Ethical Responsibility: When the Forensic Engineer is Faced with Notifying Occupants to Vacate

Analysis of forensic science practice indicates that object range and number of performed construction and engineering researches are constantly increasing. Considering relevance of this kind of forensic science as for the investigation of criminal proceedings and for other types of legal proceedings, the basic provisions related to the theoretical base formation of forensic construction and engendering examinations in its classification aspect are considered. Currently, the lists of types of forensic examinations and forensic expert area of specializations are valid in Ukraine. According to these lists qualification of a forensic expert is assigned to experts of forensic science institutions the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, as well as to specialists who do not work in state specialized institutions. These Lists are annexes to the Regulation: On Qualification Commissions and Certification of Forensic Experts approved by the No. 301/5 order of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine dated 03.03.2015. According to the specified document, as separate types of forensic examinations, forensic construction engineering, forensic land lot evaluation forensic building evaluation, forensic building evaluation and forensic road examination on corresponding types of expert areas of specialization are recorded. The subject of forensic construction engineering examination and land lot evaluation should be considered factual data and circumstances of the case (production) established on the basis of specialized expertise in construction field having evidentiary value for any type of legal proceedings while research on relevant construction objects: real estate, building materials, structures and related technical documentation. Thus, technical content of construction engineering examinations and forensic land lot evaluations involves forensic construction engineering implementation by examining relevant engineering sites analyzing technical documentation within the subject and tasks of the specified categories of examinations by the relevant subject by applying the appropriate system of research methods. These features distinguish them in independent kinds of forensic science.

Water pollution events are defined as the discharge of point or nonpoint sources of contamination on surface water bodies such as streams, lakes, estuaries, oceans and rivers. Water pollution forensic evaluations use the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) as the primary source of standards and engineering guidelines. This Federal and State system was implemented under Public Law 92-500 and requires that any entity that discharges a flow into a waterway do so under an NPDES permit. The permit is issued by the State and allows for the receiving waterways ability to absorb some level of contamination. This absorption rate is determined by extensive Engineering modeling of the receiving waterway and is a function of the dissolved oxygen in the water and other parameters. The capacity of the receiving water is defined and allocated to all the industries and municipalities discharging into the water body. The modeling results give the Forensic Engineer a powerful

Forensic Engineering Evaluation Of Visibility Related Issues In The Night Driving Environment Requires The Understanding Of A Range Of Phenomena, Including The Human Visual System, The Nature Of Light, The Measurement Of Light, And The Limitations Of Human Perception. This Short Paper Outlines The Pertinent Topical Areas, And Is Intended To Supplement A More Detailed Discussion Presented At The Nafe Meeting In January 2005 In San Diego. Although Many Important Vision Concepts Are Omitted, The Forensic Engineer Will Gain An Appreciation Of The Fundamental Issues. Results Of Visibility Tests On Some Common Items Are Presented To Guide The Reader, And To Correlate With Other Data They May Encounter In Their Individual Practice. Three Cases Are Discussed, Which Include The Elements Of Night Driving, Glare, Conspicuity, Contrast, And Human Perception And Reaction.

Forensic engineering as applicable to “construction materials evaluation” was used to investigate a condition where an alleged severe deficiency occurred during placement of concrete for a steam turbine gen-erator (STG) structure in west central Florida. The owner questioned the integrity of the partially completed structure, and demanded removal/replacement of the structure. The author conducted a forensic investiga-tion to determine whether the deficiency was limited to the surface, or if removal and replacement of the structure was warranted.

New Jersey Court Rulings From 2003 To The Present Permit An Injured Worker To File A Claim Directly Against His Or Her Employer Separate From Workers Compensation Claims, Under Limited Circumstances. However, An Injured Worker Must Demonstrate That The Employer Created Conditions That Resulted In A Substantial Certainty Of Injury. Therefore, There Is A Need For Well-Founded Forensic Engineering Evaluations And Opinions To Determine Whether Employer Conduct Created A Substantial Certainty Of Injury In The Workplace. This Paper Discusses Established Methodology To Evaluate The Risk Of Injury From Employer Created Hazards Based On Actual Case Experiences Of The Authors.

This forensic engineering (FE) study evaluated root cause errors associated with excessive differential settlements on a housing project constructed on top of a variable thickness layer of highly compressible clays. The structures were reported to have experienced differential settlements on the order of 2 to 10 in. across 40 ft. The FE study examined fundamental assumptions, granularity/resolution of the settlement and differential settlement analyses, and finalized grading plan vs. the conceptual grading plan used as a basis for the differential settlement predictions. The FE study found numerous discrepancies between the “idealized site” used as a basis of analysis and the “actual site” as constructed.

This paper describes numerical modeling of the Kostanjek landslide using the LS-Rapid software. The analyses using the LS-Rapid software were made for two different triggering factors i.e. excess of pore water pressure, and combination of pore excess water pressure and earthquake occurrence, and it was applied at two different landslide cases. In the first case, the LS-Rapid software was used to re-examine the landslide model for the Kostanjek landslide reported by Ortolan (Development of 3D engineering geological model of deep landslide with multiple sliding surfaces (example of the Kostanjek landslide). Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, 1996), Mihalinec and Stanic (Građevinar 43:441–447, 1991) and Stanic and Nonveiller (Eng Geol 42:269–283, 1996). In the second case, LS-Rapid was used to confirm the Kostanjek landslide model in which the sliding surfaces are initially developed through the soil mass. During the initial shearing, the excess pore pressure is often generated during the landslide activations by triggering factors and the post failure-motion of the landslide. The strength parameters used in these analyses were derived from tests in undrained ring shear apparatus carried out by Ostric et al. (Proceeding of the 10th anniversary of ICL, Kyoto, Japan, 2012a, Disaster Prevent Res Inst Annu B 55:57–65, b). It is expected that the results of the Kostanjek Landslide simulation using LS-Rapid software and parameters obtained from undrained tests carried out in ring shear apparatus would give realistic results and would help for better understanding of the Kostanjek landslide behavior.

Geotechnical engineers working with forensic evaluations must apply science and engineering within the rules and practice of the legal system, in order to be effective in representing reality and resolving conflicts. Such rules and practice will vary from country to country. The geotechnical work required for the documentation of forensic cases, however, should observe the same standards of quality in all countries. To provide the required assistance in the settlement of disputes, the engineer needs to combine high quality forensic investigations consistent with good science and engineering with an ability to clearly present the matters being disputed. This keynote lecture reviews the basic requirements of forensic geotechnical engineering. The technical forensic investigation requires collection of data, problem characterization, development of failure hypotheses, a realistic back-analysis, observations in situ and in some cases performance monitoring, and most importantly quality control of not only the formal but also the technical aspects of the work. Two case histories of landslides are presented. The role of the geotechnical engineer as a forensic expert is highlighted, in particular in investigating damage and failure, evaluating the hazards and consequences, developing repair recommendations and preparing reports.

The 11-story reinforced concrete Zumrut Building in Konya, Turkey collapsed on February 2, 2004. Ninety-two people died. This study was conducted to determine the mechanism of the collapse and identify lessons learned to avoid future disasters. Using structural drawings, material samples, and soil information obtained from the site, reasons for the collapse were investigated. A three-dimensional (3-D) structural model and analyses were performed using ETABSV8.11, and various possible critical cases were studied. The step-wise nonlinear analysis used to obtain the collapse mechanisms was an example of forensic structural engineering and revealed that the progressive collapse of the building was torsional, caused by decrease in structural system’s capacity to redistribute gravity load after failure of a column. The lessons learned include the importance of project controls to reduce design and construction errors, ensure that construction and repairs are consistent with design intent, and changes are checked for safety and included in drawings. The importance of integrating architectural and structural systems to form 3-D continous structural frames to reduce the probability of progressive collapse is also discussed.

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract Institutional Obstacles to Integrating Ethics into the Curriculum and Strategies for Overcoming Them Abstract Several national reports emphasize the importance of providing undergraduate engineering students with effective ethics education, and most engineering faculty and administrators agree that ethics is an important aspect of engineering undergraduate education. However, there are many obstacles to integrating ethics into the curriculum. This study investigated these obstacles at 18 diverse institutions and found five common themes: 1) the curriculum is already full, and there is little room for ethics education, 2) faculty lack adequate training for teaching ethics 3) there are too few incentives to incorporate ethics into the curriculum, 4) policies about academic dishonesty are inconsistent, and 5) institutional growth is taxing existing resources. This study concludes with recommendations for overcoming these obstacles. Introduction Recent, high profile cases such as the interstate bridge collapse in Minneapolis, levee failures in New Orleans, and steering and braking failures in Toyota automobiles have elevated ethics in engineering to national and international attention. These cases stress the significance of ethical responsibility in the engineering profession and emphasize the need to educate engineering students about their professional and ethical obligations. Several national reports emphasize the importance of providing undergraduate engineering students with effective ethics education. Reports from the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) conclude engineers need to be trained to recognize their professional responsibilities and the ethical implications of their work12,13. In addition, most engineering faculty and administrators agree that ethics is an important aspect of engineering undergraduate education. In fact, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) includes ethical and professional responsibility as one of its program objectives for accreditation of engineering programs5, and the professional codes for most national engineering societies include tenets related to ethical responsibility as well1,14. Despite the compelling evidence and accreditation requirements to include ethics in engineering education, many engineering programs struggle to incorporate ethics into the curriculum. These difficulties stem from both institutional and personal contexts, but all have an impact on the ethics curriculum and education of engineering undergraduates. Because of the importance of developing ethical engineers, it is critical to identify these obstacles so they can be addressed by engineering programs. This study investigates these obstacles and suggests ways to overcome them. Literature Review The importance of developing ethical engineers highlights the need to integrate ethics into engineering education. Harris, Davis, Pritchard, and Rabins7 identify nine purposes of engineering education which Newberry15 classifies into three categories: particular knowledge, intellectual engagement, and emotional engagement. Newberry argues that particular knowledge,

This study performed a forensic evaluation of construction noise and ground vibration propagation to surrounding residential and commercial structures as a result of an urban drainage improvement construction project. Noise and vibration data collected during the course of the drainage project was first evaluated for conformance with the project specifications and data collection protocols. Construction equipment utilization logs were used to create a “time history” of daily maximum noise levels, which were contrasted with the maximum allowable per the project specifications. Attenuation relationships were used to delineate ground vibration extents and magnitudes propagating from the source to adjacent receptors (i.e., structures). The forensic engineer (FE) found significant deviations from the required data collection protocols and a high degree of “under-reporting.” Construction-induced noise and ground vibrations were determined to be “substantial factors of harm” to the adjacent structures.

Some landslide hazards in northern Summit County, Ohio : Bull Assoc Engng Geol V26, N3, Aug 1989, P351–368

Two parallel, concurrently active slip surfaces of a landslide in clay shale of the Cretaceous Lea Park Formation are causing deformation of a bridge structure across the North Saskatchewan River near Deer Creek, Saskatchewan. The upper slip occurs at the contact between the shale and glacial deposits, which is common in this region. However, the second slip occurs deep in the shale, 24 m below the upper slip zone. This multilevel landslide mechanism, not reported previously in this region, is resulting in a complex deformation pattern where components of the structure are moving at different rates. The multilevel slip mechanism is related to a unique combination of the hydrogeology and geologic structure at this site. Under an upward groundwater gradient, slip surfaces occur at discontinuities in available shearing resistance at different elevations in the shale. The discontinuities are gouge zones in the clay shale, which are the result of a combination of glacial shear and regional tectonism where parameters have been reduced to a residual state ([Formula: see text] and c′ = 0). The pore-water pressures for the slope stability analysis were generated from a site specific finite element seepage model using boundary conditions determined from a regional finite element seepage model. The groundwater models were calibrated from piezometer data and from hydrochemistry of water from farm wells, piezpmeters, and natural surface ponds. The hydrochemistry was used to delineate groundwater, discharge areas from recharge areas. The validity of the landslide mechanism is supported by a stability analysis integrated with the finite element seepage analysis, which demonstrates that two separate parallel slip surfaces at different depths can be at a state of limiting equilibrium concurrently. Key words : bridge deformation, Cretaceous shale, integrated models, residual strength, multilevel slips.

The Cuyahoga River Valley in northern Summit County, Ohio, is an area of high landslide incidence. The valley system is characterized by high and narrow divides separated by steep-sided tributary valleys cut into bedrock and glacial deposits. This type of topography, the abundance of silty and clayey soils, and the humid climate of the area all contribute to landsliding in the region. The situation has been further aggravated by road and residential construction resulting in many major landslides. Slumping, earth flows, and combinations of these are the most common modes of failure. Three active landslides were investigated in detail because of their large size and proximity to roadways and residential dwellings. Topographic and/or physiographic maps were prepared for each site and soil samples were collected to establish stratigraphy and engineering properties of the material(s) involved in failure. In addition to the site investigations, a landslide inventory map of the area was prepared using field reconnaissance and aerial photographs. All slope failures on the inventory map were categorized according to their “state of activity” and “certainty of identification.” A high concentration of slope failures occurs on the eastern side of the Cuyahoga River Valley and on the southwestern side of the valley of Furnace Run.

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