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Engineering
and Failure
History
Henry Petroski
is a profession focused on the future, looking And great new engineering achievements do not come to be
back mainly to calibrate progress; engineers are typical? merely by inference from an extrapolation of successful
Engineering
ly drafting plans for the next generation of artifacts, seeking precedents. Indeed, the history of civil engineering is littered
to achieve what has not been done before. On one hand, we with thewreckage of famous bridges thatwere designed in a
are ever conceiving larger, faster,more powerful structures tradition of success: the Tay Bridge in 1879, the firstQuebec
and systems; on the other, we are ever devising smaller, Bridge in 1907, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940.
lighter,more economical machines and devices. Every new In an open discussion of the relevance of history held in
thing has meaning in comparison with that which it 1975 before the Institution of Structural Engineers, R. J.M.
the past, as itwere, and the Sutherland expressed the opinion, which was echoed fre?
supersedes?bettering usually
recent
past. quently, thatmajor engineering disasters "are much more
Ifpast engineering achievements have any relevance, it likely to be avoided if future designers, individually, de?
would thus appear to be principally as standards against velop a habit of looking back and questioning how each
which the latest designs are judged. From this point of view, concept grew." Unfortunately, this is seldom done. Ironi?
only themost recent of technological history is really rele? cally, signal successes in engineering have tended to arise
vant formodern engineering, and then only insofar as it not out of a steady and incremental accumulation of suc?
presents data to be extrapolated or a challenge to be over? cessful experience but rather in reaction to the failures of
come. Any extended history of engineering would appear the past?from the minor annoyances accompanying ex?
tobe mostly irrelevant technically. The history of engineer? isting artifacts to the shock of realization that the state of
a succession
ing as of achievements, of incremental the artwas seriously wanting. Thus, the collapse of the Tay
progress, might motivate young engineers and give them led directly to the Firth of Forth Bridge, which celebrated its
pride in their profession, but it is not commonly expected to centennial in 1990; the collapse of the firstQuebec Bridge
add directly to their technical prowess. led to the redesigned second, now a symbol of Canada;
This is a shortsighted view. The history of engineering, and the colossal collapse of the Tacoma Narrows taught
when embedded in a social and cultural context, does in bridge engineers overnight an appreciation for aerody?
facthave considerable potential fordemonstrating the true namics that has led to such new suspension-bridge designs
nature of engineering as practiced in the real world, but as the Severn and Humber. An efficacious history of engi?
only if it is presented in a way thatmakes it engineering as neering should incorporate a treatment of engineering fail?
well as history. For no matter how profoundly engineers ures not only for their value in adding a measure of humil?
know that their problems have more than a technical di? ity to the innate hubris of engineers but also for the
mension, the solutions ultimately will suffer ifengineers do essential features of the engineering method that they can
not stand on solid technical ground. Thus one of themost so effectively reveal.
promising uses of history in engineering education is to add
to a fundamental understanding not of how obsolete arti? Sketches in the Sand
factsworked but of the timeless aspects of the engineering One very interesting study of engineering failures was con?
process itself, while at the same time providing an appreci? ducted by P. G. Sibly and A. C. Walker some years ago. They
ation for the,past and process of civilization and engineer? found thatmajor bridge disasters have occurred with sur?
ing's role in it. prising regularity over the past two centuries. If our engi?
The history of engineering, as of civilization, is clearly neering science and experience are cumulative, how can
one of both successes and failures, and the failuresmay be such cyclic behavior be explained? The explanation lies in
themore useful component of themix. Although examples the nature of engineering design, which begins in a most
of good engineering practice can certainly serve as para? primitive and nonrational way. Engineers literally dream
an
digms of good judgment, great people do not become so up designs, and usually in graphic form. It is only when
merely by reading biographies of great men and women. engineer has the equivalent of a sketch or drawing that the
engineering sciences can be called upon to analyze the prac?
Henry Petroski is professor of civil engineering and chairman of the ticality of a design, or that other engineers can be consulted
civil and environmental at Duke for their experience. The process is often convoluted, of
department of engineering University,
Durham, NC 27706. course, and an engineer's sketch can be informed, con
MS-DOS, CP/M 80
IBM PC/XT/AT, $195.?? Bibliography
Ferguson, Eugene S. 1992. Engineering and theMind's Eye. Cambridge,
Mass.: MIT Press.
RT-11, TSX-Plus, RSX-11, P/OS ... $250<x> Galileo. 1638. Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences. Translated by H.
Crew and A. de Salvio (1914 edition). New York: Dover Publications.
VAX/VMS (nativemode) . .'650.00 Peck, Ralph. 1981. Where Has All the Judgement Gone? Oslo: Norges geot
eckiske institutt, Publikasjon No. 134.
00 Pugsley, Sir Alfred, Mainstone, R. J., and Sutherland, R. J.M. 1974. The
ANY MANUAL & DEMO $20. relevance of history. The Structural Engineer 52:441^145. See also the
discussion, ibid. 53:387-398.
322 Prospect Ave., Hartford, CT 06106
and their causes.
Sibly, R G., and Walker, A. C. 1977. Structural accidents
m\ ISYSTEMSJ (203) 247-8500 add 8% sales tax.
Connecticut residents Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers 62, Part 1:191-208.
Vitruvius. c. 30 B.C.E. The Ten Books on Architecture. Translated by M. H.
Circle No. 11 on Reader Service Card Morgan (1914 edition). New York: Dover Publications.