Engineering Catastrophes

Residents along the Pacific Coast Highway (California Highway 1) are cut off from the outside world after a 2017 storm caused the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge near Big Sur to buckle. Experts reveal how the construction method of the old concrete bridge left it vulnerable to erosion on the steep coastline.

In Puerto Rico, the iconic Arecibo Observatory, a radio telescope nestled into a giant crater, had to close in 2020 after suspension cables holding up a critical 900-ton platform came crashing into the 305 m dish. Experts analyze the cumulative effects that led to the collapse of this awe-inspiring structure, which has been operational since 1963.

A crane collapse at a high-rise construction project in March 2008 left seven dead on a Saint Patrick's Day holiday weekend in Manhattan. An investigation reveals how a shortcut used while raising the crane left the machine swaying in the wind without proper lateral support.

On a snowy morning in Pittsburgh, a messy commute becomes dangerous after a bridge collapses; an investigation reveals how corrosion and other environmental factors helped bring down this decades-old structure.

The Spencer Dam, an aging embankment dam on the Niobrara River near Lynch, Nebraska, is overcome by flooding after a devastating bomb cyclone hit the area on March 14, 2019. An investigation reveals that massive chunks of ice unleashed by the superstorm played a critical role in the overtopping and failure of the old structure.

In Scotland, a distinguished library is ravaged by not one but two disastrous fires; experts explore how outdated construction methods and materials contributed to the vulnerability of this esteemed place of learning.

Twenty people are killed in Fremont, Nebraska, when the Pathfinder Hotel explodes on the cold Saturday morning of January 10, 1976. An investigation into the tragic gas leak leads underground to where gas lines supply this iconic building in America's heartland.

A sinkhole engulfs a Bronx residential street, growing so large that it swallows a van. Experts explain how heavy rain and old infrastructure caused this terrifying calamity.

Tragedy struck Puerto Rico in November 1996 when a propane gas explosion collapsed a six-story tower with the popular Humberto Vidal shoe store on the first floor. The disaster killed 33 people and wounded more than 80 others.

An explosion at the Napp Technologies chemical/pharmaceutical factory in Lodi, New Jersey, kills five workers and unleashes a torrent of black smoke into the morning sky on April 21, 1995. An investigation reveals how a small amount of water led to this fatal manufacturing catastrophe.