It always seems impossible until it’s done. Nelson Mandela

7 catastrophic construction disasters in history

MASTERPIECE OF VEDIC ARCHITECTURE:

The Brahadeewarar temple, called the Big Temple, is dedicated to Lord Siva. It was built by the great Chola King Raja Raja 1 (985 -1012 A.D). The huge cap of Tanjore big temple is constructed in such a way that the shadow of the Tanjore big temple Gopuram will not fall on the ground at noon in any season. It will just fall on itself.

1. Leaning Tower of Pisa, ITALY

Although it poses no imminent risk to human safety today, this iconic tower is the most obvious example of a construction error. The tower began to tilt during construction, after it had been built with an inadequate foundation on soil that could not support the weight of the enormous structure. In the 19th and 20th century, attempts to fix the

tower succeeded in decreasing the angle of incline from 5.5 degrees to a 3.9 degree angle.

2.Tacoma Narrows Bridge, WASHINGTON

Built in 1940, the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge was the third largest suspension bridge in the US at that time, spanning nearly 6000 feet. It opened on July 1st 1940, and several months later, in November of the same year, 40 mph winds caused the bridge to collapse and crash into

Puget Sound. Amazingly, not a single person was killed. However, the collapse of the bridge influenced the study of bridge aerodynamics for years, and was influential in changing how bridges were built.

3. Lotus Riverside Complex, China

In Shanghai in 2009, a recently build, but vacant apartment building collapsed, killing one worker. An investigation proved that ground instability, caused by dumping excavated soil on a nearby river bank had caused the building to collapse.

4.Sampoong Department Store Collapse , South Korea

The department store opened in 1990, and attracted close to 40,000 visitors a day. In April 1995, cracks began to appear on the 5th floor ceiling. Two months later, more cracks developed prompting the closure of the top floor of the building. However, this just delayed the impending collapse. Shortly before 6 pm on June 29th 1995, the south

wing of the building collapsed, killing 502 people and injuring more than 1500.The Department collapse is considered one of the world’s deadliest building collapses, and was caused by the developer’s inability to abide by building standards and the addition of a fifth floor for restaurants.

5. Quebec City Bridge, LEVIS

The longest cantilever bridge in the world (987 m or 3,239 ft) has been collapsed two times: first on 29 August, 1907 and 11 September, 1916 for the second time. After four years of construction, a part of the central sections and the south arm of the bridge collapsed in just fifteen seconds. 75 workers (33 of them were Mohawk steelworkers from a Canadian reserve) were killed and 11 were injured. Nine years later, when the central span was being raised, it fell into the river and killed 13 people.

6.Teton Dam, idaho

In 1976, the earthen dam build by the federal government in Southeastern Idaho broke apart. On the morning of June 5th 1976, workers noticed a small leak in the dam, but didn’t think it was a problem. As the leak grew, crews tried to repair the hole, but it was too late. The dam burst at 11.55 am, sending 2,000,000 cubic feet of water per second into the Teton River Canyon.11 people, and 13,000 cows were killed in the accident, and the accident caused nearly $2 billion in damages. An investigation

revealed that the type of soil used to build the dam allowed water to seep through the cracks and eventually eroded the structure.

7.Twin Tower Collapse, NEW YORK

The remaining undamaged columns were capable of bearing considerable loads, but to some extent depended on support from the floors to do so. Once the floors had succumbed to the heat of the fire, the integrity of the building was threatened. Core columns were not only bearing extra loads, but were also subject to intensely high temperatures. Once they began to buckle, the crash site floor collapsed onto the floor underneath. The effect was similar to dropping one multi-storey building onto another: each floor collapsed onto the one below, and so on. Once this domino effect had begun, it took seconds for the towers to be reduced to rubble. Watch video...\Desktop\Twin Towers Collapse.mp4