FAILUROLOGY

Engineering News – Manitou Incline (2:15) It’s episode 60! This week we’re talking about an engineering marvel, the Kicking Horse Spiral Tunnels (9:40). After looking at multiple locations for the railway across the mountains (13:10), engineers landed on a path across the Big Hill (18:10). Due to the steep grade, accidents were unavoidable and the tunnels were built to make the route less steep (2...

Engineering News – Electric Vehicle Remote Road Test (2:00) This week’s engineering failure is the FedEx Express Flight 80 (8:50). A fatal crash in 2009 (16:00) was not an isolated incident with the MD-11 aircraft (23:00). Check out our Patreon page for Mini Failure bonus episodes - https://www.patreon.com/failurology Photos/Sources/Summary from this episode - https://www.failurology.ca/ Ways to g...

Engineering News – Imaging Technology for Autonomous Cars (3:20) This week’s engineering failure is the Chalk River Nuclear Accidents (11:05). The Chalk River Nuclear Facility north of Ottawa suffered two nuclear accidents in the 1950s. The first with the NRX reactor in 1952 (17:00) and the second with the NRU reactor in 1958 (27:35). Check out our Patreon page for Mini Failure bonus episodes - ht...

Engineering News – Non Invasive Ultrasound Therapy (1:05) This week’s engineering failure is the I-35W Bridge Collapse (5:05). Designed and constructed (10:55) in the 60s, the bridge had been inspected (16:40) regularly over the years. But unfortunately, after 40 years it collapsed (30:30) and the City of Minneapolis rushed to replace the bridge (38:45). Check out our Patreon page for Mini Failure...

This week's engineering failures are from our mini failure library. We’re talking about the Boston Molasses Flood (1:50) and the London Beer Floods (18:30).  Check out our Patreon page for Mini Failure bonus episodes - https://www.patreon.com/failurology Photos/Sources/Summary from this episode - https://www.failurology.ca/ Ways to get in touch Twitter - https://twitter.com/failurology Email - the...

Engineering News – Regenerative Bone Tissue (0:50) This week’s engineering failure is PIP Breast Implants (3:05); our first medical engineering failure. In an effort to cut costs, PIP cut corners on the silicone (8:10) in their implants that led to severe problems for recipients starting in 2003 (20:15). Check out our Patreon page for Mini Failure bonus episodes - https://www.patreon.com/failurolo...

Engineering News – Safer Helmets (1:50) This week’s engineering failure is the Big Bayou Canot Rail Accident (4:35). Big Bayou Canot became the second worst US rail disaster (9:50) after a towboat hit a bridge resulting in extensive damage (22:55). The ensuing investigation offered a number of important lessons learned (26:35) and recommendations. Check out our Patreon page for Mini Failure bonus...

This week we’re taking a much needed break and featuring one of our mini failure episodes from last fall; the Gimli Glider. Unit are hard, but important. An incorrect conversion led to the plane taking off with only 45% of its required fuel. Check out our Patreon page for Mini Failure bonus episodes - https://www.patreon.com/failurology Photos/Sources/Summary from this episode - https://www.failur...

Engineering News – Robot Bugs (1:55) This week’s engineering failure is the Luna Park Ghost Ride Fire (5:40). 43 years ago, the Luna Park Ghost Ride (10:15) suffered a catastrophic fire (14:30). Even though it was inspected two years earlier, in 1977 (16:45), the recommended upgrades weren’t complete and the fire investigation (20:00) found many other safety flaws. Check out our Patreon page for M...

Engineering News – CO2 Capture Membrane (0:50) This week’s engineering failure is the Teton Dam Failure (6:15). The dam catastrophically failed during its initial fill (17:15) leading to assessments of other similar dams (40:00). Check out our Patreon page for Mini Failure bonus episodes - https://www.patreon.com/failurology Photos/Sources/Summary from this episode - https://www.failurology.ca/ Wa...

Engineering News – Improved Solar Electricity Performance (1:35) It’s episode 50! This week we’re talking about an engineering marvel, the James Webb Space Telescope (7:30). The telescope took decades to build (14:00), but it was worth it because it has a lot of really interesting features (25:05) Check out our new Patreon page for Mini Failure bonus episodes - https://www.patreon.com/failurology...

Engineering News – Florida Condo Laws (0:51) This week’s engineering failure is the Florida Pedestrian Bridge (5:50). The bridge collapsed (15:15) during construction with traffic on the roadway underneath. The collapse led to investigations (20:44) by the National Transportation Safety Board and the US Department of Labor. Miami Herald Summary of Champlain Towers Collapse - https://www.miamiheral...

Engineering News – Morphing Metal (4:25) This week’s engineering failure is the L’Ambiance Plaza (6:35). There is not a consensus on the probable cause of this failure. While the National Bureau of Standards thought the failure was related to the method of construction (14:10), other investigators found flaws in the engineered design (18:00). Nicole’s going to Dublin, come see her in person at Shi...

This week we have a very special guest. Alonzo joins us to talk about Piper Alpha. A deep sea oil rig (5:35) exploded and sank over the course of 80 minutes (7:50). There were alot of failures that led to the explosion (28:00), some of which we may still be learning.  Check out our new Patreon page for Mini Failure bonus episodes - https://www.patreon.com/failurology Photos/Sources/Summary from th...

Engineering News – 2D Polymers (2:00) This week’s engineering failure is the Second Narrows Bridge (5:00). The cantilever bridge (7:50) collapsed during construction (12:30), with an unexpected cause (14:00). Decades later the bridge was renamed the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing (26:30). Check out our new Patreon page for Mini Failure bonus episodes - https://www.patreon.com/failuro...

Engineering News – Prosthetic Dexterity (2:50) This week’s engineering failure is the Kowloon Walled City (8:10). A city within a city, Kowloon had a deep history (9:50) in Hong Kong. Development of Kowloon really took off in the 1950s (11:50), but was limited by Kai Tak Airport (19:30). Despite a lack of administration, there was order in Kowloon (25:25) until it was demolished in 1994 (36:40). C...

Engineering News – Surgical Sticky Tape (2:25) This week’s engineering failure is the Challenger Space Shuttle (6:20). 73 seconds after take off, the Challenger exploded (14:45) on live TV. While ultimately a pair of O rings were to blame (23:55), a full investigation occurred (26:55) and found that there were several procedural issues at play. Check out our new Patreon page for Mini Failure bonus...

Engineering News – Stretchable Thermometer (2:05) This week’s engineering failure is the Harbor Cay Condo Construction Collapse (6:10). Several issues (13:15) with the design and construction of the concrete slabs and columns led to the collapse of the building before it was even complete. There were consequences (29:25) for everyone involved and a lot of lessons to learn to prevent this from happ...

Engineering News – Houston Astrodome (1:45) This week’s engineering failure is the United Flight 232 (9:20). The DC-10 aircraft (12:30) was a three engine aircraft. About an hour after take off, the tail engine catastrophically exploded and the plane had to make an emergency landing (22:05). A full investigation (40:25) was done to determine what went wrong and how it could be prevented from ever...

Engineering News – Calgary to Banff Train (5:25) This week’s engineering failure is the Three Mile Island (15:10). TMI-2 or Three Mile Island Unit 2 (19:15) suffered a partial meltdown (25:00) after 3 months of operation and never ran again. They didn’t know it at the time, but the accident would impact nuclear power in North America for decades to come (38:50). Check out our new Patreon page for...

Engineering News – Underwater Adhesive This week‘s episode is about an engineering marvel, the CN Tower. Check out our new Patreon page for Mini Failure bonus episodes - https://www.patreon.com/failurology Photos/Sources/Summary from this episode - https://www.failurology.ca/ Ways to get in touch Twitter - https://twitter.com/failurology Email - thefailurologypodcast@gmail.com Linked In - https://...

This week‘s episode features a sneak peek at two of our favourite bonus mini failure episodes. The first mini failure we are sharing with you is Lake Peignuer in Louisiana (1:55). The entire lake drained into an underground salt mine in a matter of minutes.  And the second Mini Failure is about the Cantara Loop rail disaster (9:40). In the ‘90s a train derailed into the Sacramento River on a very...

We remember the lives lost and changed by the E’cole Polytechnique Massacre 32 years ago. (0:36) This week‘s engineering failure is the Charles de Gaulle Airport Collapse (4:10). There were two main modes of failure, process failure (10:00) and structural engineering failure (14:45). The terminal was ultimately re-built (26:40) and engineers around the world took note of what not to do. Check out...

Engineering News – LEGO is Running On 100% Renewable Energy (2:10) This week‘s engineering failure is the 2003 Northeast Blackout (8:10). What started as a series of small events over the course of a couple of hours (11:00), cascaded into a full-blown blackout on a hot summer day. The impact was huge (17:10) and there were a number of causes (27:30). The investigation (32:00) shared their findings...

This week Brian and Nicole are celebrating the 1 year anniversary of Failurology. They talk about why (and how) Nicole started the podcast, what changed along the way, they recapped some of their favourite episodes and talked about some other projects that have happened as a result of Failurology. Check out our new Patreon page for Mini Failure bonus episodes - https://www.patreon.com/failurology...