Customer Reviews

The Pentagon Building Performance Report

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Pentagon Building Performance Report--the report of the building performance study team assembled by the American Society of Civil Engineers to investigate the structural performance of the Pentagon during and immediately following the September 11 terrorist attack--has far-reaching implications not only for the building design professions but for the general public as well. Released on January 23, the report explains precisely how the Pentagon's resilient structural system substantially mitigated the damage, number of casualties and fatalities, and extent of collapse that resulted from the impact of the aircraft and the ensuing fires. This structural system saved hundreds--if not thousands--of lives.

Authored by the six individuals who constituted the core Pentagon building performance study team, the report is a comprehensive, thoroughly detailed book--the product of an exhaustive examination and analysis of the building's performance during and immediately after the terrorist attack. The Pentagon survived this event better than would have been expected, and the report explains precisely how it did so. It describes the structural features and mechanisms that contributed to the Pentagon's resiliency and it explains how these features and mechanisms performed during the impact and ensuing fires.

The information gleaned from this report argues eloquently for incorporating structural resiliency into the design and construction of buildings that are required to resist progressive collapse--that is, the failure of a structure in which relatively localized damage to structural elements leads to a general breakdown in the construction.

This book is a must read for those working in the engineering and architecture professions and provides extremely valuable information for the public at large.