Brady Heywood Podcast

Introducing 'Simplifying Complexity' Nov 21, 2022

As you can tell by the title of this episode this isn’t a normal episode of The Brady Heywood Podcast. In today’s episode we introduce you to a new show that we’ve been working on called Simplifying Complexity, a podcast all about complexity science.

Simplifying Complexity is all about understanding the underlying principles that govern how systems work; systems as diverse as economies, ecologies, cities and countries. In each episode, we'll meet with the experts, and learn everything from how economies can go boom or bust, to how the Medicis wielded power in Venice in the 1400s, and why large animals live longer than small animals. And above all, we'll learn about the principles that tie all of these things together.

In the Brady Heywood Podcast, you learnt how things failed, from a technical standpoint, and an organisational standpoint. Simplifying Complexity takes us one step further, to understand how systems work, and just as importantly, how they fail. If you're interested, we've included a teaser of episode one of Simplifying Complexity, where we're joined by David Krakauer from the Santa Fe Institute, who's going to introduce us to the basics and the history of complexity science.

Connect:

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Miami Bridge Failure - Part 3 Aug 31, 2021

In today's episode, we bring to a close our three-part series on the collapse of a pedestrian bridge in Miami, Florida, in 2018.

In part one, you heard about the cracks in the bridge and how nothing was done about them. And in part two, you heard about the serious errors that were made in the bridge's design.

In this episode, we take a deep dive into two unanswered questions from this failure: just why did everyone ignore the cracks in the bridge; and why did a rigorous checking process not identify the errors in the bridge's design?

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Miami Bridge Failure - Part 2 Jul 31, 2021

Today's episode is the second of a three-part series on the 2018 collapse of the International University Pedestrian Bridge in Miami, Florida.

In our last episode, you heard how a pedestrian bridge under construction at the Florida International University collapsed in 2018 and killed six people. While many things came together to cause the collapse of this structure, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) identified some serious errors in the design of the bridge.

In this episode, we take a deep dive into these serious design errors as we attempt to understand why this tragedy occurred.

Resources and links:

NTSB Illustrated Digest on the collapse

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Miami Bridge Failure - Part 1 Jun 30, 2021

Today's episode is the first of a three-part series about the 2018 collapse of the Florida International University pedestrian bridge in Miami, Florida.

In this part, you'll hear how the signals which could have prevented the collapse of the bridge were ignored, leading to the deaths of six people.

You'll also hear how the checks and balances put in place to identify these bad decisions failed. And how this bridge gave warning sign after warning sign that something was wrong, but the parties involved did little to act.

The more you hear about what happened, the harder you'll find it to understand why it happened.

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

The Brady Review May 31, 2021

Today's episode is a little different. It explores 'The Brady Review', a report Brady Heywood undertook on the mining and quarrying industry in Queensland, Australia.

From January 2000 until the end of July 2019, 47 people lost their lives in the mining and quarrying industry in Queensland, Australia. That's an average of 2.4 fatalities per year, or 12 fatalities in any five year period.

What's causing these fatalities? Is it that the mining industry is inherently hazardous? Or is it bad luck or human error?

Resources and links:

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

The Pike River Mine Disaster - Part 3 Apr 30, 2021

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains vivid descriptions of how the miners, who lost their lives in the disaster, died. Listener discretion is advised.

In this final episode of our three-part series on the Pike River Mine disaster, we bring the story to a close.

We examine what took place on the day of the disaster, 19 November, 2010.

Resources and links:

Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

The Pike River Mine Disaster - Part 2 Mar 31, 2021

In part one of this three-part series on the Pike River mine disaster, you heard what took place in the minutes, hours and days following the methane explosion at the mine.

In this episode, we’ll step back and look at the history of the mine. You’ll hear how the factors that led to the explosion didn't suddenly present themselves on 19 November 2010. Instead, they had been building up over the months and years earlier.

Resources and links:

Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

The Pike River Mine Disaster - Part 1 Feb 28, 2021

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains vivid descriptions of the moments that the disaster occurred. Listener discretion is advised.

On the 19th of November 2010, New Zealand experienced one of its worst mining disasters when there was an explosion deep within the Pike River coal mine.

Today’s episode is the first of a three-part series about the disaster. In this part, you’ll hear about the immediate events that initiated the tragedy from the perspective of the people on the ground and in the mine.

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

The 1976 Montreal Olympics Financial Debacle Jan 31, 2021

It's 1970, and the mayor of Montreal, Jean Drapeau, declares that the 1976 Montreal Games will be self-financing.

In his view, these games can no more have a deficit "...than a man can have a baby". In fact, he thinks the real problem will be in determining how to spend the surplus. But over the coming years, all this optimism will evaporate, and the games will become a financial disaster.

This project had everything: poor planning, fraudulent practice and corruption. And it shows what happens when architectural and financial free-reign combine with political ambition and immovable deadlines.

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

The I-90 Tunnel Collapse Dec 31, 2020

In this episode, we head to Boston.

The 'Big Dig' was a road and tunnel construction project designed to solve Boston's congestion problems. With the final project cost exceeding $14 billion USD, this megaproject took 20 years to complete. It involved constructing 25 km of highway lanes, 8 km of tunnel, 16 interchanges and 200 bridges.

But on the 10th of July 2006, at 11:01 pm, a section of the I-90 tunnel collapsed unexpectedly, with tragic results.

So what happened? Why did it take six years to collapse? And how could one of the most costly and complex public infrastructure projects ever undertaken in the US have failed so catastrophically?

This episode follows the National Transportation Safety Board as they answer these questions, and shares insights into how such an investigation is conducted.

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Introducing 'Saving Apollo 13' Apr 13, 2020

In this short podcast we discuss the re-release of our Apollo 13 Series as Saving Apollo 13. We also talk about the subject of the next more 'traditional' Brady Heywood Podcast Episode.

Saving Apollo 13 is available on iTunes via the link below or by searching 'Saving Apollo 13' wherever you find good podcasts:

Apple Podcasts: Saving Apollo 13 👨‍🚀

Follow the show on social media:

Twitter: @SavingApollo_13

Instagram: savingapollo13

Facebook: @savingapollo13

Contact Wavelength Creative: https://wavelengthcreative.com/

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Apollo 13 - Addendum Sep 12, 2019

Want to take a deep dive behind the scenes of our Apollo 13 podcast series? Want to know the cause of the failure?

Then this podcast is for you. We’ll talk about each episode, cover the technical material we left out, discuss the cause, and even chat about Ron Howard’s excellent movie, Apollo 13.

We’ll even throw in a clue about our next long-form series…

Twitter at @BradyHeywoodPod

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bradyheywoodpod/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bradyheywoodpod/

Email podcasts@bradyheywood.com.au

Omega Tau podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/omega-tau-science-engineering-english-only/id350159142

Apollo13Minute: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/apollo-13-minute-podcast/id1403021295

Go Flight: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/go-flight-with-rick-houston/id1407006257

13 Minutes to the moon: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/13-minutes-to-the-moon/id1459657136

Jared Owen animations: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbsfyGlrjrKQC0gbzK0-EiA

Gimbel lock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmCzZ-D8Wdk

Slide Rules: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYhOoYf_XT0&t=318s

Apollo 13's re-entry audio was recorded at Honeysuckle Creek in Australia and can be found at https://www.honeysucklecreek.net/msfn_missions/Apollo_13_mission/a13_re-entry_index.html

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Apollo 13 - Part V: Steely-Eyed Missile Men Dec 12, 2018

Apollo 13 is about to undertake one of the most improvised and dangerous re-entries ever attempted by NASA.

Will John Aaron and the Tiger Team figure out how to power back up the Command Module in time? Has the heat shield been damaged? Are their parachute's frozen?

This is the final episode of Apollo 13. But be sure to subscribe to the podcast because we will be releasing an Addendum episode at some point in 2019. In this episode we'll take a behind the scenes look at Apollo 13. We'll cover all the material that didn't make it into the series, as well as taking a deep dive into the technical causes of the explosion on board.

Thank you for listening.

The series is accompanied by bonus material, in the form of photographs and graphics, which will be posted on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Twitter at @BradyHeywoodPod

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bradyheywoodpod/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bradyheywoodpod/

Email podcasts@bradyheywood.com.au

For more details on Apollo 13, please read Jeffrey Kluger and Jim Lovell’s wonderful book titled 'Apollo 13'. Many of the conversations presented in this podcast are from this book.

Details of the spacecraft configuration at the time of the explosion can be found here: http://img2.tfd.com/pp/wikiimg.ashx?p=commons%2fthumb%2f0%2f01%2f2010-06-11_CSM%2526LM.jpg%2f799px-2010-06-11_CSM%2526LM.jpg

All the NASA audio used in the series can be found at: https://archive.org/details/Apollo13Audio (The Audio is edited.)

Apollo 13's re-entry audio was recorded at Honeysuckle Creek in Australia and can be found at https://www.honeysucklecreek.net/msfn_missions/Apollo_13_mission/a13_re-entry_index.html

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Apollo 13 - Part IV: Star Sailors Dec 05, 2018

The crew of Apollo 13 begin their long fall to earth. In this entire episode we stay with the crew as they go around the moon, fight to keep their LEM functioning and their trajectory correct - all while their spacecraft begins to freeze around them.

The final episode will be released next Thursday.

The series is accompanied by bonus material, in the form of photographs and graphics, which will be posted on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Twitter at @BradyHeywoodPod

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bradyheywoodpod/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bradyheywoodpod/

Email podcasts@bradyheywood.com.au

For more details on Apollo 13, please read Jeffrey Kluger and Jim Lovell’s wonderful book titled 'Apollo 13'. Many of the conversations presented in this podcast are from this book.

Details of the spacecraft configuration at the time of the explosion can be found here: http://img2.tfd.com/pp/wikiimg.ashx?p=commons%2fthumb%2f0%2f01%2f2010-06-11_CSM%2526LM.jpg%2f799px-2010-06-11_CSM%2526LM.jpg

All the NASA audio used in the series can be found at: https://archive.org/details/Apollo13Audio (The Audio is edited.)

Details of Ed Smylie's device can be found at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apollo_13_Mailbox_at_Mission_Control.jpg

Read more at http://www.bradyheywood.libsyn.com/#3kDhdq361OrESgVJ.99

Read more at https://bradyheywood.libsyn.com/#WlYBsbmY17GXd3Tc.99

Read more at http://www.bradyheywood.libsyn.com/#ccfpFlv3iCHmTspf.99

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Apollo 13 - Part III: The Tiger Team Nov 28, 2018

"I don’t give a damn about the odds and I don’t give a damn that we’ve never done anything like this before. You’ve got to believe, your people have got to believe, that this crew is coming home." Gene Kranz to the Tiger Team, Room 210, April 1970.

The Tiger Team and Mission Control work through the long range problems of getting Apollo 13 home. Meanwhile, the astronauts attempt to confirm their position and trajectory as the moon continues to grow larger in their windows.

A new episode will be released every Thursday.

The series is accompanied by bonus material, in the form of photographs and graphics, which will be posted on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Twitter at @BradyHeywoodPod

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bradyheywoodpod/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bradyheywoodpod/

Email podcasts@bradyheywood.com.au

For more details on Apollo 13, please read Jeffrey Kluger and Jim Lovell’s wonderful book titled 'Apollo 13'. Many of the conversations presented in this podcast are from this book.

Details of the spacecraft configuration at the time of the explosion can be found here: http://img2.tfd.com/pp/wikiimg.ashx?p=commons%2fthumb%2f0%2f01%2f2010-06-11_CSM%2526LM.jpg%2f799px-2010-06-11_CSM%2526LM.jpg

All the NASA audio used in the series can be found at: https://archive.org/details/Apollo13Audio (The Audio is edited.)

Read more at http://www.bradyheywood.libsyn.com/#3kDhdq361OrESgVJ.99

Read more at https://bradyheywood.libsyn.com/#WlYBsbmY17GXd3Tc.99

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Apollo 13 - Part II: The Lifeboat Nov 21, 2018

Following the explosion, the three astronauts and Mission Control fight to save the dying spacecraft. And Gene Kranz assembles a team to tackle an impossible rescue.

A new episode will be released every Thursday.

The series is accompanied by bonus material, in the form of photographs and graphics, which will be posted on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Twitter at @BradyHeywoodPod

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bradyheywoodpod/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bradyheywoodpod/

Email podcasts@bradyheywood.com.au

For more details on Apollo 13, please read Jeffrey Kluger and Jim Lovell’s wonderful book titled 'Apollo 13'. Many of the conversations presented in this podcast are from this book.

Details of the spacecraft configuration at the time of the explosion can be found here: http://img2.tfd.com/pp/wikiimg.ashx?p=commons%2fthumb%2f0%2f01%2f2010-06-11_CSM%2526LM.jpg%2f799px-2010-06-11_CSM%2526LM.jpg

All the NASA audio used in the series can be found at: https://archive.org/details/Apollo13Audio (The Audio is edited.)

Read more at http://www.bradyheywood.libsyn.com/#3kDhdq361OrESgVJ.99

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Apollo 13 - Part I: Head for the Hills Nov 14, 2018

Apollo 13 is 200,000 miles from earth when it’s crippled by an explosion. On board are astronauts Jack Swigert, Fred Haise, and Commander Jim Lovell.

In this five-part series we follow the story of the three astronauts, as well as the scores of people in Mission Control, who scramble to bring Apollo 13 home. We take a deep dive into both the human and technical challenges they face.

A new episode will be released every Thursday for the next five weeks.

The series will also be accompanied by bonus material, in the form of photographs and graphics, which will be posted on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Twitter at @BradyHeywoodPod

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bradyheywoodpod/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bradyheywoodpod/

Email podcasts@bradyheywood.com.au

For more details on Apollo 13, please read Jeffrey Kluger and Jim Lovell’s wonderful book titled 'Apollo 13'. Many of the conversations presented in this podcast are from this book.

Details of the spacecraft configuration at the time of the explosion can be found here: http://img2.tfd.com/pp/wikiimg.ashx?p=commons%2fthumb%2f0%2f01%2f2010-06-11_CSM%2526LM.jpg%2f799px-2010-06-11_CSM%2526LM.jpg

All the NASA audio used in the series can be found at: https://archive.org/details/Apollo13Audio (The Audio is edited.)

The ABC coverage of the launch can be found at: https://archive.org/details/ABCRadioApollo13LiftOff (The Audio is edited.)

#Apollo13 #BradyHeywood #BradyHeywoodPod #Apollo13 #NASA #Twitter #Facebook #Instagram #podcasting #Podcast #PodcastSeries

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Apollo 13 - Teaser Dec 04, 2017

Listen to our Apollo 13 teaser, with actual audio from its launch on 11 April 1970.

In the New Year we will tackle the story of Apollo 13. In this episode we chat about the podcast journey so far and we discuss the new episodes currently in the planning stages.

Follow on Twitter at @BradyHeywoodPod

Follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bradyheywoodpod/

Follow on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bradyheywoodpod/

Email podcasts@bradyheywood.com.au

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Stranger than Fiction Nov 08, 2017

The collapse of the I-40 bridge in 2002 was a tragedy, but its aftermath was a story you simply couldn't make up.

It begins with a barge, a bridge, and an impostor, and it ends with a prison sentence, Vladimir Putin, and cheque fraud in Alaska.

Follow on Twitter at @BradyHeywoodPod

Email podcasts@bradyheywood.com.au

A photograph of the collapse is available at http://www.wkbw.com/news/photos-historic-bridge-collapses-in-the-us#id18

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Quebec Bridge Collapse Sep 09, 2017

Can ego knock a bridge down? How one man's decisions caused the collapse of the Quebec Bridge.

Follow the podcast on twitter @BradyHeywoodPod

The Royal Commission Report into the collapse can be found at http://publications.gc.ca/site/archivee-archived.html?url=http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2016/bcp-pco/Z1-1907-5-1-1-eng.pdf

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Earthquakes, Financial Crashes, and Dinosaurs Jul 31, 2017

Why do the really big catastrophes happen? The earthquakes, the financial crashes, and even the outbreak of the First World War. In this episode we dive into the weird world of complexity theory.

Follow the podcast on twitter @BradyHeywoodPod

Mark Buchanan's Ubiquity can be found at https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquity-Catastrophes-Happen-Mark-Buchanan/dp/0609809989

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

The Comet Aircraft Crashes Jun 08, 2017

The aircraft crashes that changed the world of aviation. And the reason aircraft windows aren't square.

Follow the podcast on twitter @BradyHeywoodPod

A number of books cover the crash of the aircraft, but Henry Petroski's To Engineer is Human is one of the best: https://www.amazon.com/Engineer-Human-Failure-Successful-Design/dp/0679734163

There are a number of documentaries on YouTube, including: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68XH9r4FyNs

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Minneapolis Highway Bridge Collapse May 01, 2017

On 1 August 2007 at 6:05 pm, during rush hour traffic, the I35-W Highway Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota collapsed into the Mississippi River.

We’ll look at how a bridge could suddenly collapse after 40 years of service. And we’ll ask was there an issue with design, or was there abnormal bridge loading at the time of the failure? Or was there both?

Follow the podcast on twitter @BradyHeywoodPod

The National Transportation Safety Board's report can be found at https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/HAR0803.pdf

A photograph of the loading on the bridge can be found in the NTSB failure report on page 26, see figure 16.

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Hanging Garden of Babylon Apr 03, 2017

Did the Hanging Garden of Babylon actually exist or was it myth?

And why bother talking about it in this podcast?

Because apart from whether or not the Garden existed, or more importantly where it was located, the story of its history is fascinating.

But even more fascinating is the extraordinary engineering achievement that may have underpinned its very existence.

Follow the podcast on twitter @BradyHeywoodPod

A sketch of the Garden, as well as the bas relief depicting the garden at Ninevah, can be found here: http://www.archeolog-home.com/pages/content/ninive-iraq-the-hanging-gardens-of-babylon.html

A detailed account of the discovery of the ruins at Jerwan can be found here: https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/oip24.pdf

A link to Dr Dalley's book can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Hanging-Garden-Babylon-Elusive/dp/0198728840/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Details of Jason Ur's work on declassified satellite imagery can be found here: http://scholar.harvard.edu/jasonur/pages/hollow-ways-0

My article on the subject can be found in The Structural Engineer magazine here: https://www.istructe.org/journal/volumes/volume-94-(2016)/issue-7/engineering-the-hanging-garden-of-babylon

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Brooklyn Bridge - Part 2 Feb 27, 2017

With doctors saying her husband is dying, Emily Warren Roebling sets out on a path to see the great bridge through to completion.

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Brooklyn Bridge - Part 1 Feb 13, 2017

The greatest engineering challenge of the age. A male dominated profession. One woman.

Emily Warren Roebling.

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Tacoma Bridge Collapse Jan 30, 2017

The collapse of the Tacoma Narrows suspension bridge is one of the world's most recognised structural failures.

Were there any warnings from history that this failure could have occurred, and more importantly, if failures like this had ever happened at the past - why did we as a profession forget the lessons learned?

Footage of the bridge collapse can be viewed on YouTube https://youtu.be/j-zczJXSxnw

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Virgin Galactic Crash Jan 17, 2017

The tragic crash of the Virgin Galactic spacecraft carries lessons for all of us. Do failures happen because humans make mistakes? Or do they happen because we design systems that ultimately fail us as humans?

Detailed article on the disaster can be found at https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/52fa7d_155a03ee1ac745c7a6edd76118a71e16.pdf

The National Transportation Safety Board's report can be found at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR1502.pdf

The National Transportation Safety Board video of the seconds leading up to the disaster can be found at http://www.ntsb.gov/news/events/Pages/2015_spaceship2_BMG.aspx

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Why Expertise Can Hold Us Back Dec 12, 2016

What does a stadium collapse, baseball, fire fighting, and taking a shower have in common?

In this episode we explore the concept of expertise and ask does it have a dark side? Indeed, can failures sometimes occur precisely because we possess expertise?

But before all that we'll join a group of firefighters about to step into an obscure valley in Montana in 1949...

Sean delivered this presentation to approximately 550 delegates attending the Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety Conference in August 2016. The title of the presentation was “Wedded to Our Tools – Why Expertise Can Hold Us back”.

Look out for the next episode of the Brady Heywood Podcast in mid January 2017.

Detailed information on the Mann Gulch fire can be found at https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/52fa7d_3daddbe131be4dd48103f16aeff52d6c.pdf and https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/52fa7d_3b0c3157e10d4b89bb16b200d58a049d.pdf

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

The West Gate Bridge Collapse Nov 19, 2016

What is not well known about the West Gate Bridge collapse in Melbourne, Australia in 1970 was that it was only one of a string of similar bridge failures that happened around the world.

The failures highlighted that the engineering profession’s understanding of these bridge types was clearly lacking. In Melbourne the profession paid the ultimate price: 35 fatalities.

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Heart Attacks: Is Less Information More? Nov 15, 2016

What can heart attack diagnosis tell us about engineering failures?

Perhaps not much directly, but it does provide fascinating insight into whether or not more information really leads to better decision making.

This episode examines the story of the system developed at Cook County Hospital in Chicago to diagnose if someone was at risk of having a heart attack. It shows that in some cases less (information) really is more.

For a detailed description of Cook County Hospital and their heart attack diagnosis system refer to Chapter 4 of Malcolm Gladwell's excellent Blink.

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Corporate Memory Loss: The Malahide Collapse Oct 31, 2016

While the technical cause of failure of the Malahide Viaduct in Ireland was straight-forward, the human factor that collapsed the bridge was a relatively new phenomenon: corporate memory loss.

Detailed article on the collapse can be found at https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/52fa7d_fad1676492ec4e6f82619f16c05d8420.pdf

The Rail Accident Investigation Unit report on the collapse can be found at http://www.raiu.ie/download/pdf/accident_malahide.pdf

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Organ Donation Rates and Engineering Failures Oct 15, 2016

Organ donation rates provide surprising insight into how we as humans make rational decisions. This podcast looks at this insight and examines how it can play a role in engineering failure, specifically examining the 2007 collapse of the I-35W Highway Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The Johnson and Goldstein paper can be found at http://www.dangoldstein.com/papers/JohnsonGoldstein_Defaults_Transplantation2004.pdf

Detailed article on the I-35W Highway Bridge collapse can be found at https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/52fa7d_928543ad77f24016a6d39aca72929b66.pdf

The National Transportation Safety Board’s final report on the I-35W Highway Bridge collapse can be found at http://www.dot.state.mn.us/i35wbridge/pdf/ntsb-report.pdf

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

The Citicorp Tower Crisis Sep 27, 2016

In 1978 an engineering design error was discovered in the Citicorp Tower in Manhattan. It was so serious that it threatened the tower’s integrity. This is the story of how it was found and the race against time to fix it.

Detailed article can be found at https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/52fa7d_7ab9ff96759b46ef800b65a4ad7282f7.pdf

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

The Role of Forensic Engineers in Legal Disputes Sep 26, 2016

What is the difference between a forensic structural engineer, as opposed to an ‘ordinary’ structural engineer? And what are the roles of these two very different types of engineers in legal disputes?

Detailed article can be found at https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/52fa7d_7ccbdd24115f4bf1a679a32eb4f6acf6.pdf

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

The Hyatt Regency Collapse Sep 25, 2016

The structural collapse of walkways at the Hyatt Regency in 1981 was one of the most devastating collapses in US history. 114 died, over 200 were injured – needing the emergency rooms of 17 hospitals to treat them. We look at the story from the perspective of those involved.

This episode contains descriptions of the injuries sustained in the collapse - listeners may find some of these descriptions upsetting.

Detailed article can be found at https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/52fa7d_8fce6b8d54ba487684727010acb2d7e2.pdf

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Welcome to the Brady Heywood Podcast Sep 24, 2016

Welcome to the Brady Heywood podcast – the podcast where we look at engineering failures and disasters.

My name is Sean Brady, and I’m a forensic structural engineer, which means I investigate the causes of engineering failures. And while I usually focus on figuring out the technical cause of a failure, I’m also interested in the role of human factors in these disasters. Because for every technical cause of failure – not just in engineering, but in any profession – there are a range of human factors that allow these technical issues to culminate in disaster.

Which brings us to the subject of these podcasts. We’ll be looking at stories of engineering failure, and talking about the lessons learned from them. We will also be looking at how forensic engineers go about the job of investigating collapses, and we’ll be chatting about their role in legal disputes. Occasionally, we’ll look at successes – but again this from the perspective of asking what were the lessons learned. And from time to time we’ll get into the world of psychology, which will help us look at how we as humans make decisions.

So these podcasts are aimed at a wide audience. The good news is that I’ve no plans on getting bogged down technically – for those of you who are interested in the technology I’ll point you in the right direction of the websites and articles you should have a look at.

I hope you enjoy these podcasts, and I hope they’ll help you reflect on how you approach your chosen profession – whatever it may be. At the very least I hope they’ll illustrate that sometimes our decision making is not near as rational as we’d like to think it is.

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

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