Forensic engineering

Throughout history, natural events such as floods, droughts, fires, lightning, and storms have caused significant losses of life and property. To mitigate the hazardous consequences of such events, or ‘failures’ (as they are referred to), a number of questions can be asked, such as: ‘What are the causes of these events?’; ‘What natural factors cause these events?’; ‘What is the human role in the occurrence of these events?’; ‘Who is to blame for such events?’; and ‘What actions should be taken to prevent such events from happening?’ The forensic engineering approach allows us to answer these questions. Forensic engineering, a term developed in recent years, allows us to identify the causes of events by looking back and analyzing the relationship between an event's causes and their consequences; it is a useful tool for determining the natural or human causes of events that lead to disasters. Forensic hydrology is a branch of forensic engineering and applies directly to floods and droughts but is not limited to these events. Forensic hydrology is also used for the historical assessment and analysis of events such as water pollution, drying of lakes and rivers, the drying up (or significant reduction in the water table) of wells, and the infiltration of saline water into freshwater. Forensic hydrology analyzes event evidence and data from a variety of perspectives. Examining the origins and mechanisms of such events to find their causes can lead to better water management, allocation and improved use, and can also help to prevent or minimize severe damage. This chapter provides an introduction to forensic engineering and describes the processes which should be followed to evaluate hazardous events.