Why Buildings Fall Down How Structures Fail.pdf

WHY
BULDNGS
FALLDOWN
HowStructures Fail
MATTHYSLEW
and
MARIOSAL VADORI
Illustrationsby
KEVINWOEST
W o W o NORTON& COMPANY
New York London
© 1987BMG Songs,Inc. and Don SchlitzMusic/MCA Music. Used by permission.
Allrights reserved.
"StrongEnough to Bend." Words and musicby Don Schlitzand BethNielson
Chapman.© Copyright1988 by MCA MusicPublishing, a Division ofMCA Inc.,Don
SchlitzMusic and Uncle Artie Music, a division ofThe MTM MusicGroup. Rights
ofDon SchlitzMusic administered by MCA MusicPublishing, a division ofMCA
Inc.,New York,New York10019. Used by reserved.
Copyright© 1992 by MatthysLevy and Mario Salvadori
IllustrationsCopyright © 1992 by KevinWoest
Allrights reserved
Printedinthe United States ofAmerica
Thetext of this book posed in Aster
withthe display set in Avant Garde Gothic
Manufacturingby The Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group.
Bookdesign by Jacques Chazaud
LibraryofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Levy,Matthys.
Why buildingsfalldown: how structuresfailI Matthys Levy and
MarioSalvadori.
p. em.
Includesindex.
failures. 2. Structural failures. , Matthys, 1929-
Salvadori,Mario e, 1907- .

690'.21-dc20 91-34954
ISBN0-393-03356-2
& Company,Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York,. 10110
. Norton& CompanyLtd., 10 Coptic Street, London WCIA 1PU
4 5 6 7 8 9 0
Tothe memory of my mother-in-law,JudithBook­
man,who, upon receiving on her y-second
birthdaythe first copy of Why Buildings Stand Up,
saidmatter-of-factly: "Thisis nice, but I would be
much moreinterested inreading why theyfall
down."
MARIOG. SALVADORI
Tothe children yetunborn
For whomdiscovering thepast
Willopen the door to the future.
MATTHYSP. LEVY
Contents
PREFACE 9
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 11
INTRODUCTION 13
l. TheFirst Structural Failure 17
2. Miracleon Thirty-fourthStreet 25
3. Willthe P