Marty Helly, CSI, CDT
We’re going to do our best this fall to get these back to networking and advancing our careers – in the safest responsible manner we can. We start our program year with the 7th annual architectural scavenger hunt. This is an unmatched opportunity to learn more about our industry through the examination of Worcester’s rich architectural history. We experience it first hand by visiting significant sites in an amazing race style team format. Then we have a full discussion of their significance, the construction technologies and social issues that shaped them, and how they are being used today afterward. Please join us – and bring a friend or co-worker you feel comfortable sharing the experience with along for the ride.
Looking forward, in October we’ll have a hands on demonstration of building envelope testing and in November a review of the Massachusetts Commercial Building Code. Check out the calendar on the cover page and pencil in the dates so you don’t miss these events.
If you’re like me and weren’t born yesterday, you know exactly where you were on a sunny Tuesday morning 20 years ago. We watched as the twin towers first did what they were designed to do – withstand the impact of a commercial jet and the resulting fire for the next two hours. Then we witnessed the progressive failure when the fires, fed by full tanks of jet fuel, finally weakened the individual floor structure at the impact floors. The approximately one acre floors were designed for maximizing open space floor plans. The joist system for each floor gave way when tasked with holding the added weight of the floors above.
This event was personal for me. The small town where I had lived in New Jersey lost 11 people that day, including my immediate neighbor who was director of Con-Ed’s emergency response team and on his way into the buildings as they came down. Over the years I’d worked on a number of projects in the Trade Center as well as with the Port Authority design staff who had their offices there. In 1993, I was in a meeting on the 35th floor for the renovation/modernization of the 200+ elevators and escalators in the complex when the bomb went off in the first attempt to bring the towers down.
This month we will be given numerous reminders and chances to honor the memory of those who lost their lives in this tragedy. As construction professionals, hopefully we can also be inspired to take the time to understand how the buildings failed and apply the lessons learned to build safer structures going forward.
Be safe, stay healthy.