 Despite—or perhaps because of—increases in design sophistication and advances in construction techniques, there seems to be a proliferation of structural failures. In the United States the investigation of structural failures and the resolution of claims have developed to an almost "routine practice" with procedures, protocols, and alternative dispute resolutions, in which the forensic structural consultant/expert is a major player. Forensic Engineering and particularly Forensic Structural Engineering is now a highly regarded, extremely valuable and well respected field of professional engineering practice.
The objectives of the Forensic Engineering Group are to report on causes of failures, lessons learned and used, to prevent re-occurrence; monitor and report on the engineering investigations of structural failures; report and propose improvements of practice based on the lessons learned from failures; publicize methods of engineers' emergency response; publicize techniques of field and analytical evaluations of failures; inform of effective dispute resolution procedures; promote ethical standards and practices in the investigation process, resolution and judgment of cases of structural failures.
Since its initial formation as a committee in 2001, the Forensic Engineering Group has organized technical lectures, seminars, and Symposiums to provide opportunities for continued education and inform the engineering community how to mitigate failures and improve forensic engineering practices. Upcoming Forensic Engineering Technical Group events are listed in the calendar on the right side of this page. To obtain more information about the Forensic Engineering Group, you can contact one of the group officers.
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Scott Wood, PE explains key points of critical considerations regarding structural engineering design implementations to prevent progressive collapse of structures
On April 10, 2012, Macarena Schachter-Adaros, PE and Scott Wood, PE from Weidlinger Associates, Inc. Consulting Engineers' Washington, DC office gave a 2 ½ hour technical presentation on the topic of "Design to Prevent Progressive Collapse" to the Forensic Engineering Group at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.
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Alan Jeary, Ph.D., PE discusses all the important engineering considerations regarding Structural Performance Monitoring, as attendees took notes during this 2 ½ hour highly technical engineering presentation.
On March 20, 2012 Structural engineering experts Alan P. Jeary Ph.D., P.E. & Thomas A. Winant, P.E. from STRAAM Corp. provided a very informative 2 1/2 hour technical presentation on all the important considerations regarding the specialty engineering field of "Structural Performance Monitoring" to the Forensic Engineering Group.
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 ASCE's Technical Council on Forensic Engineering will be holding its Sixth Congress on Forensic Engineering from October 31-November 3, 2012 in San Francisco, California. This conference is being chaired by Anthony Dolhon, PE, from Exponent -Engineering and Scientific Consulting, who is a member of the ASCE Metropolitan Section's Forensic Engineering Group.
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June 15, 2010 - Ed Nachtmann, SE, PE (center) who presented "The Role of Hazard Mitigation in Preventing Damage on Large Disasters", is flanked by James Cohen, PE of ARUP (left) (FE steering committee member), and Paul Roppa, PE of New York City Department of Design+Construction -NYCDDC Infrastructure Division (right) - (Chairman of the Forensic Engineering Technical Group).
In spite of the best efforts of engineers, contractors, and owners, failures of engineered structures continue to occur. In some cases the failures are dramatic and may even result in loss of life, and in other cases the failure may not be particularly newsworthy. Regardless of the type of failure, they almost all result in expensive litigation, and they all provide information that can be used to improve our professional practice.
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Technical Groups 
