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Engineering ethics in practice: a guide for engineers
Case study on ethical issues
Engineering ethics in practice: a guide for engineers
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Student’s Name Professor’s Name Subject DD Month YYYY Engineering Ethics - TV Antenna Collapse Case Summary A 6-ton antenna was being hoisted on top of an 1800 ft. tower, while the last part of the antenna was being hoisted. As a result, the bolts gave in and the antenna crumbled down. Antenna Engineering Inc. manufactured the antenna while a local company - Riggers, Inc. had been subcontracted to hoist the antenna. Riggers, Inc. used a crane that was already vertically mounted on the tower (“DIR-9012252”). However, the microwave sections on the last part of the antenna made it difficult to hoist the last portion. As a result, riggers Inc. had to change the hoisting design (“DIR-9012252”). Initially, Riggers Inc. had sought for permission …show more content…
Foremost, Antenna Inc. were fully aware that Riggers Inc. comprised semi-skilled tradesmen who were not engineers by profession. Therefore, the subcontracted workers had no professional expertise in changing the design. In addition, Riggers Inc. engaged in a task that was beyond their area of competence. This led to the collapse of the tower that claimed human lives (DIR-9012252, 1992). Prevention Measures The accident pointed out a flawed hoisting process during the investigations. When the bolts failed and the tower crumbled, five people lost their lives. Preliminary investigations revealed extreme negligence on the part of Antenna Inc. In other words, there was a deliberate attempt to violate the fundamental canon of holding paramount the welfare and safety of the public. Generally, the disaster would have been avoided if the rules of practice for engineers had been adhered to. Initially, Riggers Corporation should have been sued for willfully mounting the insufficiently-sized bolts that could not support the makeshift lifting, or the project should have been temporarily suspended altogether. Perhaps, the disaster would have been avoided had Antenna Corporation fulfilled its part of not abetting or aiding the subcontractor’s unlawful
...afety should have inspected the building prior to issuing permits for further renovation, especially knowing this structure was going to be housing 124 residents. It seems that lack of knowledge from prior owners and lack of responsibility of city officials are responsible for this collapse and sadly, the loss of 9 brave men in the line of duty. The Boston Fire Department could have worked closer with the owner/ construction crew at the Hotel Vendome, and the deficiencies would have been found, and they would have known the instability they were walking into on June 17. At that point, firefighting operations would have more than likely been defensive. The firefighters did not conduct pre-incident planning which would have let them know they were going to face the construction barriers while attempting to lay hose, maneuver hose, and get the hose to a water source.
This tragic accident was preventable by not only the flight crew, but maintenance and air traffic control personnel as well. On December 29, 1972, ninety-nine of the one hundred and seventy-six people onboard lost their lives needlessly. As is the case with most accidents, this one was certainly preventable. This accident is unique because of the different people that could have prevented it from happening. The NTSB determined that “the probable cause of this accident was the failure of the flightcrew.” This is true; the flight crew did fail, however, others share the responsibility for this accident. Equally responsible where maintenance personnel, an Air Traffic Controllers, the system, and a twenty cent light bulb. What continues is a discussion on, what happened, why it happened, what to do about it and what was done about it.
The article “Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse” brought attention a famous case of failed structural design and engineering, analyzed the history of the building’s design and construction, and considered what is to blame for the accident that occurred.
One is not having any lights in the building stairway. That caused a pileup of people and stuck in the dark. The main one is not having any fire extinguishers in the building.if they had one in the room, the could have put out the fire before it spread killing many lives. The exit ladder was not strong enough to support the weight of the workers causing it to break. That left people standing on the 6th floor not knowing what to do. Some people jumped. The impact was still hard enough to kill them. The main problem was the standpipe. The standpipe had not been connected to the sprinklers which left the fire to continue
According to Zasky (2003), “The author’s discovery of a long-lost trial transcript also advances our collective understanding of the circumstances surrounding the disaster, and helps explain why the Triangle was such a safety-challenged workplace” (n.p). The vivid account of the lawyers involved in the trial further supplements the readers’ understanding behind the motivations of the main
As the roof frame construction was in process, an inspection agency arrived on-site to evaluate the project. Following inspection, the agency notified the engineers of excessive deflections at several nodes (Martin 2). Despite this information, the project continued without alteration and the completed roof frame was lifted onto the building. During the lifting process, the observed deflection was found to be twice the deflection value calculated using the computer analysis. Nevertheless, the engineers continued with the project, believing that this variation was of little concern. As subcontractors attempted to move forward and install roof panels, it was found that the excessive deflection prevented panels from fitting properly. While a subcontractor notified others of this problem, the project manager felt little concern and simply directed the subcontractors to make adjustments in order to complete installation. Countless red flags were raised throughout this project, yet the engineers dismissed each concern, placing their trust in the initial computer
The construction site was in a downtown area of a large southeastern city, criss-crossed with city streets, utilities, and immediately adjacent to mid-rise and high rise buildings. Nearly all of the work was required to be constructed within temporary piling structures to limit settlement of adjacent structures. The construction contract called for seven phase releases of work areas and nine completion milestones, each milestone has its own liquidated damages penalty. The construction contract was valued at $10 million, and the duration was 545 calendar days. Following the completion of the work, the contractor filed a claim for $5.5 million and 1.1 million in interest. The authority subsequently denied the claim and the contractor, in accordance with the contract, filed an arbitration demand with the American Arbitration Association. Following the contractor’s issuance of the demand letter, the parties agreed to resolve the dispute through negotiation” (Ray,
Issues of defective construction or failure of building had been occur since all time ago. Each of the cases of defective construction has their own reason and most of the reason is related to its building. The main causes of the structural failure are not come from the loading but it determine by the defective design of the building. Other than that, the inferior construction material also may be the reason since the loads are being calculated based on the material specification. Usually the failure which comes from material is due to the changes material that difference from the exactly material that should be used in the construction.
As a result of poor building constructions and running heavy equipped machineries, despite not being designed for industrial use contributed to the collapse of this eight-storey building, two floors of which were added illegally. Besides that, employees of the garment factories were forced to work by the owners even after discovering cracks on the exterior walls of the building. The employees were clearly under poor working conditions.
Thesis: In order to prevent the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, all the static and dynamic strains should have been taken into account which would have involved proper consideration of effects of environmental conditions, building materials and design.
Even though his firm was only required to do civil engineering work, Giffels concluded that there was an unacceptable risk to the firefighters who would use the facility with the unresolved issues, so he began contacting other firms with experience handling similar contract projects, part of exercising due care to ensure they could enhance safety. The training facility met the minimum requirements of the law, but Giffels felt that it would be shirking the responsibility his firm has to the public by not callin...
In fact, the collapse of the Sampoong Department Store was just one of many structural failures that occurred in Korea during this time. The owners in charge of the store forced engineers to deviate from the original plans creating a risk for errors to
For physically small antennas, the Wheeler cap method is highly preferred for measuring the radiation efficiency. According to this method, if a radiation shield is placed around the antenna so as to enclose the near fields of the antenna, the radiation resistance of the antenna is reduced to zero while the loss resistance and the stored energy remain the same as for the unshielded antenna. When covering the antenna with a metal cap, the radiation is suppressed and the input power (proportional to the input resistance) is equal to the power loss (proportional to the loss resistance). Without the cap, the input power is equal to the radiated power plus the power loss (input resistance + loss resistance). The radiation efficiency of the antenna can be obtained from these two parameters.
This disaster was a big one that carried large side effects as previously stated. This incident caused many to worry about the safety devices used in the transit system. People began to question its validity with respect to safety. Were these devices designed by engineers with much knowledge practical for real world use? Society had a right to wonder, and such it did.
As they were about to leap off the building, crowds of people were chanting not to. When they jumped, they fell to the concrete. None of the women survived. Overall, the total number of casualties were 146. What could have been done to fixed this, and who is to blame?