Report Detail:
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Buildings, bridges, and other man-made structures are not supposed to fail. But, sometimes they do, and for different reasons: fire,
earthquakes, high winds, errors in design and construction, flaws in materials or workmanship, and even terrorist attacks.
Under the National Construction Safety Team Act (NCST) , signed into law in October 2002, the National Institute of Standards and Technology is
authorized to investigate major building failures in the United States. The NIST investigations will establish the likely technical causes of
the building failure and evaluate the technical aspects of emergency response and evacuation procedures in the wake of such failures. The goal is to
recommend improvements to the way in which buildings are designed, constructed, maintained and used.
NIST currently is conducting two major construction safety investigations: a building and fire safety investigation of the Sept. 11, 2001,
World Trade Centre fire and building collapses; and the Feb. 20, 2003, fire at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I. The NCST Advisory Committee provides advice to NIST on its investigations.
Some major investigations include the building and fire safety investigation of the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center fire and building collapses,
and the investigation of the fire at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I. on February 20, 2003. The NCST Advisory Committee provides advice
to NIST on its investigations.
Note: Some of the information presented here is in PDF format.
Click here to download Adobe Acrobat Reader.
The following NIST site provides a whole host of new PDF downloads, presentation packages and video providing some valuable background and investigative work:
NIST Construction Safety Investigation
Background on the National Construction Safety Team Act
World Trade Center Investigation
Rhode Island Nightclub Fire Investigation
- Presentations on RI Nightclub Fire Investigation Progress Given at Dec. 2-3, 2003 National Construction Safety Team Advisory Committee Meeting (PDF doc)
- Commerce’s NIST Asks Public for Information on Rhode Island Nightclub Fire
- Remarks by James Hill, Acting Director, Building and Fire Research Laboratory
- Remarks by William Grosshandler, Lead Investigator, Rhode Island Nightclub fire (PDF doc)
- Click here to view video (for text description see Grosshandler remarks) download realplayer here
- Presentation on Rhode Island Investigation at Aug. 26-27, 2003, NCST Advisory Committee Meeting (PDF doc)
- Statement on the Progress of NIST's Rhode Island Nightclub Fire Investigation
- National Construction Safety Team Technical Investigation Plan: The Station Nightclub, West Warwick, RI; February 20, 2003
- NIST launches investigation into Rhode Island nightclub fire
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