Citation

Levy M. Structural engineering international: Journal of the International Association for Bridge and Struct 2011; 21(4): 514-519.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering)

DOI

10.2749/101686611X13131377726162

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In 1898, Emile Zola, in an open letter to the President and Government of France, accused them of anti-Semitism by unlawfully jailing a French officer, Alfred Dreyfus. Zola pointed out judicial errors and lack of serious evidence leading to conviction and imprisonment of Dreyfus. In a case somewhat analogous to the "Dreyfus Affair", this paper explores a legal action in which a developer of a construction system was tried and convicted for negligent homicide following the 2001 failure of the Versailles Ballroom in Jerusalem. Prejudice and political expediency led to the accusation, investigation, and conviction of the developer of the concrete system used in the construction. As will be shown in this paper, the system was misused by the builders and engineers directly responsible for the construction. The engineers charged with investigating the failure were blinded by their prejudice against the construction system and ignored evidence of the chain of events that led to the collapse. The government and the judiciary were swayed in their actions and deliberations by public sentiment and by probable political considerations. The lessons that can be learned from this failure have application to the management of the construction process of projects in countries around the world.