Ethics: A Case Study for Structural

Engineers
By W. M. Kim Roddis
PhD, PE, F.ASCE

SE University, July 2011

www.LearnWithSEU.com

Ethical engineering decisions

Dont need a philosopher

Engineering analysis and design skills
directly apply

Professional procedures and practices
should reinforce moral action

Such corporate practice reduces risk
exposure

Some practical quandaries

Distributed responsibility:
 design/fabrication/construction

Taking action under uncertainty

Discovery of a design flaw:

what to do?

The required standard of care

Why use a case study?

Need a documented case to inform
nuances of ethical decision-making

Exposure of a structural deficiency
provides learning opportunity

Learning from failure requires

 Introspection
 Communication

Ethics in/of Engineering

In: actions of individual engineers

Of: social fabric including individual

 Role

of engineers in industry
 Ethics of organizations
 Ethical responsibilities of the profession

A firms professional procedures and

practices should reinforce, rather than
place obstacles in the way of, moral action
5

Are you a member?

American Society of Civil Engineers

 Structural

Engineering Institute

ASCE Code of Ethics

The Societys Code of Ethics was adopted on
September 2, 1914 and was most recently
amended on July 23, 2006. Pursuant to the
Societys Bylaws, it is the duty of every
Society member to report promptly to the
Committee on Professional Conduct any
observed violation of the Code of Ethics.

ASCE Code of Ethics

Fundamental Principles

Fundamental Canons

Guidelines to Practice Under the
Fundamental Canons of Ethics

Fundamental Principles

Engineers uphold and advance the

integrity, honor and dignity of the
engineering profession by:

Fundamental Principles
1. using their knowledge and skill for the
enhancement of human welfare and the
environment;
2. being honest and impartial and serving with
fidelity the public, their employers and clients;
3. striving to increase the competence and
prestige of the engineering profession; and
4. supporting the professional and technical
societies of their disciplines.
10

Fundamental Canons
1. Engineers shall hold paramount the safety,
health and welfare of the public and shall
strive to comply with the principles of
sustainable developmentfootnote in the
performance of their professional duties.

11

Sustainable Development
Sustainable Development is the process of applying
natural, human, and economic resources to
enhance the safety, welfare, and quality of life for
all of the society while maintaining the availability
of the remaining natural resources.
Triple bottom line
Planet
People
Profit
12

Fundamental Canons
2. Engineers shall perform services only in
areas of their competence.
3. Engineers shall issue public statements
only in an objective and truthful manner.
4. Engineers shall act in professional matters
for each employer or client as faithful agents
or trustees, and shall avoid conflicts of
interest.

13

Fundamental Canons
5. Engineers shall build their professional
reputation on the merit of their services and
shall not compete unfairly with others.
6. Engineers shall act in such a manner as to
uphold and enhance the honor, integrity, and
dignity of the engineering profession and
shall act with zero-tolerance for bribery,
fraud, and corruption.

14

Fundamental Canons
7. Engineers shall continue their professional
development throughout their careers, and
shall provide opportunities for the
professional development of those
engineers under their supervision.

15

Guidelines to Practice Under

the Fundamental Canons of
Ethics
http://www.asce.org/Leadership-andManagement/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/

16

Do you recognize?

17

Do you recognize?

18

The 59 Story Crisis

"The Fifty-Nine- Story Crisis,
May 29, 1995
The New Yorker
Joe Morgenstern

19

Citicorp: Professional
Citicorp Building NYC completed 1977

William LeMessurier, NAE

New Yorker Magazine, ASCE, AISC

Quartering winds susceptibility

Teaching Engineering Ethics

20

Citicorp: Personal
AY76-77 MIT Course in Building Design
taught by William LeMessurier

Friends, GTA, LeMessurier Consultants,
Inc., Cambridge MA

New Yorker Magazine subscription

Caroline Whitbeck

John Reed

21

Citicorp Technical: Wind

The only continuous
verticals are at the middle
of each side. There are no
continuous verticals at the
corners (every 8th floor
corner column not loadbearing).
22

Technical: Direct Wind

23

Citicorp Tech: Direct Wind

8 story truss unit

24

Citicorp Tech: Direct Wind

Unfold

25

Direct Wind

26

Quartering Wind
Superposition

(linear)

27

Sequence of events 1
1977 Citicorp Building completed

1978 May welds to bolts (WJL)

28

Welds to Bolts

29

Some practical quandaries

Distributed responsibility:
 design/fabrication/construction

30

Sequence of events 2

1978 June student contacts LeMessurier

Consultants, Inc., NYC re quartering wind
(WJL)

31

Sequence of events 3
1978 July 24 LMI calcs direct wind only
(WJL)

ALSO bolted w/o AISC code column
allowance (WJL)

Calcs raise concern (WJL)

Tuned Mass Damper

 Sway
 Strength
32

Tuned Mass Damper Sway

33

Tuned Mass Damper

34

Some practical quandaries

Taking action under uncertainty

35

Sequence of events 3
1978 July 26 Davenport mtg re wind tests

1978 July 27 colleague and spouse

1978 July 28 retreat (calc,eval)

1978 July 30 16 year storm

36

Some practical quandaries

Discovery of a design flaw:



what to do?

37

Sequence of events 4
1978 July 31 (WJL) -> Stubbins

/ Stubbins -> Stubbins lawyer

Stubbins lawyer -> LCI insurer

August 1, 1978 mtg w lawyers

Lawyers -> Leslie Robertson

Disaster management

August 2, Notify Citicorp

 John

Reed
 Walter Wriston

38

Sequence of events 5
Aug 2 Walter Wriston authorization fixes

Emergency generators

Aug 3 welding firm contract

Aug 4 contracts

 TMD
 Strain-gaging

Weather experts
39

Sequence of events 6
Aug 7 repair dwgs to contractor

Aug 8 press release

Aug 8 mtg building & emergency officials

Aug 9 newspaper strike began 6pm

Repairs in progress

Full peer review of structure

40

Sequence of events 7
Sept 1 Hurricane Ella

Sept 13 weather watch ended

Sept 13 Citicorp claims filed

Oct repairs complete

$2 million liability insurance

no litigation

no increase in rates

41

Some practical quandaries

The required standard of care

consideration of wind from nonperpendicular directions on ordinary
rectangular buildings is generally not
discussed in the literature or in the
classroom.

42

Nuances: Diane Hartley

43

Take-aways
1. Engineering analysis and design skills directly
apply to ethical problem solving.
2. Professional procedures and practices can be
designed and implemented so that they
reinforce, rather than place obstacles in the way
of, moral action.
3. Engineers shall hold paramount the safety,
health and welfare of the public and shall strive
to comply with the principles of sustainable
development in the performance of their
44
professional duties.

References (and illustrations)

Joe Morgenstern, "The Fifty-Nine- Story Crisis," The

New Yorker, May 29, 1995, pp 45-53.
"William LeMessurier-The Fifty- Nine-Story Crisis: A
Lesson in Professional Behavior" Online Ethics Center
for Engineering 6/23/2006 National Academy of
Engineering Accessed: Wednesday, July 06, 2011
<www.onlineethics.org
W. M. Kim Roddis, Structural Failures and Engineering
Ethics, Journal of Structural Engineering, American
Society of Civil Engineers, Vol. 119, No. 5, May 1993,
pp. 1539-1555.
45

Additional illustrations

http://www.salvadori.org/aoc/unit9.html, tuned mass

damper.
Civil Engineering magazine, October 1996, ASCE, page
43.

46

LeMessurier
Citicorp
"You have a social obligation," LeMessurier reminds
his students. "In return for getting a license and being
regarded with respect, you're supposed to be selfsacrificing and look beyond the interests of yourself
and your client to society as a whole. And the most
wonderful part of my story is that when I did it nothing
bad happened."
47

Ethics; A Case Study for Structural

Engineers
By W. M. Kim Roddis
PhD, PE, F.ASCE

SE University, July 2011

www.LearnWithSEU.com