A New Forensic Tool

摘要

Forensic engineers typically rely on site observations, document reviews, and structural analyses in formulating their opinions when investigating catastrophic events. On some projects the amount of documentation and the complex analytical behavior of the structure can make it quite difficult to establish the key factors of the investigation. Engineers from the international engineering firm Thornton Tomasetti encountered such a challenge when they were engaged to investigate the collapse on August 1, 2007, of the bridge in Minneapolis carrying Interstate 35W over the Mississippi River, a tragedy that occurred during the evening rush hour, taking the lives of 13 people and injuring more than 100 others. As a by-product of the painstaking evaluation process required to analyze the bridge collapse, Thornton Tomasetti developed a more powerful and comprehensive method of organizing and presenting findings than had previously been available: forensic information modeling (FIM).