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Thread: NIST Final WTC7 Report News Archives

  1. #11
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    Computer modeling confirms cause of 9/11 building collapse

    http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/46958-1.html

    By William Jackson
    8/21/2008

    Using sophisticated computer modeling to reproduce the Sept. 11, 2001, collapse of World Trade Center Building 7, the National Institute of Standards and Technology concluded that it was fire and not explosives or impact from debris that caused the 47-story building to fail.

    NIST announced the findings of the three year study Thursday [http://wtc.nist.gov /], and recommended changes in national building codes to take into account the affects of thermal expansion on structural members.

    “Our study found that the fires in WTC 7, which were uncontrolled but otherwise similar to fires experienced in other tall buildings, caused an extraordinary event,” said Shyam Sunder, lead investigator in the NIST World Trade Center study. “Heating of floor beams and girders caused a critical support column to fail, initiating a fire-induced progressive collapse that brought the building down.”

    Building 7 was the third building to collapse in the World Trade Center attacks. The two iconic towers collapsed shortly after being hit by hijacked airliners that morning. Building 7 was set ablaze by debris from the attacks and collapsed several hours later. NIST began investigating the attacks in August 2002 and released its findings on the collapse of towers 1 and 2 three years later. Investigators spent the last three years investigating Building 7.

    “The investigation was an extensive, state-of-the-art reconstruction of the events that affected WTC 7 and eventually led to its collapse,” NIST said. “Numerous facts and data were obtained, then combined with validated computer modeling that is believed to be close to what actually occurred. A single computer simulation of the structural response to fires took about eight months to complete on powerful computing workstations and clusters.”

    The investigation was somewhat hampered by the fact that steel samples from the building were not available for examination and testing. Debris from the attacks was removed as quickly as possible from the sites so that emergency responders could work in the area. Once removed from the scene, steel from Building 7 could not be clearly identified. Unlike pieces from the two primary towers, which were painted red and contained distinguishing marks, remains of Building 7 contained nothing to distinguish them.

    This meant that there was much less physical evidence to examine from Building 7. “Nonetheless, the NIST investigation of WTC 7 is based on a huge amount of data,” investigators wrote. “These data come from extensive research, interviews, and studies of the building, including audio and video recordings of the collapse. Rigorous, state-of-the-art computer methods were designed to study and model the building’s collapse. These validated computer models produced a collapse sequence that was confirmed by observations of what actually occurred.”
    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


  2. #12
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    Report: Fire Caused 7 World Trade Center Collapse

    http://gothamist.com/2008/08/21/repo...d_trade_ce.php

    August 21, 2008

    One of the lingering conspiracy theories surrounding the attacks on September 11, 2001 is that 7 World Trade Center, which was not hit by a plane, was deliberately destroyed (here's one example of a conspiracy website), because no other steel building has collapsed simply due to fire before. But now a report from the National Institute of Standards and Technology says that the fire is the culprit.

    Lead investigator Shyam Sunder said, “Our study found that the fires in WTC 7, which were uncontrolled but otherwise similar to fires experienced in other tall buildings, caused an extraordinary event. Heating of floor beams and girders caused a critical support column to fail, initiating a fire-induced progressive collapse that brought the building down.” And referring to the fuel stored at 7 WTC, he added, "Video and photographic evidence combined with detailed computer simulations show that neither explosives nor fuel oil fires played a role in the collapse of WTC 7." The fires were started when debris from the World Trade Center towers fell onto the lower building.

    The key factor contributing to the collapse is "thermal expansionof long-span floor systems at temperatures 'hundreds of degrees below those typically considered in current practice for fire resistance ratings.'" In other words, building owners, check your buildings. The report suggests that if a water main had not been broken due to the collapse at the Twin Towers, the sprinkler system at 7 WTC would have prevented the building's collapse.

    You can read NIST's full report here (PDF). Former mayor Rudy Giuliani had placed his emergency command center at 7 WTC, in spite of NYPD recommendations against doing so.
    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


  3. #13
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    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


  4. #14
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    It seems easier for me to critique their side of it now that it's down on paper. As Lorie, Patty said, etc... they wanted to get their words (lies) down on paper. They admit that what happened has NEVER happened before, and was an "extraordinary event." Extraordinary like the most defended airspace in the world being left completely undefended 34 minutes after the entire world knew America was "under attack?" Extraordinary like suspicious stock trades taking place indicating foreknowledge of 9/11? Extraordinary like appointing the worst possible person to the position of Executive Director of the 9/11 Commission? I am still not qualified to tell you who's right, and who's wrong... however, there was an important point made about how FEMA suggested there was a reaction in the metal, and how it coincides with what Jones found, and NIST didn't bother to look into that. Also, the guy the NYTimes talked to finished off with an insult about how we need psychologists. That's always an indication to me, that someone is lying about something. Personal insults are the last bastion of a failed argument. Does this mean now that every building owner with a similar construction is going to have to spend money to re-fit their buildings so they don't completely collapse from fire? My only other question is about previous fires that didn't collapse. They made a point to say that the falling of the towers destroyed the sprinkler systems, and WTC7 didn't have any. Did those previous buildings that stood after long periods of fire have sprinkler systems that worked? I dunno...
    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


  5. #15
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    WTC 7 report: end of the line for 9/11 conspiracy theories?

    http://www.bloggernews.net/117382

    By Jefferson Flanders
    Posted on August 23rd, 2008

    The National Institute of Standards and Technology just-released final report on the collapse of World Trade Center 7 in 2001 following the 9/11 terrorist attack concludes that fire, not controlled demolition, was the cause of 47-story building’s destruction.

    At an August 21st news conference, Shyam Sunder, the lead investigator for the federal building and fire safety investigation of the WTC disaster, explained: “Our take-home message today is that the reason for the collapse of World Trade Center 7 is no longer a mystery. WTC 7 collapsed because of fires fueled by office furnishings. It did not collapse from explosives or from diesel fuel fires. It collapsed because fires—similar to those experienced in other tall buildings—burned in the absence of water supply to operate the sprinklers, and burned beyond the ability of firefighters to control fires. It fell because thermal expansion, a phenomenon not considered in current building design practice, caused a fire-induced progressive collapse.”

    Sunder directly addressed the question of whether controlled demolition had brought down WTC 7, a favorite theory of the “9/11 Truth Movement” and its celebrity hanger-ons, like Jesse Ventura, Charlie Sheen, and Rosie O’Donnell, noting that the investigative team had considered that possibility and rejected it. NIST concluded that “blast events inside the building did not occur” and “found no evidence supporting the existence of a blast event.” A NIST WTC 7 fact sheet summarized the case against controlled demolition:
    In addition, no blast sounds were heard on the audio tracks of video recordings during the collapse of WTC 7 or reported by witnesses. According to calculations by the investigation team, the smallest blast capable of failing the building’s critical column would have resulted in a sound level of 130 decibels (dB) to 140 dB at a distance of at least half a mile, if unobstructed by surrounding buildings. This sound level is consistent with a gunshot blast, standing next to a jet plane engine, and more than 10 times louder than being in front of the speakers at a rock concert.

    For the building to have been prepared for intentional demolition, walls and/or column enclosures and fireproofing would have to be removed and replaced without being detected. Preparing a column includes steps such as cutting sections with torches, which produces noxious and odorous fumes. Intentional demolition usually requires applying explosive charges to most, if not all, interior columns, not just one or a limited set of columns in a building.
    The NIST WTC 7 team also found another popular 9/11 conspiracy theory, that thermite/thermate was used to sever columns was highly unlikely: “To apply thermite to a large steel column, approximately 0.13 lb of thermite would be needed to heat and melt each pound of steel. For a steel column that weighs approximately 1,000 lbs. per foot, at least 100 lbs. of thermite would need to be placed around the column, ignited, and remain in contact with the vertical steel surface as the thermite reaction took place. This is for one column … presumably, more than one column would have been prepared with thermite, if this approach were to be used.” NIST concluded that it was “unlikely that 100 lbs. of thermite, or more, could have been carried into WTC 7 and placed around columns without being detected, either prior to Sept. 11 or during that day.”

    A blow to the 9/11 conspiracy theorists
    The final NIST WTC 7 report represents a major blow to the promoters of 9/11 conspiracy theories. They began by claiming that the Twin Towers (WTC 1 and 2) had been felled by controlled demolition as part of a government “false flag operation.” Their argument had obvious flaws—it wasn’t hard to imagine that two large airliners loaded with jet fuel smashing into skyscrapers could inflict massive damage—and that was what the first NIST report concluded.

    Their focus then turned to WTC 7, with many conspiracy theorists seizing on the fact that the building was not hit directly by the planes and “mysteriously” collapsed hours later. Again, they argued for controlled demolition, forcefully enough that NIST included explosions as a possible cause for the collapse in its investigation.

    With the demolition theory for WTC 7 having been considered and rejected, the 9/11 conspiracy theorists are in a bind. The final NIST report offers what Sunder called a “simple and straightforward and elegant” explanation for the collapse of the building. The simplicity of the theory—that unchecked fires led to a chain of failures and then progressive collapse—and the extensive computer modeling of the hypothesis place it squarely in the best traditions of the scientific method.

    The alternative theory advanced by the so-called 9/11 Truthers is far-fetched and requires a complete suspension of disbelief. Professional demolition experts have repeatedly explained that it takes weeks of work to prepare a building for a controlled demolition. And how could such a massive conspiracy, involving hundreds if not thousands of people, be kept silent? And what of the lack of any evidence of an explosion, as pointed out by the NIST team?

    Despite the “on-the-record” scientific studies now explaining the WTC disaster, it’s unlikely that all members of the “9/11 Truth Movement” will go away quietly. Some make considerable amounts of money hawking 9/11 conspiracy DVDs and books. Others cling to the notion for deep-seated psychological reasons. Some are deluded. Yet the weight of the evidence is clear: the destruction of the World Trade Center buildings was directly caused by the actions of the 9/11 terrorists. To believe otherwise is to not only embrace an alternative theory, but to accept an alternative reality.
    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


  6. #16
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    World Trade Centre building seven not destroyed by explosives, says US study
    Smouldering debris from one of the fallen Twin Towers caused the skyscraper to collapse, investigation finds

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008...eptember11.usa

    8/24/2008

    Smouldering debris from one of the fallen Twin Towers in New York City on September 11 2001 ignited flames at nearby World Trade Centre building seven, and the intense heat - not explosives - caused the skyscraper to collapse, according to a US report released yesterday.

    The findings resulted from a three-year investigation by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST.

    Though various experts have long believed fire played a role in loss of the building, NIST investigators claim it was the primary cause and "first known instance of fire causing the total collapse of a tall building".

    "Obviously designers and engineers will be thinking of their buildings as they consider our report, and they'll take appropriate action," said Shyam Sunder, the lead investigator.

    Guidelines for skyscraper construction in New York City and across the globe were revamped after the 2001 terror attacks. Since its destruction, building seven was replaced by owner Silverstein Properties.

    Silverstein is also building office towers 2, 3 and 4 at Ground Zero.

    "In rebuilding Seven World Trade Centre, we implemented structural and life-safety measures that set a new standard in modern skyscraper design - a standard that is being carried through to every tower we are building at the new World Trade Centre," said Dara McQuillan, spokesman for Silverstein.

    Critics questioned why the investigation took so long, saying early on there were signs pointing to a fire-related collapse.

    James Quintiere, professor of fire protection engineering at the University of Maryland, questioned how NIST was able to definitively rule out explosives, a longtime theory.

    "They don't have the expertise on explosives, so I don't know how they came to that conclusion," said Quintiere, a frequent critic of the agency, where he formerly worked as chief of its fire science and engineering division.

    Quintiere stressed, however, that he never believed explosives played a role. He said NIST wasted time employing outside experts to consider it.

    After the World Trade Centre's North Tower fell at 10.29am, debris sparked fires at building seven, which was 370 feet (112.8 metres) south of the fallen tower.

    It burned for several hours. Water supply lines for the building's automatic sprinkler system were cut off by the collapse of the Twin Towers, worsening fire conditions.

    Heat from uncontrolled fires caused thermal expansion of steel beams, according to the report. When the beams expanded, they pushed supportive beams and damaged flooring surrounding columns.

    Finally, a support column identified as No 79 buckled, triggering an "upward progression of floor system failure," according to the report.

    "You have columns that's not supported ... and without something to hold them in place, they buckle," and the building collapses, Sunder said.

    The scientific investigation considered other credible possibilities of what caused the building to fall, Sunder said, including explosives and a stored diesel fuel supply for backup generators. "We did not, even from the beginning, we did not have any evidence at all that demolition or charges or a blast were used to bring the building down," he said.

    For future construction, the investigative team recommended support that can better withstand thermal expansion and a fail-safe for support beams.

    The federal government allotted $16m to investigate the fall of the Twin Towers and building seven.
    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


  7. #17
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    The Big Heat

    http://www.counterpunch.org/garcia08222008.html

    By MANUEL GARCIA, Jr.

    Yesterday, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) issued its report on the collapse of World Trade Center Building 7 (WTC 7) on September 11, 2001. Collapse was caused by the rupturing of the building's metal framework due to the thermal expansion of its floor beams, which were heated by uncontrolled fires because the water main that supplied the building's fire suppression system had been cut by the collapse of WTC 1. NIST has posted a press release web page that includes a video presentation about, and two animations of their collapse model.

    Nine excerpts from the NIST press release of August 21, 2008 follow, then my comments.
    GAITHERSBURG, Md.—The fall of the 47-story World Trade Center building 7 (WTC 7) in New York City late in the afternoon of Sept. 11, 2001, was primarily due to fires, the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced today following an extensive, three-year scientific and technical building and fire safety investigation. This was the first known instance of fire causing the total collapse of a tall building, the agency stated as it released for public comment its WTC investigation report and 13 recommendations for improving building and fire safety.

    According to the report, a key factor leading to the eventual collapse of WTC 7 was thermal expansion of long-span floor systems at temperatures “hundreds of degrees below those typically considered in current practice for fire resistance ratings."

    The investigators also reported that if the city water main had not been cut by the collapse of World Trade Center towers 1 and 2 (WTC 1 and WTC 2), operating sprinklers in WTC 7 would likely have prevented its collapse.

    Determining the probable collapse sequence for WTC 7, NIST found that the impact of debris from the collapse of WTC 1 ignited fires on at least 10 floors of WTC 7, and the fires burned out of control on six lower floors. The heat from these uncontrolled fires caused thermal expansion of the steel beams on the lower floors of the east side of WTC 7, damaging the floor framing on multiple floors. Eventually, a girder on Floor 13 lost its connection to a critical interior column that provided support for the long floor spans on the east side of the building. The displaced girder and other local fire-induced damage caused Floor 13 to collapse, beginning a cascade of floor failures down to the fifth floor. Many of these floors had already been at least partially weakened by the fires in the vicinity of the critical column. This collapse of floors left the critical column unsupported over nine stories.

    “When this critical column buckled due to lack of floor supports, it was the first domino in the chain,” Sunder explained. “What followed in rapid succession was a progression of structural failures. Failure first occurred all the way to the roof line—involving all three interior columns on the most eastern side of the building. Then, progressing from east to west across WTC 7, all of the columns in the core of the building failed. Finally, the entire façade collapsed.”

    The investigation team considered the possibility of other factors playing a role in the collapse of WTC 7, including the possible use of explosives, fires fed by the fuel supply tanks in and under the building, and damage from the falling debris of WTC 1.

    The team said that the smallest blast event capable of crippling the critical column would have produced a “sound level of 130 to 140 decibels at a distance of half a mile,” yet no noise this loud was reported by witnesses or recorded on videos.

    As for fuel fires, the team found that they could not have been sustained long enough, could not have generated sufficient heat to fail a critical column, and/or would have produced “large amounts of visible smoke” from Floors 5 and 6, which was not observed.

    Finally, the report notes that “while debris impact from the collapse of WTC 1 initiated fires in WTC 7, the resulting structural damage had little effect in causing the collapse of WTC 7.”
    I had thought the diesel fuel stored in the building would be needed to supply the necessary heat to weaken the metal framing near Column 80 through the first seven floors to the point of failure, and wrote this scenario in my article of November 2006.

    Instead, NIST found that the beams of Floor 13 near Column 79 (one column north of Column 80, and closer to the building exterior) experienced the most heating, supplied entirely by the combustion of the furnishings, fixtures, paneling, and tenant materials on Floors 11 and 12, where the most intense burning had been observed. "Fires burned in sections of Floors 6 through 30 at different times, and they migrated along their floors independently, seeking new sources of fuel. From the street the fires on Floors 11 and 12 appeared most intense. Many fires in the area went unchecked because utility power for electrical pumps, and water pressure for fire engines had either diminished or been lost," I noted in 2006.

    The beams of Floor 13 soaked in heat and expanded against their end joints, sagging under the increased compression along their lengths until the beam between perimeter Column 44 (on the east side of the north face) and interior Column 79 ruptured its joint to Column 79, initiating the collapse of the eastern end of Floor 13. The beams for eight floors below this point had been similarly weakened by fire, so the initial collapse sheared away nine floors of lateral supports to Column 79. Weakened by heat and now unable to transfer the load of the upper 34 floors laterally over a nine floor height, Column 79 buckled and this initiated the collapse of the entire eastern end of the building. See the NIST animation "Collapse Initiation -- Physics Based Model."

    In rapid succession, the failure of Column 79 led to the loss of lateral supports to Column 80, then its subsequent failure and so on to Column 81, which three columns supported the eastern end of the building. Once the eastern end had fallen, collapse proceeded along the core of the building from east to west, and finally the exterior columns of the façade failed. See the NIST animation "Visualization Model of WTC Collapse."

    NIST notes that any explosive capable of damaging Column 79 sufficiently to cause the observed collapse would be exceedingly loud for quite some distance (half mile), and no such blast was observed. Sound at 130 to 140 decibels is about as loud as humans can tolerate, beyond this power one is really encountering a blast wave, a jump in pressure that delivers sensible force. Examples of loud sounds and their effects include: a jet engine at 100 meters (110-140 dB), hearing damage due to short term exposure, for example front row at a rock concert (120 dB), threshold of pain (130 dB), a rifle being fired at 1 meter (140 dB).

    NIST used to be called the NBS, the National Bureau of Standards. This was the agency within the Department of Commerce that was charged with keeping the standard clocks and rulers, against which all clocks and rulers were measured and calibrated. NBS never gave the impression of being a dynamic organization because it was expected to be unerringly reliable and trustworthy, and its published data on any topic or phenomenon was accepted as being the most accurate, complete, and exhaustively tested. The word "standards" is key to understanding the detail and pace of NIST work. A person without a grounding in science might not appreciate the value of this type of detailed, methodical work, and express impatience with the NIST "plodding" before arriving at conclusions on a topic of popular interest, like the phenomenology of the WTC building fires and collapses. The NIST scientists are clearly proud of their work on WTC 7, and it shows in the polish of the press release web site.

    I am pleased that I got some of the story right (thermal expansion), and my error (oil fire) was a physically reasonable assumption for the time. I am consoled to the flaws of my analysis by the fact that the NIST effort to arrive at such accurate and detailed conclusions was a major effort of over three years. Learning is both humbling and interesting. The omniscient never learn because learning is the recognition of one's errors. I could rebel against learning by deciding my earlier ideas are an unappreciated revelation, which needs preservation despite the findings of later science, and I could devise elaborate arguments to protect my unrecognized ignorance. But defending ignorance is the essence of stupidity. A better approach would be to follow Socrates' dictum "The only thing I know is the fact that I am ignorant." Keep thinking, test your ideas, and don't become overly attached to them.

    Linus Pauling (1901-1994) was a great scientist and peace activist who won two unshared Nobel prizes, for chemistry in 1954, and for peace in 1962. He made major contributions in quantum chemistry, and nearly unraveled the structure of the DNA molecule before Watson and Crick. In a recorded interview in his later life he was asked "how do you get so many good ideas?" His reply was "just keep having lots of ideas, and throw away the bad ones."

    Manuel Garcia, Jr. is a retired physicist. E-mail = mango@idiom.com
    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


  8. #18
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    World Trade Center 7 Report Puts 9/11 Conspiracy Theory to Rest
    Conspiracy theorists have long claimed that explosives downed World Trade Center 7, north of the Twin Towers. The long-awaited report from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) conclusively rebuts those claims. Fire alone brought down the building, the report concludes, pointing to thermal expansion of key structural members as the culprit. The report also raises concerns that other large buildings might be more vulnerable to fire-induced structural failure than previously thought.

    http://www.popularmechanics.com/scie...h/4278874.html

    By Arianne Cohen
    Published on: August 21, 2008

    World Trade Center 7 stands amid the rubble of the recently collapsed Twin Towers. (Photograph by New York Office of Emergency Management)

    The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released its long-awaited report on the collapse of World Trade 7 following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "Our take-home message today is that the reason for the collapse of World Trade Center 7 is no longer a mystery," NIST lead investigator Shyam Sunder told journalists at this morning's press conference in Gaithersburg, Md. "WTC 7 collapsed because of fires fueled by office furnishings. It did not collapse from explosives or from diesel fuel fires."

    Conspiracy theorists have long pointed to the collapse of the 47-story structure as key evidence that the U.S. government orchestrated or abetted the 9/11 attacks. No planes struck the building, and the commonly available views of the exterior didn't show significant damage. Yet, at 5:20 pm, 7 hours after the collapse of the Twin Towers (WTC 1 and 2), WTC 7 rapidly fell in on itself. Since WTC 7 housed Secret Service and CIA offices, conspiracy theorists claimed that the building was destroyed in a controlled demolition in order to obliterate evidence of the U.S. government's complicity in the terrorist attacks. "It is impossible for a building to fall the way it fell without explosives being involved," stated actress and TV personality Rosie O'Donnell of ABC's The View in March 2007. "For the first time in history, steel was melted by fire. It is physically impossible," she said.

    Today's report confirms that a fire was, indeed, the cause. "This is the first time that we are aware of, that a building taller than about 15 stories has collapsed primarily due to fires," Sunder told reporters at the press conference. "What we found was that uncontrolled building fires—similar to fires experienced in other tall buildings—caused an extraordinary event, the collapse of WTC7." The unprecedented nature of the event means that understanding the precise mechanism of the collapse is important not just to answer conspiracy theorists' questions, but to improve safety standards in the engineering of large buildings.

    The final report describes how debris from the collapse of WTC 1 ignited fires on at least 10 floors of WTC 7 at the western half of the south face. Fires on Floors 7 through 9 and 11 through 13 burned out of control, because the water supply to the automatic sprinkler system had failed. The primary and backup water supply to the sprinkler systems for the lower floors relied on the city's water supply. Those water lines were damaged by the collapse of WTC 1 and 2. These uncontrolled fires in WTC 7 eventually spread to the northeast part of the building, where the collapse began.

    After 7 hours of uncontrolled fires, a steel girder on Floor 13 lost its connection to one of the 81 columns supporting the building. Floor 13 collapsed, beginning a cascade of floor failures to Floor 5. Column 79, no longer supported by a girder, buckled, triggering a rapid succession of structural failures that moved from east to west. All 23 central columns, followed by the exterior columns, failed in what's known as a "progressive collapse"—that is, local damage that spreads from one structural element to another, eventually resulting in the collapse of the entire structure.

    The report clarifies a number of widely debated issues concerning the collapse, particularly the role of the building's many diesel fuel tanks and the importance of structural damage from falling WTC 1 debris. Both of those factors have been cited by investigators as possibly contributing to the collapse; the 2006 Popular Mechanics book Debunking 9/11 Myths: Why Conspiracy Theories Can't Stand Up to the Facts mentions both hypotheses. However, the final NIST report downplays both scenarios, concluding that the diesel fuel stored in tanks (and intended to power backup generators) did not burn long enough or hot enough to account for structural failures. And, while debris damage to WTC 7's southern exterior was considerable (and initiated the destructive fires), the collapse originated in the northeast portion of the building. In fact, the report concludes: "Even without the structural damage, WTC 7 would have collapsed from fires."

    The report determines that the actual culprit in the collapse was the combustion of ordinary building furnishings: "These uncontrolled fires had characteristics similar to those that have occurred previously in tall buildings." If the sprinkler system in WTC 7 had been working, it is likely that "the fires in WTC 7 would have been controlled and the collapse prevented." The report also suggests that current engineering standards for coping with fire-induced thermal expansion need to be re-examined, particularly for buildings like WTC 7 that have long, unsupported floor spans. A key factor in the collapse, NIST concluded, was the failure of structural "connections that were designed to resist gravity loads, but not thermally induced lateral loads." According to Sunder: "For the first time we have shown that fire can induce a progressive collapse."

    Spurred by conspiracy theorists' questions, investigators did look specifically at the possibility that explosives were involved. "Hypothetical blast events did not play a role in the collapse of WTC 7," the report states, adding that investigators "found no evidence whose explanation required invocation of a blast event." Moreover, the smallest charge capable of initiating column failure "would have resulted in a sound level of 130 dB [decibels] to 140 dB at a distance of at least half a mile." Witnesses did not report hearing such a loud noise, nor is one audible on recordings of the collapse.

    NIST will accept public comment on the final report until Sept. 15, 2008.

    NIST's press release and other material on the report can be found here. Click here to download the full report in pdf form.
    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


  9. #19
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    Our Opinion: Truth stranger than fiction
    Some explanations hard for conspiracy theorists to accept

    http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/...anger-fiction/

    Saturday, August 23, 2008

    The thing about conspiracy theories is, no matter how much you prove them wrong, there’s always going to be some conspiracy theorist who thinks the latest findings are a conspiracy.

    Whether it’s the grassy knoll, Area 51 or a lunar landing, some folks don’t want to accept the truth. And they’re rather insulted that the “truth” is presented as fact.

    It never ends for some. It’s the thrill of the mystery that fuels the indefinite debate.

    For others, though, solving a mystery aids in the healing.

    The collapse of one of the World Trade Center buildings on Sept. 11, 2001, nurtured seven years’ worth of conspiracy theories, focusing on the implausibility of a steel-and-concrete structure inexplicably falling down.

    Conspiracy theories involving the 9-11 attacks are a cottage industry -- Did the government know? Did the government bring down buildings 1 and 2? Those buildings collapsing like a child’s toy tower seemed impossible to us, even as we watched it happen. Something else, something extraordinary must have caused their demise -- as if two fully fueled jets crashing into their sides weren’t enough.

    Much contemplation went into solving the collapse of Building 7, mainly because skeptics couldn’t believe that fire and debris alone could have brought down the trapezoid structure that sat north of the World Trade Center towers.

    And the fact that the building collapsed some seven hours after the first two fell, according to the Associated Press, baffled the skeptics.

    A 77-page federal report released this week aims to solve the mystery and end the speculation once and for all. Federal investigators said that the collapse resulted from fire from burning debris falling from the towers, exacerbated by a sprinkler system deemed inoperable after the enormous collapses.

    “The public should really recognize the science is really behind what we have said,” said an investigator. “The obvious stares you in the face.”

    Scientists with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the AP reported, determined that collapse of WTC 7 was actually the first time in the world a fire caused the total failure of a skyscraper.

    “Hopefully this thorough report puts to rest the various 9/11 conspiracy theories, which dishonor the men and women who lost their lives on that terrible day,” said Dara McQuillen, a spokesperson for the leaser, Larry Silverstein.

    The total failure of a skyscraper is something hard to accept. It’s much easier to assume conspiracies. But perhaps it’s time to let this one go.
    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


  10. #20
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    Twin towers mystery resolved, fire brought down WTC7

    http://www.thetechherald.com/article...ught-down-WTC7

    8/24/2008

    A long-standing conspiracy theory concerning the destruction of the 47-story World Trade Centre building 7, located to the north of the Twin Towers, has been debunked.

    Federal investigators with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) handed down the findings of a three-year investigation which said fire from falling debris caused the collapse of the building making it the first time a fire had caused the total failure of a modern skyscraper.

    "The reason for the collapse of World Trade Center 7 is no longer a mystery," said Dr. Shyam Sunder, the lead investigator on the NIST team. "It did not collapse from explosives or fuel oil fires."

    Skeptics have long believed that fire and debris alone should not have caused the collapse of such a strong building and have hinted at a timed explosion as being the cause of the collapse. The building was not hit at any stage by the hijacked aircraft.

    However the report dismissed this suggestion saying other factors brought the building down.

    "Heating of floor beams and girders caused a critical support column to fail," said Sunder. "Video and photographic evidence combined with detailed computer simulations show that neither explosives nor fuel oils played a role in the collapse that brought the building down."

    However, the report is unlikely to satisfy conspiracy theorists, with the New York Times quoting a survey claiming 1-in-7 Americans believes the attack on the World Trade Centre was an inside job.

    "Seven World Trade Centre is one of the key points of evidence, one of the smoking guns," said Richard Gage, a California architect and leader of a group called Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, to the newspaper. "There have been much hotter, longer lasting and larger fires in skyscrapers that have not fallen down."

    For a demonstration video of why the building fell, see the NIST Web site by clicking here.
    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


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