The Pentagon Building Performance Report PDF Download

Author: American Society of Civil Engineers
Publisher: ASCE Publications
ISBN: 9780784406380
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 61

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Book Description
On the afternoon of September 11, 2001, ASCE's Structural Engineering Institute established a building performance study team to examine the structural damage inflicted on the Pentagon by the crash. The members of the team reviewed available information o

Author: Steve Vogel
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1588367010
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 674

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Book Description
The creation of the Pentagon in seventeen whirlwind months during World War II is one of the great construction feats in American history, involving a tremendous mobilization of manpower, resources, and minds. In astonishingly short order, Brigadier General Brehon B. Somervell conceived and built an institution that ranks with the White House, the Vatican, and a handful of other structures as symbols recognized around the world. Now veteran military reporter Steve Vogel reveals for the first time the remarkable story of the Pentagon’s construction, from it’s dramatic birth to its rebuilding after the September 11 attack. At the center of the story is the tempestuous but courtly Somervell–“dynamite in a Tiffany box,” as he was once described. In July 1941, the Army construction chief sprang the idea of building a single, huge headquarters that could house the entire War Department, then scattered in seventeen buildings around Washington. Somervell ordered drawings produced in one weekend and, despite a firestorm of opposition, broke ground two months later, vowing that the building would be finished in little more than a year. Thousands of workers descended on the site, a raffish Virginia neighborhood known as Hell’s Bottom, while an army of draftsmen churned out designs barely one step ahead of their execution. Seven months later the first Pentagon employees skirted seas of mud to move into the building and went to work even as construction roared around them. The colossal Army headquarters helped recast Washington from a sleepy southern town into the bustling center of a reluctant empire. Vivid portraits are drawn of other key figures in the drama, among them Franklin D. Roosevelt, the president who fancied himself an architect; Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson and Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall, both desperate for a home for the War Department as the country prepared for battle; Colonel Leslie R. Groves, the ruthless force of nature who oversaw the Pentagon’s construction (as well as the Manhattan Project to create an atomic bomb); and John McShain, the charming and dapper builder who used his relationship with FDR to help land himself the contract for the biggest office building in the world. The Pentagon’s post-World War II history is told through its critical moments, including the troubled birth of the Department of Defense during the Cold War, the tense days of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the tumultuous 1967 protest against the Vietnam War. The pivotal attack on September 11 is related with chilling new detail, as is the race to rebuild the damaged Pentagon, a restoration that echoed the spirit of its creation. This study of a single enigmatic building tells a broader story of modern American history, from the eve of World War II to the new wars of the twenty-first century. Steve Vogel has crafted a dazzling work of military social history that merits comparison with the best works of David Halberstam or David McCullough. Like its namesake, The Pentagon is a true landmark.

Author: Alfred Goldberg
Publisher: Office of the Secretary, Historical Offi
ISBN:
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
The most comprehensive account to date of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon and aftermath, this volume includes unprecedented details on the impact on the Pentagon building and personnel and the scope of the rescue, recovery, and caregiving effort. It features 32 pages of photographs and more than a dozen diagrams and illustrations not previously available.

Author:
Publisher: Government Printing Office
ISBN: 9780160867088
Category : Rescue work
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description
The response and subsequent performance of federal, state, and especially local agencies, in particular their coordination and cooperation with each other and with Pentagon authorities, provide lessons for dealing with other large-scale emergencies in the future. Material used in this study was distilled from more than 1,300 interviews, relying on the corroborative testimony of two or more witnesses wherever possible.

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030917998X
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 68

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Book Description
The National Academy of Construction (NAC) has determined that disputes, and their accompanying inefficiencies and costs, constitute a significant problem for the industry. In 2002, the NAC assessed the industry's progress in attacking this problem and determined that although the tools, techniques, and processes for preventing and efficiently resolving disputes are already in place, they are not being widely used. In 2003, the NAC helped to persuade the Center for Construction Industry Studies (CCIS) at the University of Texas and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to finance and conduct empirical research to develop accurate information about the relative transaction costs of various forms of dispute resolution. In 2004 the NAC teamed with the Federal Facilities Council (FFC) of the National Research Council to sponsor the "Government/Industry Forum on Reducing Construction Costs: Uses of Best Dispute Resolution Practices by Project Owners." The forum was held on September 23, 2004, at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. Speakers and panelists at the forum addressed several topics. Reducing Construction Costs addresses topics such as the root causes of disputes and the impact of disputes on project costs and the economics of the construction industry. A second topic addressed was dispute resolution tools and techniques for preventing, managing, and resolving construction- related disputes. This report documents examples of successful uses of dispute resolution tools and techniques on some high-profile projects, and also provides ways to encourage greater use of dispute resolution tools throughout the industry. This report addresses steps that owners of construction projects (who have the greatest ability to influence how their projects are conducted) should take in order to make their projects more successful.

Author: Patrick Creed
Publisher: Presidio Press
ISBN: 0345507207
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 528

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Book Description
Amid all the stories of tragedy and heroism on September 11, there is one tale that has yet to be told–the gripping account of ordinary men and women braving the inferno at the Pentagon to rescue friends and co-workers, save the nation’s military headquarters, and defend their country. Pentagon firefighters Alan Wallace and Mark Skipper had just learned the shocking news that planes had struck the World Trade Center when they saw something equally inconceivable: a twin-engine jetliner flying straight at them. It was American Airlines Flight 77, rushing toward its target. In his Pentagon office, Army major David King was planning a precautionary evacuation when the room suddenly erupted in flames. Arlington firefighters Derek Spector, Brian Roache, and Ron Christman, among the first responders at the scene, were stunned by the sight that met them: a huge flaming hole gouged into the Pentagon’s side, a lawn strewn with smoking debris, and thousands of people, some badly injured, stumbling away from what would become one of the most daunting fires in American history. For more than twenty-four hours, Arlington firefighters and other crews faced some of the most dangerous and unusual circumstances imaginable. The size and structure of the Pentagon itself presented unique challenges, compelling firefighters to devise ingenious tactics and make bold decisions–until they finally extinguished the fire that threatened to cripple America’s military infrastructure just when it was needed most. Granted unprecedented access to the major players in the valiant response efforts, Patrick Creed and Rick Newman take us step-by-step through the harrowing minutes, hours, and days following the crash of American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon’s western façade. Providing fascinating personal stories of the firefighters and rescuers, a broader view of how the U.S. national security command structure was held intact, and a sixteen-page insert of dramatic photographs, Firefight is a unique testament to the fortitude and resilience of America.

Author: Therese McAllister
Publisher: Federal Emergency Management Agency
ISBN:
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
Report of a team of civil, structural, and fire protection engineers, deployed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (SEI/ASCE), in association with New York City and several other Federal agencies and professional organizations, to study the performance of buildings at the WTC site following the attack of September 11, 2001.

Author: Anab Whitehouse
Publisher: Bilquees Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 444

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Book Description
This is a work which provides an excellent summary of the essential themes, issues, facts, and questions concerning the tragic events of 9/11. This book engages the events surrounding 9/11 from a very different perspective -- namely that of a member of a hypothetical grand jury which is faced with the task of critically examining the available evidence concerning all manner of 9/11-related topics in order to determine whether or not a further public inquiry into 9/11 is appropriate and necessary. Many questions are raised in this book. The only certain answer arising out of the pages of this work is that, after careful review, the available evidence indicates the government's official version of 9/11 is not tenable in either principle or detail.

Author: Ian Henshall
Publisher: Constable
ISBN: 1472147162
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
The original 9/11 Revealed attracted lavish praise from reviewers in the Daily Mail and Sunday Times for the 'huge gaps' it exposed in the official 9/11 story. It became a non-fiction bestseller despite a wall of silence by the broadcast media and condemnation in a special web page set up by the US State Department. Since then the story has produced many sinister new twists, including: Pentagon whistleblowers have accused the 'Independent 9/11 Commission' of lying; long-suppressed eyewitness testimony has been released confirming multiple explosions in the Twin Towers before and during their collapses; the much vaunted video purporting to prove that Flight 77 hit the Pentagon showed nothing at all; and an analysis of terrorist trials and arrests since 2001 indicates that far from the '600 Al Qaeda sleeper cells in the US' (CIA) there were none at all. In this sequel to 9/11 Revealed, Ian Henshall examines the precedents of black operations by the US/UK, from Northern Ireland to Italy, from Vietnam to Kosovo; he looks at the various 9/11 theories, including the latest twists in the official story, and tests them against the evidence. Finally, he asks what might happen when the storm of popular outrage collides with the regime in Washington and London and outlines the radical changes needed if Washington and London are ever again to function as genuine democracies.

Author: Anab Whitehouse
Publisher: Bilquees Press
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 616

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Book Description
This book explores the significance of a saying of the Prophet Muhammad -- namely, "Die before you die" -- from the perspective of an individual who has been journeying along a path of discovery for more than 50 years. The contents of this book might be one of the most unique, intriguing, and challenging accounts of Islam and the Sufi path that has been published in North America. Just a little over a year ago, the author of this book died -- several times -- in the emergency room of a local hospital. This book starts with those events and, then, expands outward to talk about an array of experiences (including spiritual abuse) that has shaped his understanding of Islam, the Sufi path, life, ands himself. In addition, the book critically reflects on a series of issues that have relevance in today's world. These ideas range from: Sam Harris, to topics such as: Education, religion, mysticism, science, and shari'ah. While each of the book’s four sections has something to offer readers with respect to assisting a person to work toward developing a deeper understanding of Islam and its mystical dimension (as well as a number of other topics), the book's section on shari'ah might prove to be the most illuminating and thought-provoking facet of the book. More specifically, Dr. Whitehouse introduces readers to a way of engaging the topic of shari'ah that is quite different from what is normally thought of in conjunction with that term and, if God wishes, could serve as a way of helping to bring the Muslim world and the West closer together in a variety of constructive and harmonious ways.