New Formula Could Stop Buildings from Collapsing

When one support column fails in a modern building, the result can be catastrophic. A new engineering formula could mean the difference between a localized repair and hundreds of lives lost.

Researchers at the University of Surrey just made it much easier for engineers to predict and prevent progressive collapse, the deadly chain reaction that happens when one failed column causes others to fall like dominoes. Their breakthrough uses simpler calculations that work with existing European building codes.

Modern parking garages, office buildings, and apartments often use flat concrete slabs resting directly on columns. It's an efficient design that maximizes space. But there's a vulnerability: when a column suddenly fails, it can punch straight through the concrete floor above it in what engineers call "punching shear."

The real danger starts when the weight shifts to neighboring columns. If they can't handle the extra load, they fail too, triggering a cascade that can bring down an entire structure in seconds.

Professor Juan Sagaseta led the research team, which included engineers from three Spanish universities and the international firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. "We can't predict every accident or event that might damage a building, but we can design structures so that when something does go wrong, the consequences aren't catastrophic," he said.

The team tested their equations against a real tragedy: the 2020 collapse of the Nueva Montaña parking garage in Santander, Spain. Their calculations matched exactly what happened at the site, showing how the failure spread from one column to its neighbors.

The Bright Side

The new method removes complex calculations that previously slowed down the design process. Engineers can now quickly determine how much reinforcement a building needs to survive sudden column loss without specialized software or advanced mathematics.

Dr. Maria Liapopoulou, who led the study while at Surrey and is now at Cambridge, emphasized what the real-world validation means. "It's one thing to develop a mathematical model, but being able to test it against a real case study gives us greater confidence that it could make a difference in practice."

The equations even work for scenarios involving multiple column failures at once. Because they're compatible with the next version of Eurocode 2, the European standard for concrete design, architects can start using them immediately without changing their existing workflows.

The research appears in the journal Structural Concrete. Building safety regulators across Europe are already reviewing the findings for potential inclusion in updated design guidance.

Buildings that already seemed safe on paper could become genuinely resilient against the unexpected.