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In reply to the discussion: Fire breaks out in Dubai skyscraper [View all]AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)before it collapsed. The firefighters knew it was coming down, and warned everyone. When towers 1 & 2 collapsed, they killed most of the firefighting resources in the area, both men and bone, AND water mains.
When a structure like that fails, it doesn't collapse higgledy-piggledy. It transfers strain across the entire structure. When it fails, it fails catastrophically. Like the bridge on I-5 in Washington near Sedro-Woolley when a oversized load snapped one support, the entire bridge fell immediately, because the entire structure was then over tolerance.
It's not able to bend and sag, it snaps.
I like to use this as an example of a load-bearing metal structure going over tolerance. The wings on this plane don't gracefully fold or bend. They shatter violently.
WTC7 did the same thing, you just can't see it because the exterior walls of the building are 'hung' on the building's cantilever steel frame like curtains. The collapse is happening inside. When the walls start to go, it's because there's nothing left to hold them up.