subjects presented will include the historic context for consideration of disproportionate collapse; defining and quantifying the risk of low-probability/high-consequence events; alternative analytical techniques; and evolution of codes and standards relating to progressive collapse. Among the authors are engineering and construction researchers, professors, and practitioners. Perspectives range from that of the design professional to the views of a controlled demolition expert.

The March 20, 2006, issue of Engineering News-Record reported on the status of adoption of terrorism-related building code provisions. Of all the proposals emerging from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) study of the World Trade Center collapse on September 11, 2001, provisions regarding the prevention of disproportionate collapse were reported to be the most contentious. Dealing appropriately with the threat of high-consequence events having low probability may be among the most significant challenges facing the next generation of design professionals. As I wrote in the Call for Papers in the May 2005 issue, this controversial topic will strongly influence not only the future work of structural engineers but also that of architects, interior designers, landscape architects, and urban planners. The architectural configuration of future public buildings may be substantially defined by emerging design guidelines.

Please watch for this upcoming issue, and consider contributing to the lively discussion that we hope to generate by publishing these papers. This collection of papers raises some very interesting questions and suggests only partial solutions.

I would be pleased to discuss potential manuscripts, whether brief discussions on published papers or full technical papers, at any time. I can be contacted by mail: Kenneth L. Carper, School of Architecture & Construction Management, College of Engineering & Architecture, P.O. Box 642220, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-2220; by phone: (509) 335-1229; by Fax: (509) 335-6132; or by e-mail: [email protected]