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 PUBLICATIONS

Final Report on the Collapse of World Trade Center Building 7, Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster (NIST NCSTAR 1A)
    
  Published
                                November 20, 2008

Author(s)
                                Sivaraj  Shyam-Sunder,   Richard G. Gann,   William L. Grosshandler,   Hai S. Lew,   Richard W. Bukowski,   Fahim  Sadek,   Frank W. Gayle,   John L. Gross,   Therese P. McAllister,   Jason D. Averill,   James R. Lawson,   Harold E. Nelson,   Stephen A. Cauffman
Abstract
        This report describes how the fires that followed the impact of debris from the collapse of WTC 1 (the north tower) led to the collapse of WTC 7; an evaluation of the building evacuation and emergency response procedures; what procedures and practices were used in the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the building; and areas in current building and fire codes, standards, and practices that warrant revision. Also in this report is a summary of how NIST reached its conclusions. NIST complemented in-house expertise with private sector technical experts; accumulated copious documents, photographs, and videos of the disaster; conducted first- person interviews of building occupants and emergency responders; analyzed the evacuation and emergency response operations in and around WTC 7; performed computer simulations of the behavior of WTC 7 on September 11, 2001; and combined the knowledge gained into a probable collapse sequence. The report concludes with a list of 13 recommendations for action in the areas of increased structural integrity, enhanced fire endurance of structures, new methods for fire resistant design of structures, enhanced active fire protection, improved emergency response, improved procedures and practices, and education and training. One of these is new; the other 12 are reiterated from the investigation into the collapse of the towers. Each of the 13 is relevant to WTC 7.
Citation
                                National Construction Safety Team Act Reports (NIST NCSTAR) -
NIST Pub Series
                    National Construction Safety Team Act Reports (NIST NCSTAR)
Pub Type
                                NIST Pubs
Download Paper
                    https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.NCSTAR.1a

Keywords
                                building evacuation,  emergency response,  fire safety,  structural collapse,  tall buildings,  World Trade Center
  Buildings and Construction, Fire and Disaster and failure studies

Citation
      
      Shyam-Sunder, S.
  ,  Gann, R.
  ,  Grosshandler, W.
  ,  Lew, H.
  ,  Bukowski, R.
  ,  Sadek, F.
  ,  Gayle, F.
  ,  Gross, J.
  ,  McAllister, T.
  ,  Averill, J.
  ,  Lawson, J.
  ,  Nelson, H.
   and  Cauffman, S.
      
    (2008),
    Final Report on the Collapse of World Trade Center Building 7, Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster (NIST NCSTAR 1A), National Construction Safety Team Act Reports (NIST NCSTAR), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.NCSTAR.1a       
      (Accessed February 29, 2024)

  Additional citation formats
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    Created November 20, 2008, Updated December 19, 2018
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