I suggested that as a
possibility.
Hyman Brown, a University of Colorado civil engineering professor and the Trade Center's construction manager [sic], speculated that flames fueled by thousands of liters of aviation fuel melted steel supports.
"This building would have stood had a plane or a force caused by a plane smashed into it," he said. "
But steel melts, and 90,850 liters of aviation fluid melted the steel. Nothing is designed or will be designed to withstand that fire."
site:
sunTimes.co.za page:
www.suntimes.co.za/2001/09/12/architect.asp
[Professor of Structural Engineering at the University of Newcastle, John Knapton] told BBC News Online: "The world trade centre was designed to withstand the impact of a Boeing 707, but that was unusual... we are trying to discover why they [ the towers ] collapsed and what needs doing to rebuild them."
"The buildings survived the impact and the explosion but not the fire, and that is the problem."
"
The 35 tonnes of aviation fuel will have melted the steel... all that can be done is to place fire resistant material around the steel and delay the collapse by keeping the steel cool for longer."
site:
news.bbc.co.uk page:
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1604348.stm