How Building and Construction Have Changed Since 9/11/2001
09.14.2020
By: Cheyenne McDonald
On September 10, 2001, the United States comfortably enjoyed a booming economy, a decade after from both the Gulf War and Cold War, and Americans were blissfully unaware of the looming tragedy to come.
Over the past nineteen years, structural engineers and the rest of the construction industry have seen shifts in all phases of project management; from the architectural design phase down to the construction phase of a project with reformed building codes, fire codes, and safety and accessibility regulations to adhere to.
Prior to September 11, 2001, building codes were primarily concerned with structural stability and routine fire safety. Buildings were focused on defense against total collapse. Skyscrapers, for instance, were not required to have multiple fire escape routes as the structural design of the building could limit a fire to a few floors, so a stairwell allowing speedy evacuation of the entire building didn’t appear necessary. If a skyscraper could withstand hurricane force winds without tumbling, it would pass.
Symbolic of the time, there was little emphasis in construction code on progressive collapse which is when the structure of the building is compromised without being leveled, putting additional load on the undamaged parts of the structure, eventually causing a total collapse. This phenomenon was rarely seen and thus, an unimagined need for the regulations we see in today’s construction industry. Architects, engineers, and designers were therefore permitted to create slim stairways for fire escape routes and focus on tall, visually stunning buildings without carving out room for multiple large stairwells and without the use of heavy, reinforced materials.
The Cold War era ushered bomb shelters being constructed across the nation by both private individuals and the national government. After the fall of the USSR, Americans felt the security with each passing day that the threat of bombs or nuclear attacks were a thing of the past. After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, it was clear that the International Building Code (IBC) and the International Fire Code (IFC) had to address the design that prohibited timely evacuation of the towers and ultimately their structural failure.
The IBC and IFC are merely recommendations to state and local legislators who make construction codes for their respective jurisdictions. Most legislators either adopt the model codes from the IBC and IFC or some version of them that tracks closely to the model codes. These IBC and IFC codes provide consistency across the country and generally allow for construction codes to keep up with emergency and ever-changing technology in this field.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the National 9/11 Commission, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released a series of reports on their own investigation into why the World Trade Centers (https://www.nist.gov/el/final-reports-nist-world-trade-center-disaster-investigation) which included recommendations on how to construct and design safer buildings in life post-9/11, along with the updated IBC and IFC model codes. The Department of Defense (DoD) created an entire project surrounding the new construction standards for DoD buildings like the one’s targeted on 9/11. (UFC 4-010-01). The UFC 4-010-01 DoD Minimum Antiterrorism Standards for Buildings is a 93 page document last updated August 18, 2020, which provides that “the intent of these standards is to reduce collateral damage and the scope and severity of mass casualties in the event of a terrorist attack.” (https://www.wbdg.org/FFC/DOD/UFC/ufc_4_010_01_2018_c1.pdf)
Building and Construction have always meant working within the confines of the established construction code, yet now also requiring extensive innovation beyond what was already occurring, redefining what the construction industry is capable of. The NIST reports recommended changes include an increase in structural integrity in order to hopefully prevent the progressive collapse phenomenon like what we saw with the World Trade Center; improved building evacuation design such as wider and easier access to stairwells; improved fire protection systems and new methods of fire resistant design to include higher rated end tested spray materials and burnout without collapse; improved emergency response design; and enhanced training and education for engineers, architects, and project managers.
The new construction codes inevitably also mean an increase in overall project cost and a more strenuous process for insurers as well as lender, though not impossible by any means. In fact, the construction industry saw a setback in the recession but is booming once again. These building requirements have become a priority for the construction industry and have arguably created more confidence in the safety and fortitude of post-9/11 construction overall.
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