Terrorist Attacks Might Shape Future Construction

The increased costs could include higher insurance premiums and greater materials costs, which would potentially stem from stricter building code standards.

Duke University engineering Professor Henry Petroski said the recent terrorist attacks might also delay construction of tall buildings already in the works.

Petroski also said that getting funding for new construction projects might be a problem, due to increased cost and insecure tenants who might be wary of the perceived risks associated with high rises.

"Tall buildings are built as investments," he said. "Investment is a judgement call."

N.C. State University civil engineering Professor David Johnston said there might be hesitation on the part of investors to build tall, prominent buildings.

Johnston also said that newly constructed buildings will be similar in height to surrounding buildings so as not to stand out.

But Petroski said he was quite confident that no buildings in North Carolina would be the target of terrorist attacks.

"Buildings in North Carolina are not worldwide symbols of commerce," he said.

Johnston said investors might also be deterred by the inability to prevent all terrorist attacks in the future.

In the case of the World Trade Center, Johnston said there were no innate structural problems.

"(The World Trade Center) was subjected to loads it was never designed to bear," he said. "There is no way to criticize the designers for their design."

Although the World Trade Center towers were designed to withstand the impact of a Boeing 707 in 1972, Petroski said they were not designed to withstand the impact of a newer and substantially more massive 757.

Petroski said that although it is impossible to defend against terrorist attacks, there are measures that can be taken to mitigate the damage done in the event of future attacks.

"More sophisticated fire systems and evacuation routes could have potentially kept many people alive," he said.

Aside from those measures, Petroski said there is very little engineers can do in constructing buildings to guard against similar attacks.

"The only other measures we could take would be to place anti-aircraft guns on buildings, a measure we are not prepared to take," he said. "These attacks must be dealt with in other ways."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu