Originally Posted by Rochard

Your missing some math here.

The beams were designed to support an individual floor and then some. The beams were not designed to support the individual floor AND the floor above it. The beams were also not designed to carry the individual floor, and the floor above it being dropped from fifteen or twenty feet down. In other words, a 600 ton piece of concrete that falls fifteen or twenty feet is more like three times that weight when it impacts.

Now factor in that we are adding the weight of an airplane, AND four or five floors. The plane weights 100 tons (174,000 lbs really), and when the plane hit it took out four or five stories. So you had the added weight of the extra floors above any given floor PLUS the airplane.

But that's only the weight.

What percentage of the beams were taken out on the first floor to fall when the towers itself fell? I remember one corner of a tower was missing, which is what held those precious beams in place - the floors were mounted to the outer wall, and an entire corner PLUS was missing.

Now.... Factor in that the rest of the beams were weakened from the fire.

The beams couldn't support what was above it in the best of circumstances, had lost a fair percentage of it's support with the outer walls missing, and was weakened by a fire.

How the fuck did the buildings not fall down sooner?