Bridges, buildings, and the connections holding them together fail for reasons that are almost never mysterious once the evidence is read correctly. We determine the cause — independently, and to a standard that holds up in court.
Start a conversation with our AI Research Concierge, already scoped to structural & civil. Select a specialization to prompt it, or describe your situation directly.
Structural failures rarely begin at the moment they become visible. A fatigue crack grows for years inside a bridge girder before it is long enough to matter; a slab loses bearing capacity one corroded rebar at a time; a connection carries an eccentric load it was never detailed for until the margin finally runs out. The physical evidence survives even when the structure does not — fracture surfaces record how a crack propagated, debris fields record the sequence of collapse, and corrosion profiles record how long chlorides have been at work. This department covers the failure modes where load, materials, and time interact across the built environment, from a single bolted connection to a river-spanning bridge.
Each specialization area covers a distinct structural failure mechanism with its own physics, examination protocol, and governing codes. Start with the one that matches your incident.
Fatigue cracking, scour, overload, and bearing failure behind bridge collapses and closures.
investigateProgressive collapse, foundation failure, and construction-phase overload behind building failures.
investigateChloride corrosion, ASR, sulfate attack, and carbonation behind spalling, delamination, and section loss.
investigateWeld defects, bolted-connection failures, and brittle fracture at structural steel connections.
investigateSnow, rain, and wind load, and truss and joist failure, behind roof collapse and life-safety incidents.
investigateShoring failure, formwork collapse under fresh concrete, and scaffold overload on active jobsites.
investigateStructural investigations move from non-destructive documentation of the as-found condition to destructive testing only once that condition is fully recorded — the sequence protects evidence the next step depends on.
Technical briefings and case analyses on structural and civil engineering failures — written by the people who investigate them.
A bridge coded Poor and a bridge that cannot carry legal loads are two different findings from two different records. The federal rules keep them apart, and so should a record review.
readA structural connection passes through several hands between the design calculation and the finished joint, and it can change at every step. The paper trail is usually where the failure is found.
readA scaffold's capacity depends on bracing, plumbness, tie spacing and what the base plates sit on. Each is decided during erection, and each is routinely compromised in ways that look minor.
readMap cracking on a concrete surface is consistent with several unrelated mechanisms that call for different remedies and implicate different parties. Thin-section examination distinguishes them directly.
readA collapse produces far more damage than its cause. Structural back-analysis works from the surviving evidence to identify which single failure is consistent with everything that followed.
readA high-strength bolted joint depends on the clamping force in the bolt, not the torque used to install it. The two are related by friction, which is why installation method and inspection records matter.
readIt depends on where the failure mechanism actually traces to, which is exactly what the investigation establishes. A design deficiency implicates the engineer or architect of record; a construction defect implicates the contractor or a specific subcontractor; a maintenance failure can implicate the owner or a facilities-management program. Most real cases involve more than one contributing factor, and allocating responsibility requires reconstructing the full chain from design intent through as-built condition to the maintenance and inspection record.
Everything at and near the point of failure, not just the most visibly damaged component — fractured members, connections, foundation conditions, and any debris in its as-fallen position. Photograph and, where possible, laser-scan the site before anything is moved, secure maintenance and inspection records before they are lost or overwritten, and resist pressure to clean up or reopen the site until the failure has been documented.
Sometimes, but it is materially harder and the resulting opinion is correspondingly weaker. Photographs, video, witness accounts, and any components that were preserved can still support an analysis, and structural back-calculation can narrow the mechanism even without a complete physical record. The single highest-leverage step available to a client is engaging an investigator before the site is disturbed, not after.
It depends on the structure and jurisdiction. Building work is generally governed by the International Building Code as locally adopted, with ASCE 7 setting load requirements. Steel work references AISC 360 and, for connections, AWS D1.1; concrete work references ACI 318. Bridges reference AASHTO LRFD and the National Bridge Inspection Standards. Temporary structures such as scaffolding and formwork are governed primarily by OSHA 1926 Subpart L and Subpart Q. Investigations typically evaluate both the physical evidence and conformance with whichever of these applied.
Describe what happened. We will scope it and connect you with the right expert — usually within one business day.