September 12, 2001

11:49 AM

Design choice for tower helped save lives: via FARK - can you imagine what would have happened had the planes hit the base of the towers?
posted by Mossy (5 comments total)

According to reports I've read, very little would've happened if the planes had hit the base. It seems that the planes hit the perfect spots to do the most possible damage. Had they hit the base, the buildings would've suffered much less damage, and probably remained standing.
posted by Jairus at 12:03 PM on September 12, 2001

Found the Salon story that I was referring to.

"...if the planes had hit the structures higher, they could have merely damaged their tops; if they had hit lower, they would have been up against the enormous weight and resistance of the base of the buildings."
posted by Jairus at 12:06 PM on September 12, 2001

can you imagine what would have happened had the planes hit the base of the towers?

First off, that would have been impossible. This is downtown Manhattan, after all.

Secondly, what Jairus said.

New Scientist serves up yet another load of half-baked poo.
posted by jpoulos at 12:13 PM on September 12, 2001

As an architect who designs tall buildings, the WTC had one of the best designs ever. As jpoulos mentioned, it would have been impossible for a plane to hit the base. As this article says:

if they did it lower in the building, the fire department could have gotten to it sooner.

IT, of course, refers to the fire that eventually led to the floor collapse that ended up destroying each tower.
posted by kpett at 12:36 PM on September 12, 2001

On the local PBS station, they were interviewing a structural engineer and professor on just this subject last night. They agreed that if the buildings had been hit at the very top or the very bottom, that it would have been very unlikely for them to have collapsed. They said that the middle of the buildings was the weakest spot.
posted by valerie at 12:56 PM on September 12, 2001