Engineering ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Engineering ethics - Essay Example As such, the disaster was a result of an engineering oversight arising from the underestimation on the strength and capability of the lift slab. Every major constructions have a core pillar, the pillar that traverses the entire length of the building offering a core for the inclusion of the elevator is always a determining factor on the strength of the building. The L’Ambiance Plaza was to have two of such pillars in the form of rectangular pillars at both ends of the building. The collapse occurred when the intense pressure placed on the west tower proved overwhelming. Apparently, construction on the west wing of the building had reached the eight floor with slabs for the successive three floor slabs placed at stage IV directly over the twelfth floor. This resulted in the placement of intense stress on the pillar thereby instigating the collapse. At the time of collapse, workers were in the floors below completing various categories of construction work in different floors be low the roof. Twenty-eight of the workers died instantly as the floors buried them. The ninth, tenth and eleventh floor slabs caved in with the crane through the west pillar, the stress caused by the western side of the building intensified the pressure on the eastern wing thereby resulting in the collapse of the entire building. The entire building eventually collapsed thereby compounding the loss of capital at the site of construction. More alarmingly was the fact that the entire building collapsed in less than six seconds.