Engineering & Science Mistakes & Myths

Tacoma Narrows Bridge

The 1940 film of "Galloping Gertie" collapsing due to high winds running through the valley over which it was built is a classic. I first saw it in a junior high school physics classroom. You really need to watch the film if you haven't seen it.

Chernobyl Nuclear Plant

In 1986, a reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Russia went critical and melted down, releasing radiation for hundreds of miles. Ironically, the accident occurred during a safety test.

Fukushima Nuclear Plant

In 2011, the Fukushima Nuclear Plant in Japan had a melt down.

Three-Mile Island Nuclear Plant

In 1979, one of the world's first nuclear accidents occurred at the Three-Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania. That unfortunately drove a figurative stake through the heart of nuclear power generation industry.

RMS Titanic

No list of engineering failures would be complete without mention of the "unsinkable" Titanic. Upon colliding with an iceberg, the supposedly water-tight compartment did not adequately seal and keep the craft afloat.

Hindenburg Airship

The 1937 disaster of the Hindenburg is another of the most famous results of poor planning. Use of very explosive hydrogen as the buoyancy gas was halted afterwards, and was replaced with helium.

17th Street Canal

The 17th Street Canal Levee was breached over a two city-block wide length after Hurricane Katrina. Investigations suggest the breach was due to faulty design, rather than storm and water conditions more severe than the levee and storm wall system of the canal was intended to survive. Information from Wikipedia.

New Orleans Canal and Levee System

Failure of the levees in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 is an event that will be remembered by many people both for the lack of sufficient planning and the pathetic response to the catastrophe.

Bad Science

This page is maintained by Alistair B. Fraser in an attempt to sensitize teachers and students to examples of the bad science often taught in schools, universities, and offered in popular articles and even textbooks.

Boston Molasses Disaster

On January 15, 1919, a large molasses tank burst and a wave of molasses 8-15 ft high, moving at approximately 35 mph through the streets of Boston, killing 21 and injuring 150 people. After the disaster it was revealed that Arthur Jell, the construction overseer, neglected basic safety tests. The tank leaked so badly after being filled with molasses, that it was painted brown to hide the leaks. Information from Wikipedia.

Citigroup Center

During construction, changes were made that led a structurally unsound building. Structural engineer William LeMessurier discovered a potentially fatal flaw in the skyscraper's construction - the building's bolted joints could not withstand 70-mile-per-hour wind gusts at certain angles. To correct the flaw, a construction crew welded two-inch-thick steel plates over each of the skyscraper's 200 bolted joints, creating a structurally sound building. Information from Wikipedia.

Engineering Disasters and Learning from Failure

Information from Department of Materials Science and Engineering, State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Firestone 500 Steel-Belted Radials

The Firestone 500 steel-belted radials separated from the tread, typically at high speeds, from water seeping under the tread, causing the belting to rust and the treading to separate. Information from Wikipedia.

Goof Gallery

A collection of mistakes made by early scientists and artists when trying to represent extinct (and sometimes living) organisms.

Hyatt Regency Walkway

This major disaster occurred on July 17, 1981 in Kansas City, MO, and killed 114 people and injured more than 200 others. The walkway was designed by Jack D. Gillum and Associates, with the steel rods for the walkway being manufactured by Havens Steel Company. Due to miscommunications between the two firms, the resulting walkway could only bear 30% of the minimum load. Information from Wikipedia.

Mars Climate Orbiter

Findings indicated that one team used English units (e.g., inches, feet and pounds) while the other used metric units for a key spacecraft operation. The result of this error was the loss of the spacecraft.

Northeast Blackout of 1965

The Northeast Blackout of 1965 was a significant electrical power outage on November 9, 1965, affecting around 25 million people who were left without electricity for up to twelve hours. A small surge of power tripped a relay, disabling a main power line and causing a cascade of outages. Plant after plant automatically shut down as they experienced load imbalances. Information from Wikipedia.

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Most people of the world are familiar with the Tower of Pisa and its notable "leaning" off vertical by about 4 degrees. Few, though, probably think of it as an engineering flaw. In fact, the designers inadvertently proved the Biblical admonishment about the need to build on a solid foundation. They knew the tower was beginning to lean before it was even completed (a two-century project).

Regalskeppet Vasa was a Swedish ship built for King Gustavus Adolphus. In 1628, the Vasa capsized on its maiden voyage, sailing for only less than a nautical mile. The original plans called for one closed gundeck, but the Vasa was finished with two, at the request of the king. The Vasa had inadequate ballast to counter her height. It has been suggested that if the Vasa's center of gravity had been 2-4 inches (5-10 cm) lower, she would not have capsized.

Space Shuttle Challenger

The O-ring failure on a solid rocket booster during the 1986 launch of the Challenger which caused the vehicle to break up during launch. The rare but predictable near-freezing temperature cause the rubber to stiffen and allow propellant to leak. The coffee mug in the photo is one I bought whilst on Melanie and my honeymoon in May of 1983. I talked her into a stop at Kennedy Space Center on the way home from Disney World. 

Space Shuttle Columbia

In 2003, the Columbia (the very first space shuttle to fly in 1981) suffered critical damage to the wing during launch due to a piece of insulation breaking off the main fuel tank. NASA had capitulated to EPA demands and changed the insulation formula, which was known to have inferior adhesion characteristics compared to the original.

"Science Myths" in K-6 Textbooks and Popular Culture

An extensive list of links and articles.

Skeptical Inquirer

Separating fact from myth in the flood of occultism and pseudoscience on the scene today. This dynamic magazine, published by the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, tells you what the scientific community knows about claims of the paranormal, as opposed to the sensationalism often presented by the press, television, and movies.

Silver Bridge

The Silver Bridge was an eyebar chain suspension bridge built in 1928 and was named for the color of its aluminum paint. The bridge connected Point Pleasant, West Virginia and Gallipolis, Ohio over the Ohio River. On December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge collapsed while it was choked with rush hour traffic, resulting in the deaths of 46 people. Investigation of the wreckage pointed to the cause of the collapse being the failure of a single eye-bar in a suspension chain, due to a small defect only 0.1 inches (2.54 mm) deep.

St. Francis Dam

The dam was built under the supervision of William Mulholland, a self-taught civil engineer. Just before midnight on March 12, 1928, the dam crumbled. The resulting flood killed more than 400 people. Information from Wikipedia.

Teton Dam

The Teton Dam, 44 miles northeast of Idaho Falls in southeastern Idaho, failed abruptly on June 5, 1976, less than a year into operation. It released nearly 300,000 acre feet of water, then flooded farmland and towns downstream with the eventual loss of 14 lives, directly or indirectly, and with a cost estimated to be nearly $1 billion.

The Worst: Stupid Engineering Mistakes

From Wired Magazine.

Torrey Canyon Supertanker Disaster

The "Torrey Canyon" struck Pollard's Rock in the Seven Stones reef, England, on 18 March, 1967. 31,000,000 gallons of oil leaked from the ship and spread along the sea between England and France, killing most of the marine life it touched. A contributing design factor was that the ship was nearly unmaneuverable.

Whoops! Blunders and Mistakes of Science and Engineering

Documents mistakes which are the result of misapplication or ignorance of science and engineering principles. Readers are invited to send us more of this kind of thing, or to provide additional information about the ones already here, by Donald Simanek.

Quebec Bridge

On August 29, 1907 the south arm and part of the central section of the bridge collapsed, killing 75 workers and injuring a dozen others. Calculations made early in the planning stages were never properly checked when the design was finalized, and the actual weight of the bridge was far in excess of its carrying capacity. The dead load was too heavy. Information from Wikipedia.