New York task force mulls changes in building codes

NEW YORK -- Drawing on lessons from Sept. 11, experts said Tuesday that high-rise building codes should be revised to require wider emergency stairways and stricter protections against collapse and heavy fires.

"Your code is 30 or 40 years out of date," consultant Jake Pauls told a city panel. "I encourage you to put a lot of effort into changing that."

Pauls spoke at a daylong forum held by the city's World Trade Center Buildings Codes Task Force. The 11-member committee is reviewing building design, construction and operating requirements to decide if changes are needed.

Pauls told the group that the current requirement for 44-inch wide stairwells is outdated for evacuating large crowds, and should be increased by a foot. Some critics of the Trade Center evacuation, which saved 25,000 lives, have said the stairwells were overcrowded.

Should consider effects

Ramon Gilsanz, a structural engineer, said codes should require building planners to consider the effects of a catastrophic fire similar to the way they plan for earthquakes and wind.

There is currently no specific code for fires, said Gilsanz, who helped during the federal government's investigation of the collapse.

The federal report found that the World Trade Center survived the impact of the two hijacked planes, but succumbed to the ensuing fire that weakened its steel framework.

Gilsanz also recommended the improvement of building codes to prevent progressive collapses -- when one floor gives way, bringing the rest of the floors down like a pancake.

The twin towers collapsed that way.

Gilsanz suggested the problem could be addressed by improving the codes on the construction of connections between side columns and floor beams.

Many opinions sought

The task force was gathering opinions from government agencies, architects, engineers, witnesses and the families of the more than 2,800 victims of the attack. It plans to submit its findings to city officials by December.

"No one should have to work in a death trap," said Beverly Eckert, who lost her husband, insurance executive Sean Rooney.

"I want building codes changed so that the next time there is a catastrophic event in a high rise building, the occupants have better odds of surviving than Sean did," she said.