It was almost 10pm on that very night (10 am NY Time) and I was online checking my emails after coming back from a "tahlil" at a friend's house who passed away on 9.9.2001 . All of a sudden, my son ran down from upstairs telling me that WTC has collapsed! I asked him what movie he was watching because it never occurs to me that WTC would collapse. Back in my mind, the twin towers are too strong for anything to make it collapse.When I was in WTC main lobby in 1996, I felt so small and short when it towers above me more than 200 times my height! When my son told me that the news came from CNN, there and then I rushed uptairs and it really  shocked me. I was lost for words!

It shocked everyone except those who were involved in the attack. The unthinkable had happened and may God forbids us to see it happening again any where in the world.

Personally, I like structural engineering; it is one of my favourite subjects other than water engineering when I did my civil engineering degree at Sheffield University, England. When I visited US in 1996, I visited a few tall buildings including WTC and Imperial State Building. To me ,both are engineering masterpieces of their times! I am very sad that WTC had to go down the way it did. When I saw the towers dropped into concrete dusts and buckled scrap iron, my heart sank. There goes down with it the planning,the design and project management efforts of my fellow professionals in architecture,engineering and contracting; not to mention thousands of lives lost .....

It really baffled me for a few days on how could such a strong structure just collapsed in less than one hour after being hit by a plane. The lateral impact could not have caused the collapse. The shear wall could take care of it and it did. Then I discussed with my fellow engineer friend who has got a doctorate in structural engineering. Then only I know that the collapse was caused by the heat from the fire with 20t of fuel coming from the plane. The heat generated a temperature(est> 1000 C)hot enough to reduce the structural carrying capacity of the steel structures of the tower to around 30 % within half or one hour. Once the steel columns buckled and gave away,the top floors above the affected floor just dropped on the next floor below them one after another with increasing load . This ,I think, a type of progressive collapse not designed for by the engineers. Anyway, no one could anticipate this kind of heat of about 1000 deg C from a burning floor, unless you have a Boeing 767 with 20,t of highly inflammable fuel stuck in the building.No engineer or anyone could have imagined such a situation will arise. But, it did happen on 11th September,2001.

Sitting at the balcony of my house I could see Petronas Twin Towers, presently the tallest building in the world to-day. They really look beautiful especially at night. Its garden  is the place where I jog every weekend with my wife and entertain my friends and family at the warong and the cafes every month. It is a part of my life style. How I wish my office is located in one of the towers but I can't afford the rental. According to the CEO of KLCC Bhd,it is the best  place to work in the world. I believe him but considering the event that took place on 9.11.2001, my present office located on the second floor of a shophouse in Pandan Jaya is much cheaper and safer..

Now,let me savour the beauty of Petronas Twin Tower at the distance and dream on! That is all I could afford for now and if anyone has some crazy idea to take this view  away from me,DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT.

Cerita Kedaikopi #77

15.9.2001