Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities

From visual inspection and analysis of the damage that occurred in the Murrah Building as a result of a blast caused by a large truck bomb, it is shown that progressive collapse extended the damage beyond that caused directly by the blast. The type of damage that occurred and the resulting collapse of nearly half the building is consistent with what would be expected for an ordinary moment frame building of the type and detailing available in the mid-1970s when subjected to the blast from such a large truck bomb. Using information developed for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, types of structural systems that would provide significant increases in toughness to structures subjected to catastrophic loading from events such as major earthquakes and blasts are identified. One of these systems is compartmentalized construction, in which a large percentage of the building has structural walls that are reinforced to provide structural integrity in case the building is damaged. Two additional types of detailing, used in areas of high seismicity, are special moment frame construction and dual systems with special moment frames (herein referred to as dual systems). This paper shows that compartmentalized construction, special moment frames, and dual systems provide the mass and toughness necessary to reduce the effects of extreme overloads on buildings. Consequently, it is recommended that these structural systems be considered where a significant risk of seismic and/or blast damage exists.

The truck bombing of the Murrah Building caused significant damage to this structure. From the characteristics of the bomb crater, it was determined that the explosion yielded energy comparable to that from the detonation of 1,814 kg (4,000 lbs) of trinitrotoluene (TNT). The blast directly removed a principal exterior column, and the associated airblast caused the failure of two others. The airblast also destroyed some of the floor slabs in the immediate vicinity. This paper describes the blast loading and its effect on the building.

In May 1995, the Federal Emergency Management Agency deployed a building performance assessment team composed of ASCE and federal government engineers to investigate damage caused by the malevolent bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. This paper describes the investigation of damage caused by the blast, the failure mechanism for the building, and engineering details of the building.

Spalling has been observed repeatedly at joints in newly constructed airfield pavements. Investigations of specific occurrences found a variety of causes for these problems, but they could all be categorized as being caused primarily by poor construction practices. Poor construction practice left low strength and nondurable material at the surface or along joints that began spalling relatively soon after construction ended. In some instances, the poor construction practices may have included poor concrete mixture proportioning that made construction in the field difficult. Suggestions are presented to help avoid these problems.

This paper investigates the causes of poor performance of plain cement concrete pavement, the most common type of construction for airfield pavements. Plain concrete pavements are generally cost-effective and durable. The runway at Zia International Airport at Dhaka (Bangladesh) is a plain concrete pavement, which failed rather prematurely. Thin longitudinal cracks occurred in the slab panels even before the runway was opened to traffic. With the operation of air traffic, cracks in the pavement became wider, fragmenting the slab panels into several pieces. This paper is aimed at identifying the causes of poor performance of the plain cement concrete runway pavement at Zia International Airport. A critical review of the various available documents supported by experimental and numerical investigations is presented to unearth the real causes of failure. It is shown that improper spacing of the longitudinal and transverse joints and existence of high temperature stresses resulted in cracking of the slab even prior to application of any air traffic loading. This was aggravated with the application of aircraft loadings heavier than those anticipated in the design of the runway.

A formula that can be used to check the stability of lift slab structures during the construction stages is studied. Its reliability is assessed against the available methods to check the stability of structures. Those methods usually include the second-order effect of the nonlinear analysis of structures. The energy method formula, derived by using the energy method, does not take into consideration the P-Delta effect, which causes the nonlinear terms. The computer program, which is used to check the results of the energy formula, applies nonlinear analysis to find the loads that could cause the statically unstable condition of more than 90 different construction stages of lift slab structures. The formula is found to be quite reliable and conservative in its predictions, whenever the lift slab construction stage is in an unstable condition, or close to it.

An underground 22 kV screened paper insulated lead-covered cable with steel tape armor, installed in 1960, was tripped out of service twice due to insulation failure as a result of alleged negligence by the contractor, who carried out construction work nearby in 1994. The paper analyzes reasons for the second power failure and presents lessons learned from the failure. Adherence to proper repair and test procedures as well as accurate interpretation of test results could have prevented the second power failure.