Commonly, structural systems are built 1.5 to 2 times stronger than expected to be needed by calculation – the factor of safety!
The average life span of typical buildings is 50 years, with more monumental buildings and structures are expected to last over 100 years. Highway design structures are trying to achieve at least 75 years. Design errors are the most likely cause of structural failure, closely followed by construction errors, but about 1 in 8 structural failures are due to poor maintenance. This video reviews how collapse is many times more likely during construction than after construction and discusses how most modern design involves more rigorous probabilistic justification of ultimate capacity relative to expected demands.
Runtime: 46 minutes
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