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Disaster & failure studies

Buildings, bridges, and other structures are not supposed to fall down. But sometimes they do, and for different reasons: fires, earthquakes, high winds, errors in design and construction, flaws in materials, and even terrorist attacks.

When disaster and failure events cause, or pose the potential for, substantial loss of life, the NIST Disaster and Failure Studies Program provides a platform for research into building and infrastructure performance and emergency response and evacuation procedures.

By understanding the technical causes leading to structural or response failures and then making that information public, NIST engineers and researchers strive to prevent similar failures in the future. Studies conducted by NIST have led to significant changes in practices, standards, and codes to enhance the health and safety of the American public.

News

The Trials and Triumphs of a Small City’s Hurricane Recovery Could Help Other Communities Bounce Back

In September 2018, a North Carolina city’s long road to recovery from Hurricane Matthew two years earlier became even longer. Lumberton, a small but diverse city of 21,000 people, 96 kilometers (60 miles) inland from the coast, unfortunately found itself in Hurricane Florence’s sights. The Lumber River, which bisects the city, swelled greatly. The flooding damaged hundreds of buildings, causing

NIST Provides Update on Champlain Towers South Investigation

NIST to Provide Public Update on Hurricane Maria and Champlain Towers South Investigations During Advisory Committee Meeting March 6-7, 2024

NIST Engineer Glenn Bell Elected to the National Academy of Engineering

The Research

Projects & Programs

Earthquake Risk Reduction in Buildings and Infrastructure Program

Ongoing
Objective: The Program’s objective is to develop and advance knowledge which can improve codes, standards, and design guidelines for earthquake risk mitigation of buildings and infrastructure systems with the focus on recovery-based design. These efforts supplement NIST’s role as lead agency for the

Development of a First-Generation Community-Resilience Systems Model

Ongoing
Objective - To develop computer-based tools that facilitate exploration of decision alternatives for community resilience and that specifically address key challenges related to the scale and interdependencies of the system and the complexities of the planning process. What is the new technical idea

Additional Resources Links

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