Construction Fails

A double telescopic crane collapse, a barge capsizing and a 187-ton bridge span all careening into a quiet residential Dutch neighborhood resulting in...

In Asia, we witness a variety of construction site collapses: massive holes in the ground that implode in dramatic fashion, hurling retaining walls, r...

A look at the Notre Dame Cathedral fire in the spring of 2019. Infrastructure fail that contributed to making the fire much more devastating than it s...

We take a take a look at scaffolding, an integral piece of construction equipment. When it fails, the results can be catastrophic. But why does it fa...

Glass may be the most popular construction material in the modern age, but constructing with glass is challenging and dangerous. We investigate the ef...

The vast majority of demolitions rely on the excavator to bring the building down. In this episode, we witness the perfect way to do it and contrast i...

Construction cranes are towers in the sky—except when they collapse. Learn about crane collapses in Seattle, Manhattan and Bangkok. Three disasters: t...

The Artz Pedregal Mall in Mexico City had only been open a few months before the cantilevered section of the structure came crashing to the street bel...

A look at destruction at New Orleans' Hard Rock Hotel. The catastrophe left two cranes precariously dangling from the structure. Also, why bricks and...

The Big Dig in Boston was America’s most expensive infrastructure project ever. Delays and cost over-runs are legendary, but the collapse of the tunne...

The proliferation of heavy, oftentimes overloaded, transport truck traffic in China is having unintended consequences: the collapse of multiple roads...

We examine the crawler crane—the heavyweight champion of the construction industry. When things go wrong with this crane, it’s a catastrophe befitting...

We begin with an in-depth look at one of the most prolific materials in the world: the science of concrete. Why are so many of today’s concrete struc...

The Glasgow Tower in Scotland is the tallest fully rotating tower in the world, but few have ever seen it rotate. Fire, broken bearings, poor design a...

A look a the collapse of the Ponte Morandi (Morandi Bridge) in Genoa, 2018. Multiple camera angles capture the bridge crashing down in a rainstorm as...

The Millennium Tower was known as the most prestigious new condo tower in San Francisco. Now it’s known for something else: it’s sinking. It’s leani...