Whenever there is a bridge failure (or similar, highly-visible civil engineering failure) I recommend to engineers of all stripes that they go read the works of Henry Petroski. In particular:
- To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design (1985) [1]
- Design Paradigms: Case Histories of Error and Judgment in Engineering (1994) [2]
and
- Engineers of Dreams: Great Bridge Builders and The Spanning of America (1995) [3]
He also wrote a salient op-ed after the 2007 bridge failure in Minneapolis: Learning from bridge failure. [4]
- To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design (1985) [1]
- Design Paradigms: Case Histories of Error and Judgment in Engineering (1994) [2]
and
- Engineers of Dreams: Great Bridge Builders and The Spanning of America (1995) [3]
He also wrote a salient op-ed after the 2007 bridge failure in Minneapolis: Learning from bridge failure. [4]
[1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/0679734163
[2] https://www.amazon.com/dp/0521466490
[3] https://www.amazon.com/dp/0679760210
[4] http://www.latimes.com/la-oe-petroski4aug04-story.html