I’ve been posting blogs on the nature and methods of forensic work and expert services for 10 years. The blogs – two or three a month – go to people who might need to know how the cause of an accident or failure in the built environment is determined. People like:
- Claims managers
- Adjusters
- Lawyers
- Engineers
- Architects, and,
- A few others in related fields
I have not been posting to the actual person who might be injured in an accident, like a slip and fall, or whose property might be damaged. Yet these are the people who bear the financial burden and need to know something about forensic work. What forensic workers do and why.
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The penny dropped recently when a property owner telephoned about an earthworks problem he saw in his area. I had been recommended by another engineer, and the owner had also visited my web and blog sites. “Impressive”, he said. Nice to hear.
I tell you these things so you can know the good footing we started off on – before things started to unravel. When you’re up, the only way is down. (Ref. 1)
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He told me about his problem on the telephone and then we arranged to meet at his property. He was concerned about earthworks on his neighbour’s property affecting the structures and ground on his. His property was level then dropped off to his neighbour’s.
I quickly saw during my visual assessment that I had to do standard things like:
- Research published mapping of the area,
- Locate his property line,
- Get some low level aerial photography from a drone, and,
- Dig some test pits.
We also looked at some Google earth aerial photography that the property owner got up on his laptop that was the same as I got shortly after he telephoned me.
All of the above tasks went through my mind – in a heart beat – as we walked over his property because they are standard tasks in a forensic investigation. He wasn’t likely to need much more investigation than this to assess the earthworks problem as he perceived it.
The data from these tasks would define the location and depth of the earthworks with respect to his property line. I would also get the slope of the property. Most of this data would be numerical – in numbers like engineers like. The earthworks’ problem would be quantified.
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After I did the heart-beat assessment I asked questions about one large structure on his property located back from the location of the earthworks. It was far enough away that it was unlikely to be a factor in the earthworks problem. But it was there and it was big and it was in order to take some interest.
Time passed and with my initial assessment completed I left. I noted that I would research published mapping, book drone photography and get back to him.
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I got back to him after the weekend and met him at his property, only to be told he didn’t need my services, that he was “going another way”. It turns out that my questions about the large structure on his property seemed at the expense of greater interest in his earthworks problem.
He does need a thorough and objective forensic investigation to define the nature and scope of the earthworks problem on his property as he perceives it. I saw what needed to be done as soon as I walked across his property, but he didn’t because I didn’t say.
If I made a mistake in this situation, it was neglecting to describe in detail the investigation needed to define his problem and the cause of it. Then, and only then, take interest in the big structure on his property.
Forensic investigation was new to him – he would have more knowledge of his annual medical checkup courtesy of Dr. Google. I dropped the ball in not realizing this.
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I must look into posting my blogs to the general populace, the people who bear the financial burden and need to know what they get for their money.
Add them to the above list. Help them to know about the nature and methods of forensic work. Also, how quickly an experienced forensic engineer can sometimes know what needs to be done to investigate a personal injury or a structural failure.
Reference
- I learned long ago from an engineering friend, John L’Aventure, that when you’re down, the only way is up. John knew. He got into fish farming after practicing engineering for a few years. At one point one of his four fish cages was breached by seals and he lost 1,000s of salmon. It took him five years to get back on his feet.
(Posted by Eric E. Jorden, M.Sc., P.Eng. Consulting Professional Engineer, Forensic Engineer, Geotechnology Ltd., Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. October 11, 2022 ejorden@eastlink.ca)