Westwego Grain Elevator Explosion

On the morning of June 28th, 1973, the small town of Westwego, Louisiana was rocked by a massive explosion that left 36 people dead and over 70 injured. The cause of this tragedy was a grain-dust explosion at the Continental Grain Company facility, which was one of the largest grain elevators in the country at the time.

By |2023-09-29T09:17:01-06:00August 24th, 2023|Friday Famous Failures|5 Comments

Tropicana Casino Resort Parking Garage Collapse

The Tropicana Casino Resort was one of Atlantic City’s premier gambling destinations, drawing thousands of visitors each year. As part of a major renovation effort, the Tropicana embarked on an ambitious construction project to build a nine-story parking garage. The project began in 2002 and was expected to take approximately 14 months to complete.

By |2023-07-27T08:25:35-06:00July 27th, 2023|Friday Famous Failures|4 Comments

The July Ethical Dilemma: Conflict of Interest – Feasibility Study

Engineer Brad is retained by the county to perform a feasibility study and make recommendations concerning location of a new power facility in the county. Two parcels of land located on a river have been identified by the county as the “candidates” for facility sites.

By |2023-07-24T13:20:31-06:00July 17th, 2023|Ethical Dilemma|7 Comments

VELCRO: An Idea That Stuck

Zippers, buttons, glue, staples, stitching. Prior to 1955, those were the main ways in which things were fastened together. But inventor George de Mestral’s 1941 discovery led to an easier and often more effective way of conjoining two things: VELCRO. While we’ve all used the substance and it’s a common part of things we use every day, it was an invention that was a long time in the making.

By |2023-06-27T16:15:50-06:00July 3rd, 2023|Tuesday Tidbits|2 Comments