Unfortunately, that's wishful thinking. It just doesn't work that way under any kind of profit motive. Take a look at the third diagram in this paper titled "R

Unfortunately, that's wishful thinking. It just doesn't work that way under any kind of profit motive. Take a look at the third diagram in this paper titled "Risk Management in a Dynamic Society": http://sunnyday.mit.edu/16.863/rasmussen-safetyscience.pdf http://sunnyday.mit.edu/16.863/rasmussen-safetyscience.pdf Essentially, the "gradient descent" of business interests will invariably push safety design right to the edge that is deemed acceptable. Not to some "safe region" with decent wiggle room! The very edge. This is why the "minimum amount of concrete" will eventually be the minimum amount of concrete, and catastrophic failures will occasionally occur, even in foreseeable circumstances.