The document discusses several engineering disasters, highlighting flaws in safety precautions and design that led to tragic outcomes, such as the Titanic's insufficient lifeboats, the cholera outbreaks from the Thames, and the Chernobyl nuclear accident. It emphasizes the consequences of poor engineering practices and government oversight, as seen in Hurricane Katrina's levee failures and the Quebec Bridge collapse. These incidents have since prompted significant improvements in safety standards and engineering ethics.

1. “Disastrous Safety Precautions of Victorian Titanic Ship”
One flaw that is undisputed though: There were not enough lifeboats for everyone
on board. The 20 lifeboats would only have had space for roughly 1,200 people, while
more than 2,200 passengers and crew were on board the ship. Additional lifeboats had
been removed from the design because the ship owners were worried that it made the
ship look unsafe and seemed packed on the deck. As of today, the ships were regarded
as the safest way of vehicle which have a tremendous of safety precautions. The
engineering of lifeboats was also enhanced and use a great material that was built in a
great rubber and plastic that characterize as the ingenuity of the modern safe boat. But,
the fruit of danger always there and trying to hang as the cheapskate companies try to
grab opportunity to corrupt the life of many individuals.
Activity No. 4 Engineering Ethics

2. “London Pride of Stinky River”
Over decades the river Thames had effectively become London's largest open
sewer, but it wasn't until the Great Stink of the summer of 1858—when the smell of raw
sewage in the river Thames caused Parliament to close—that Londoners decided to do
something about the city's sanitation crisis. Unable to ignore the stench of the Thames
and fearful of the miasmatic belief that 'all smell is disease', parliament sanctioned one of
the century's great engineering projects—a new sewer network for London. As Chief
Engineer on London's Metropolitan Board of Works, Joseph Bazalgette was primarily
responsible for the creation of the new system. The new sewers made a huge difference
to the health of Londoners and much of the system is still in use today. It also physically
changed the appearance of riverside London and the River Thames. London’s rapid
growth had not been accompanied by the infrastructure improvements needed to deal
with the huge amount of sewage produced each day. Instead, it was contributing to waves
of cholera outbreaks and other public health crises. Bazalgette's engineered solution was
a system that channeled the waste through miles of street sewers into a series of main
intercepting sewers which slowly transported it far enough downstream so that it could be
pumped into the tidal Thames—from where it would be swept out to sea.

3. “A Disaster Nuclear from Chernobyl”
The Chernobyl accident in 1986 was the result of a flawed reactor design that was
operated with inadequately trained personnel. However, some experts also believe that
the disaster could have been prevented if the plant’s workers had not been ordered to
carry out an unsafe procedure. In addition, the Soviet Union’s government attempted to
cover up the extent of the disaster and its effects, which led to further loss of life. The
Chernobyl disaster highlighted the dangers of nuclear power and led to increased safety
measures at nuclear plants worldwide. Now, Nuclear power plants maintain the highest
standard for operational safety, security, cybersecurity and emergency preparedness.
The industry’s comprehensive safety procedures and stringent federal regulations keep
our plants and neighboring communities safe.

4. “New Orleans’ Levee System”
The Army Corps of Engineers miscalculated the soil’s strength during construction,
according to their own standards, and built the system to withstand low hurricane wind
speeds. Another of many engineering blunders was the height of the levees: in addition
to relying on incorrect data about land elevation, the Corps also failed to take into account
natural, modest sinking. In addition, both the standard and rate of construction were
affected by local, state, and federal politics, as well as inefficiency in funding and
maintaining the system. The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans
was particularly severe. More than 1,800 people were killed and more than $100 billion
in damage was done across the Gulf Coast as a result of the storm. Over the decade
following Hurricane Katrina, federal, state and local governments spent more than $20
billion on the construction of 350 miles of new levees, flood walls and other structures.
The improved system is designed to protect New Orleans from storms that would cause
a so-called “100-year” flood, or a flood that has a 1 percent chance of occurring in a given
year.

5. “The Collapse of the Quebec Bridge”
The failure was neither linked to detailing, fabrication, or material quality, according to the
commissioners who investigated the case at that time. It was due to bad engineering
design, they said. The commission would conclude that one of the most vital compression
members buckled, causing the collapse. The board members charged two men,
consulting engineer Theodore Cooper and P.L. Szlapka, the Phoenix Bridge Company’s
Chief Designing Engineer, with causing the tragedy. The failure of the Quebec bridge
serves as a warning to us all about the perils of cutting-edge initiatives and the hazards
of relying on the decision of a single individual. It took two years to clear the debris from
the river. The site became a pilgrimage for engineers come to consider the vast
destructive forces of human error. The Canadian government took over the bridge project
and rebuilt it with much heavier (and much uglier) cantilever arms. The ill-starred bridge
suffered a second disaster on 11 September 1916 when a new center span being hoisted
into position fell into the river, killing 13 men. The chief engineer was made aware of the
problem six weeks before the collapse by the engineer that was responsible for the
construction of the center section.

6. REFERENCES
PICTURE 1:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Victorian
INFO 1:
https://online-engineering.case.edu/blog/disastrous-engineering-failures-due-to-ethics
PICTURE 2 and INFO 2:
https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/medicine/cholera-victorian-
london
PICTURE 3:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/22/world/europe/zaporizhzhia-chernobyl-
survivors.html
INFO 3:
https://www.engineeringpassion.com/disastrous-engineering-failures-unethical-
engineering-practices/
https://www.nei.org/fundamentals/safety
PICTURE 4:
https://www.history.com/news/hurricane-katrina-levee-failures
INFO 4:
https://www.engineeringpassion.com/disastrous-engineering-failures-unethical-
engineering-practices/
https://www.history.com/news/hurricane-katrina-levee-failures
PICTURE 5:
https://mechanicalknowledge.quora.com/The-Collapse-of-the-Quebec-Bridge-A-
Mistake-Made-Twice-Brief-Case-study
INFO 5:
https://www.engineeringpassion.com/disastrous-engineering-failures-unethical-
engineering-practices/
https://mechanicalknowledge.quora.com/The-Collapse-of-the-Quebec-Bridge-A-
Mistake-Made-Twice-Brief-Case-study