September 8, 2002
The Height of Ambition
James Glanz and Eric Lipton write the biography of the World Trade Center towers.
New York Times
November 22, 2001
The Biggest Foundation
This piece, written in 1972, looks at the construction of the World Trade Center's twin towers, at a time when they were a symbol of possibility.
The New Yorker
September 19, 2001
Gravity Helped Terrorists Destroy Twin Towers
Though terrorists triggered the collapse of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers, much of the energy -- calculated by a physicist to have been at least 2 percent that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima -- was supplied by Nature's most ubiquitous force: gravity.
Space
September 17, 2001
Inferno Heat, Not Impact, Brought Down Towers, Experts Say
The structures withstood the initial impact of the two jetliners that crashed into them after being hijacked. But the steel columns supporting the damaged floors could not withstand the intense temperatures produced by the fireball of burning jet fuel, experts say.
National Geographic
September 13, 2001
Extreme Heat, 'Pancaking' Doom Towers into Rubble 2,000-degree Fire Wilts Steel
Strange as it sounds, the World Trade Center towers lived up to engineers' hopes in the moments after two hijacked jets slammed into their upper floors Tuesday morning.
USA Today
September 13, 2001
Interactive Graphic of the Collapse by USA Today
With data on impact and heat after the Towers were hit.
USA Today
September 13, 2001
Interactive: WTC Attack
With interactive chart drawn by AP.
AP via Yahoo!
September 13, 2001
Why the towers collapsed
A chart to explain reasons of the collapse.
Sydney Morning Herald
September 13, 2001
2 Planes Hit Twin Towers at the Weakest Spot
The terrorists who piloted two planes into the World Trade Center apparently managed--either by careful calculation or evil luck--to have hit the buildings at their weakest spot to cause their disastrous collapse, structural engineers said Tuesday.
LA Times
September 13, 2001
Web Site Lists Safety Of Loved Ones Following Terrorist Attacks
A University of California, Berkeley, assistant professor and two computer science students created a Web site today (Tuesday, Sept. 11) to help the public find out about the safety of loved ones affected by the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Science Daily
September 12, 2001
How the World Trade Center Fell
The design of the World Trade Center saved thousands of lives by standing for well over an hour after the planes crashed into its twin towers, say structural engineers. But the towers' ultimate collapse was inevitable, as the steel cores inside them reached temperatures of 800C - raising questions why hundreds of rescue workers were sent into the doomed buildings to their deaths.
BBC
September 12, 2001
Fire, Not Crashes, Caused Buildings to Collapse, Experts say
Experts in skyscraper construction said video of the collapse led them to believe the towers were perhaps weakened by the initial impact of the airplanes that hit them Tuesday, but that heat from the resulting fire likely was the most punishing blow.
The News Sun
September 12, 2001
Experts: Impact, Fire Too Much for Twin Towers
Experts agreed that collapse of the two towers was almost inevitable, for while their "tube structure" design was their greatest source of strength, it was also an Achilles' heel. For someone who wanted to bring them down, a gasoline-filled guided missile was perhaps the only way.
St. Petersburg Times
September 12, 2001
Twin Towers Couldn't Sustain Attack
Many asked how the Twin Towers could have collapsed. Experts in skyscraper design and construction say it was probably simple: The 110-story towers were conceived to withstand powerful impacts, but their steel skeletons couldn't protect them from thousands of gallons of flaming jet fuel.
AP via Yahoo!
September 11, 2001
Crashes Destroy Engineering Wonders
The 110-story towers, the tallest buildings in the city and the fifth and sixth tallest in the world, collapsed in billows of debris following two plane crashes to their sides. Despite initial damage from the crashes, the two towers remained standing for just over an hour and appeared to be a testimony to the abilities of structural engineering.
ABC News
September 11, 2001
Engineers Shocked by Towers’ Collapse
The World Trade Center, a symbol of American economic might, survived one terrorist attack in 1993. It was designed to withstand the impact of a jet, but both its towers collapsed this morning after planes rammed them.
Chicago Tribune
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