Directed by The Great Courses

Stephen Ressler

Go behind the scenes to discover what really happened in more than 24 epic engineering failures. Civil engineer and award-winning educator Stephen Ressler reveals the story behind each disaster by not only demonstrating the scientific and engineering issues involved, but also by examining the individual personalities and sometimes dysfunctional organizations that led to catastrophe

Rated TVPG

Mode of access: World Wide Web

Episode 1

Learning from Failure: Three Vignettes

Episode 2

Flawed Design Concept: The Dee Bridge

Episode 3

Wind Loading: The Tay Bridge

Episode 4

Rainwater Loading: Kemper Arena

Episode 5

Earthquake Loading: The Cypress Structure

Episode 6

Vehicle Collisions: Land and Sea

Episode 7

Blast Loading: The Murrah Federal Building

Episode 8

Structural Response: The Hyatt Regency Walkways

Episode 9

Bridge Aerodynamics: Galloping Gertie

Episode 10

Dynamic Response: London's Wobbly Bridge

Episode 11

Dynamic Response: Boston's Plywood Palace

Episode 12

Stone Masonry: Beauvais Cathedral

Episode 13

Experiment in Iron: The Ashtabula Bridge

Episode 14

Shear in Concrete: The FIU Pedestrian Bridge

Episode 15

House of Cards: Ronan Point

Episode 16

Brittle Fracture: The Great Molasses Flood

Episode 17

Stress Corrosion: The Silver Bridge

Episode 18

Soil and Settlement: The Leaning Tower of Pisa

Episode 19

Water in Soil: Teton Dam and Niigata

Episode 20

Construction Engineering: Two Failed Lifts

Episode 21

Maintenance Malpractice: The Mianus River Bridge

Episode 22

Decision-Making: The Challenger Disaster

Episode 23

Nuclear Meltdown: Chernobyl

Episode 24

Blowout: Deepwater Horizon

Episode 25

Corporate Culture: The Boeing 737 MAX

Episode 26

Learning from Failure: Hurricane Katrina