Testimony of Dr. Arden L. Bement, Jr.
Director
National Institute of
Standards and Technology
Technology Administration
U.S. Department of Commerce
Before The
House Science Committee
Hearing on
“The Investigation of the
World Trade Center Collapse: Findings,
Recommendations and Next Steps”
May 1, 2002
Chairman
Boehlert, Ranking Member Hall, and Members of the Committee, I want to thank
you for this opportunity to testify on the National Institute of Standards and
Technology’s proposed investigation into the collapse of the World Trade Center
(WTC) buildings.
I
will outline the proposed NIST response plan today, and show how
it complements and is responsive to the efforts of the Building Performance
Assessment Team, or BPAT, led by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
and sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA. The response plan addresses all major
recommendations contained in the BPAT report.
I commend Dr. Gene Corley and the BPAT members for their excellent report
and detailed recommendations. The
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has also identified other
critical issues that need study, especially in areas that impact life safety
and engineering practice.
The
NIST proposed response plan consists of three key program elements – including
an investigation – to be conducted in parallel (graphic to be projected on
video monitors). These are:
·
Second, a multi-year research and development
(R&D) program to provide the technical basis to support improved
building and fire codes, standards, and practices. This program element addresses work in
critical areas such as structural fire safety, prevention of progressive
collapse, and equipment standards for first responders. It includes BPAT recommendations for WTC 3, 4,
5, and 6, Bankers Trust, and peripheral buildings as well as recommendations
for future studies to address specific issues of broader scope not covered by
the BPAT. The program outputs and
recommendations will support the voluntary consensus process that is used to
develop building and fire codes and standards in the United States.
·
Third, an industry-led dissemination and
technical assistance program (DTAP) that will provide practical
guidance and tools to better prepare facility owners, contractors, designers,
and emergency personnel to respond to future disasters. The DTAP will also be an important complement
to the R&D effort to demonstrate and gain acceptance of proposed changes to
practice, standards, and codes. This
program element addresses BPAT recommendations for the training and education
of stakeholders.
All the
BPAT recommendations can be seen to map into the three above elements in this
graphic (graphic on screen).
We
have shared the overall response plan approach extensively with public and
private sector organizations and have welcomed their inputs since the middle of
October 2001. The plan was modified in
January 2002 when FEMA requested NIST to initiate an investigation under NIST's
unique legislative authorities to conduct structural and fire
investigations. This request was in
direct response to a growing demand for a broad-based federal investigation
into the World Trade Center disaster from technical experts, industry leaders,
and families of building occupants and first responders who lost their lives on
September 11, 2001. We continue to
revise the plan as more technical information becomes available and to be
responsive to the suggestions and needs of these many stakeholders.
The
Commerce Department and NIST have received letters supporting our proposed
response plan from key industry leaders responsible for U.S. building and fire
standards, codes, and practices, including the American Society of Civil
Engineers, the National Fire Protection Association, the American Institute of
Architects, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the Construction
Industry Institute, the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, and the
International Association of Fire Chiefs.
We
agree with the BPAT recommendations that additional study of the Twin Towers
and WTC 7 should be conducted. The NIST
investigation will focus on these buildings.
We believe strongly that the results of such an investigation could lead
to major changes in both U.S. building and fire codes and in engineering
practice, despite the unique design features or circumstances under which the
buildings collapsed. We also believe
strongly that the lessons to be derived from such an investigation will be
applicable to a broad range of buildings types, not just the specific buildings
that are studied. Let me now give you
some examples to illustrate why we believe this to be the case.
The
Twin Towers and WTC 7 are the only known cases of total structural collapse
where fires played a significant role.
These disasters provide a unique source of information to understand the
complexities associated with the dynamics of real building fires and the
collapse vulnerability of buildings to fires.
We expect to analyze that information to validate generally applicable
methodologies for use in fire safety design and retrofit of structures, and to
evaluate the performance of fireproofing materials and connections used in
steel structures.
In
addition, these building disasters provide a unique source of information to
study:
·
The safety and performance of open-web steel trussed joists under
fires. This type of trussed joist is
used widely in floor and roof systems for commercial and institutional
buildings nationwide.
·
New mechanisms – not considered previously – that could initiate
progressive collapse in buildings as a result of fires and impact loads,
including the critical role of pivotal components such as transfer girders and
floor diaphragms.
·
The mechanical and metallurgical behavior of many different grades of
structural steel under fires using steel recovered from the WTC site that is
being stored at NIST.
There
are equally important lessons for life safety – which were outside the scope of
the BPAT study:
·
Firefighting technologies and practices for tall buildings, including
occupant behavior, evacuation, emergency response, and the performance of
built-in fire protection systems such as sprinklers and fire alarms.
·
The control of fire spread in buildings with large open floor plans,
and the effectiveness of compartmentation as a means to isolate fires in such
buildings.
There
are also important lessons to be learned for engineering practice – areas that
were not the focus of the BPAT study:
·
The performance of the design, construction, and approval processes
used to assure safety whenever an innovative structural system is used or there
is a need for variances from building and fire codes.
·
The provision of adequate structural reserve capacity to accommodate
abnormal loads such as blast, impact, and accidental fires – especially those
that can be anticipated prior to construction – balanced properly against the
need to achieve design efficiency.
The
proposed NIST investigation will include world-class technical expertise from
both within and outside NIST. External
experts will be drawn from both academia and practice and several of those may
well have contributed to the BPAT study.
We
propose to charter a Federal Advisory Committee to guide all aspects of the
NIST investigation, including the review of major investigation reports. Members of this group will be recognized for
their distinguished professional service, possess broad technical expertise and
experience, and have a reputation for independence, objectivity, and impartiality.
I
have appointed a Secretariat within NIST to coordinate NIST-level activities in
support of the WTC investigation and to maintain ongoing liaison with members
of Congress, the public, and the media.
NIST
will assign a special liaison to interact with the families of building
occupants and first responders. We
recognize the vital role that those individuals and groups have to play in
providing input on the scope of the proposed NIST investigation. We also understand that it is appropriate and
important to keep these families and organizations informed about the progress
of the proposed investigation.
We will maintain ongoing liaison with the professional communities over the course of the investigation through periodic briefings, presentations, and opportunity for comment on key investigation reports.
A
summary of the proposed NIST investigation plan is attached for the record and
is being made available to the general public on the NIST website beginning
today. NIST will use an open and
inclusive process in planning and conducting the investigation, and in
publishing its findings and recommendations.
We consulted extensively with technical experts and groups in developing
the plan and briefed the BPAT experts at their January 2002 meeting, and again
last Wednesday. Yesterday, we briefed
representatives of the parent organizations comprising the BPAT coalition. We will hold a public meeting in New York
City in the near future to share the details of the proposed NIST plan, which
will be made available to the general public two weeks prior, and seek the
public’s informed comment on its scope before we adopt the plan as final.
Following
our statutory requirements, before we begin a building investigation, we
consult with local authorities. In this
case, we consulted with local authorities in New York, including the Port
Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Mayor’s Office of Emergency
Management, the New York City Department of Design and Construction, and the
Fire Department of New York. These
organizations have expressed written support for NIST and agreed to cooperate
in its investigation.
The
Administration has expressed strong commitment for the NIST response plan and
has requested $16 million as part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s
FY 2002 supplemental budget request – now in Congress – to support the NIST
investigation. The President’s FY 2003
budget request to Congress also requests an increase of $2 million in base
funding to support other elements of the NIST response plan. The Building and Fire Research Laboratory
within NIST has already redirected approximately $2 million of its existing
base funds to support the response plan.
Future resource requirements for the broader research and development
and dissemination and technical assistance program will be considered in the
Fiscal Year 2004 budget process and beyond.
Finally,
Mr. Chairman, I look forward to working with you and members of this Committee
as NIST embarks on a very important technical investigation. FEMA and NIST are committed to ensuring a
smooth transition. Mr. Robert Shea and I
recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen our collaborative
bonds by designating NIST to serve as a research and technical resource for
FEMA. With your permission, I would like
to submit a copy of that MOU for the record.
We have agreed to develop and sign, by the end of May 2002, an
operational protocol for a quick deployment mechanism that could be activated
when a NIST response to extreme events is needed.
This
concludes my prepared remarks. I will be
pleased to answer your questions.