research on forensic engineering system of bridge

1、<p>　　Research on Forensic Engineering System of Bridge</p><p>　　Abstract. For questions of the accident investigation of bridge，forensic engineering system of bridge is presented to find out the cause

2、of collapse。New framework is proposed for forensic engineering system of bridge，including conception、principle、 independent investigation、member of investigation group、time limit of investigation and legal status of inve

3、stigation conclusion. </p><p>　　Key words: forensic engineering;accident investigation;forensic engineering system of bridge </p><p>　　1.Introduction </p><p>　　Up till the year 2010

4、, there have been altogether 685 thousand roads and bridges. Among them there are 93 thousand dangerous bridges. As for the dangerous bridges that are distributed in the national roads, the provincial roads and the count

5、y roads, there are altogether 3720. Among them, the majority have been constructed before the 1990s, which accounts 84.8%. </p><p>　　From the year 2007 to 2011, there have been at least 17 bridges in which c

6、ollapse accidents occur, resulting in 156 deaths, 88 injuries and 23 missing. </p><p>　　The complete investigation of the accident reasons not only concerns the public trust of the government, but also the a

7、ccurate treatment of these 93 thousand bridges. The life and property of thousands of people and their security transportation are particularly significant. </p><p>　　2.The Disadvantages Existed in Accident

8、Investigation in our Country [2] [3] </p><p>　　The major disadvantages are shown as the followings: </p><p>　　2.1The lack of independence and temporary nature of investigations </p><p

9、>　　Independent investigations are rare though they are highly needed. They can be seen when the State Council directly host the major accidents. The failure of people, equipment, supplies, or surroundings to behave or

10、 react as expected causes most of them. Accident investigations determine how and why these failures occur. By using the information gained through an investigation, a similar, or perhaps more disastrous, accident may be

11、 prevented. It is important to conduct accident investigations wit</p><p>　　The accident investigations in our country are composed of by the governmental departments. All the accidental investigators are us

12、ually the leaders from the governmental departments. </p><p>　　The temporary nature of investigation groups has determined the instability of the accidental investigation teams. </p><p>　　2.2The

13、 technique investigation is separated from the juridical investigation 　　The technique investigation and the jurisdictional responsibility identification are connected to each other when investigating accident reasons i

14、n our country. Accidents occur when hazards escape detection during preventive measures, such as a job or process safety analysis, when hazards are not obvious, or as the result of combinations of circumstances that were

15、 difficult to foresee. A thorough accident investigati</p><p>　　The investigators have put forward the treatment suggestions to the accidental responsible people. These kinds of investigations can never find

16、 out the real reasons for the accidents. </p><p>　　2.3 There has not been a track mechanism on publication and security suggestions </p><p>　　Currently the publicity mechanism on security produc

17、tion accident investigation has not been built. The accident investigation reports are kept as a secret. All accidents should be investigated. The depth and complexity of the investigation will vary with the circumstance

18、s and seriousness of the accident. The Supervisor or other individual responsible for operations involved in an accident should ensure that an investigation is conducted and that when appropriate, corrective actions are

19、taken. T</p><p>　　2.4 The accident investigations, treatment, report program and relevant documents have not been regulated </p><p>　　Currently, the accident investigations, treatment, report pr

20、ogram and relevant documents have not been regulated. There are no detailed implementation rules. As for the determination of accident causes have rarely been mentioned. </p><p>　　3.Forensic Engineering Syst

21、em Exploration </p><p>　　3.1 The proposal of forensic engineering </p><p>　　Forensic engineering is the investigation of materials, products, structures or components that fail or do not operate

22、 or function as intended, causing personal injury or damage to property. The consequences of failure are dealt with by the law of product liability. The field also deals with retracing processes and procedures leading to

23、 accidents in operation of vehicles or machinery. The subject is applied most commonly in civil law cases, although may be of use in criminal law cases. Generally</p><p>　　Forensic engineering should follow

24、the below principles: [1] </p><p>　　1)Objectivity </p><p>　　Objective shall be equipped with the following aspects: A. the personal qualities of the investigators; B. the independence of the inv

25、estigators. The independence of the investigators shall include the following two parts: on the one hand, there is not pressure coming from the superior institution or the executive staff; on the other hand, the men in c

26、harge do not want to cover the truth. </p><p>　　2)Comprehensiveness </p><p>　　As for the investigation in bridge accidents, no matter whether the reasons are clear enough, all possible modes tha

27、t would cause the accidents should be taken into research and analysis. In addition to this, Vital to the field of forensic engineering is the process of investigating and collecting data related to the materials, produc

28、ts, structures or components that failed. This involves inspections, collecting evidence, measurements, developing models, obtaining exemplar products, and performi</p><p>　　3)Deepness </p><p>　

29、　All the bridge accident investigation works should be carried out in depth. This ensures that details of what occurred will be fresh in people’s minds and that witnesses don’t influence one another by talking about the

30、accident. It also minimizes the likelihood that important evidence is not moved, lost, taken, destroyed, or thrown away before the scene has been thoroughly inspected. </p><p>　　4)Science </p><p&g

31、t;　　The organizations and investigation work on accident investigation should follow the objective rule of accident investigation. It should be carried according to scientific and standard procedures and methods. Use the

32、 scientific cognition ideology and methodology to instruct the accident investigations. Try to have a clear idea about the problems and avoid subjectivity, one-sidedness and superficiality. </p><p>　　5)Openn

33、ess </p><p>　　The circumstances and investigation reports on bridge accidents should gradually become publicized. National Transportation Safety Board does a good and complete job on this part. They started

34、to publish the accident investigation reports from the 1960s. 　　3.2 Forensic engineering system </p><p>　　3.2.1 Accident independent investigation right </p><p>　　1)Legal basis </p><

35、p>　　Article 71 in “CONSTITUTION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA” has clearly stated that the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee can operate the committees of inquiry to conduct investigati

36、ons. </p><p>　　Article 71 </p><p>　　The National People's Congress and its Standing Committee may, when they deem it necessary, appoint committees of inquiry into specific questions and adop

37、t relevant resolutions in the light of their reports. All organs of state, public organizations and citizens concerned are obliged to furnish necessary information to the committees of inquiry when they conduct investiga

38、tions. </p><p>　　2)The necessity of independent investigation </p><p>　　It is known from the previous statement that the lack of investigation can hardly obtain the real reasons for the accident

39、s. Therefore, it is quite necessary to carry out independent investigations. </p><p>　　3)The feasibility of independent investigation </p><p>　　According the experience abroad, in order to have

40、independent and objective investigation results of the serious traffic accidents, The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was founded in the year 1967. It is an independent U.S. government investigative agency re

41、sponsible for civil transportation accident investigation. </p><p>　　In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine acc

42、idents, pipeline incidents and railroad accidents. When requested, the NTSB will assist the military with accident investigation. The NTSB is also in charge of investigating cases of hazardous materials releases that occ

43、ur during transportation. </p><p>　　The NTSB is normally the lead organization in the investigation of a transportation accident within its sphere. An investigation of a major accident within the United Stat

44、es typically starts with the creation of a go team, composed of specialists in fields relating to the occurrence. This is followed by the designation of other organizations or corporations as parties to the investigation

45、. The Board may then choose to hold public hearings on the issue. Ultimately, it will publish a final report </p><p>　　4)Suggestions </p><p>　　Suggest establishing accidental independence invest

46、igation institute similar to NTSB, according to the speculations in Article 71 in “CONSTITUTION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA”. Find out the real reasons that cause the accidents and adopt effective prevention me

47、asures so as to avoid the occurrence of similar cases. 　　3)Practice is the key </p><p>　　Forensic engineering of bridge is a hard task. The more investigations that the investigators take part in, the more

48、sufficient experiences he can get. There are no ends for the experience accumulation, the knowledge accumulation and the skills improvement. Therefore, no matter it is part time or professional, the forensic engineering

49、on bridges are relatively fixed. </p><p>　　The participation in international exchanges is one of the important ways to improve the technique and skills of investigators. </p><p>　　3.2.3 Expirat

50、ion of forensic engineering </p><p>　　Article 29 in “production safety accident reporting and investigation of Disposal Ordinance” states that 60 days from the accident occurrence the accident report should

51、be handed in. the prolonging period cannot exceed 60 days. Article 27 has stated that the time spent in forensic engineering is not taken into the accident investigation period. </p><p>　　Considering the act

52、ual situation of forensic engineering of bridge belongs to technology investigation, the expiration of accident investigation is not restricted by 60 days. </p><p>　　3.2.4 Status of forensic engineering conc

53、lusions </p><p>　　In order to ensure that the forensic engineering has made clear the real reasons of the bridge accidents, all kinds of factors should be got rid of. The organizations and investigation work

54、 on accident investigation should follow the objective rule of accident investigation. It should be carried according to scientific and standard procedures and methods. The conclusions do not have any juristically status

55、 and cannot be taken as the evidence for any case. </p><p>　　4. Conclusions </p><p>　　Forensic engineering system of bridge is the guideline to the bridge accident technology investigation. It s

56、till remains to be improved in our country. the specific content of forensic engineering, the ethics of forensic engineering and the treatment guarantee of the forensic engineering remain to be perfected in the next work

57、 stage. As for forensic system, it is not only suitable to the bridge accidents, but also could be applied in the entire engineering accidents, and be promoted to other fie</p><p>　　References </p>&l

58、t;p>　　[1]WU Wei-xin, ZHANG Lan. Air-accident investigation and analysis introduction [M]. Beijing: National Defense Industrial Publishing House, 2008.17-49. </p><p>　　[2]Gary L. Lewis. Guidelines for Fore