Digital Data Collection for Damage Assessment at World Trade Center

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This project will support a reconnaissance team using recently developed handheld technology to collect damage assessment data from structures damaged during the terrorist attack on the World Trace Center. The team will use the PQuake system developed by the Principal Investigator under NSF support for collection of damage data immediately after earthquakes. The system includes a GPS for recording location, a digital camera for photographic records, a handheld computer with customized software for recording data and a digital voice recorder to rapidly record notes. This system has been used successfully following the earthquake in Gujarat, India. Only minor modifications would be required in the software to adapt it for use in collecting damage from terrorist attacks, as the system already designed to record structural damage.The purpose of the data collection is threefold. First, systematic collection of damage data from structures damaged, but not destroyed, during the terrorist attack will aid in the assessment of the structural integrity of these buildings. These data will speed up the assessment of damage and the repair of these structures. Second, the data will serve as a valuable resource for future research related to performance of structures subjected to terrorist attack, explosions and fires; the development of methods of minimizing damage from such occurrences; and future design of urban structures. Third, this work will support the development of data acquisition and storage protocols for all post-disaster reconnaissance activities. The earthquake engineering community in particular is just starting to address the question of how to collect and archive data. The PI is a pioneer in the utilization of handheld technology for rapid data collection. This project will provide continued support for the development of these methods and will extend their use to disasters other than earthquakes.