Engineering Disasters

Real Stories of Collapses, Breakdowns, and Horrible Blunders

By: Kelly Roberts

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

ENGINEERING DISASTERS: Real Stories of Collapses, Breakdowns, and Horrible Blunders
Unbelievable - but completely true - engineering failures shaped America in ways most people never learn about. From bridges that snapped without warning to dams that burst in the night, this book uncovers the real moments when bold ideas, rushed designs, and ignored warning signs collided with catastrophe. These weren’t just broken machines - they were disasters that toppled towers, wrecked factories, flooded communities, and forced engineers to rebuild the nation’s safety rules from the ground up.
Inside these pages, readers will explore gripping, real-life events pulled from historic newspapers, engineering reports, and public-domain accounts, including:

• A cracked bridge beam that sent a passenger train plunging into a frozen gorge
• A peaceful excursion ship that turned into chaos and flames within minutes
• A massive storage tank failure that unleashed a wave of destruction through city streets
• Mines that collapsed without warning, trapping workers below ground
• Factory roofs and steel frames that gave way under their own weight
• Dams and water systems that burst with devastating force

Each chapter reveals what went wrong, why it mattered, and how each catastrophe reshaped engineering standards and everyday safety in America.
Perfect for teens, homeschoolers, history lovers, and curious readers who enjoy shocking-but-true stories, this book turns engineering into an edge-of-your-seat adventure.
These are the failures that changed America - one collapse, breakdown, and blunder at a time.