3 ms·

What this story leaves out is that the EVP of Citicorp at the time was a MIT-trained scientist (physical metallurgy). So when this crisis bubbled up - there was

What this story leaves out is that the EVP of Citicorp at the time was a MIT-trained scientist (physical metallurgy). So when this crisis bubbled up - there was no hesitation in action since there was a scientist/engineer in top leadership who was able to communicate to the board the severity of the situation. "Together they flew to New York City to confront the executive officers of Citicorp with the dilemma. "I have a real problem for you, sir," LeMessurier said to Citicorp's executive vice-president, John S. Reed. The two men outlined the design flaw and described their proposed solution: to systematically reinforce all 200+ bolted joints by welding two-inch-thick steel plates over them." http://www.damninteresting.com/a-potentially-disastrous-design-error/ http://www.damninteresting.com/a-potentially-disastrous-desi... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_S._Reed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_S._Reed

matt_trentini 13y ago
So I presume the bolts and added welded plates were actually stronger than the originally specified welded joins? In the interview with Bill LeMessurier it seemed the problem existed even with the original joins - the bolted joins just made the issue significantly worse...
- wallflower 13y ago
  Yes, it is more akin to bridge construction. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gusset_plate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gusset_plate "The building now stands as one of the safest skyscrapers in New York City, able to withstand a 700-year[1] storm without the aid of the tuned mass damper." http://www.theaiatrust.com/whitepapers/ethics/study.php http://www.theaiatrust.com/whitepapers/ethics/study.php [1] Approximately 140mph gusts. http://civil.unm.edu/classes/content//CE%20491-002/ASCE%207-10.pdf#page=294 http://civil.unm.edu/classes/content//CE%20491-002/ASCE%207-...
kchoudhu 13y ago
This must have been in the golden age before Citigroup was run by idiots.

matt_trentini 13y ago

So I presume the bolts and added welded plates were actually stronger than the originally specified welded joins? In the interview with Bill LeMessurier it seemed the problem existed even with the original joins - the bolted joins just made the issue significantly worse...

wallflower 13y ago
Yes, it is more akin to bridge construction. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gusset_plate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gusset_plate "The building now stands as one of the safest skyscrapers in New York City, able to withstand a 700-year[1] storm without the aid of the tuned mass damper." http://www.theaiatrust.com/whitepapers/ethics/study.php http://www.theaiatrust.com/whitepapers/ethics/study.php [1] Approximately 140mph gusts. http://civil.unm.edu/classes/content//CE%20491-002/ASCE%207-10.pdf#page=294 http://civil.unm.edu/classes/content//CE%20491-002/ASCE%207-...

kchoudhu 13y ago

This must have been in the golden age before Citigroup was run by idiots.