Ethical issues in engineering design - 3TU.Centre for Ethics and ...

Ethical issues in engineering design
What misuse should be accounted for in the design was not made clear in the
preliminary design phase. 8 It is quite possible for aesthetics and safety concerns
to clash on this point: because the arches were not very steep, people would be
able to walk on them once the bridge is built. If this is to be prevented, a gate
should be built or some other measure taken to keep people from climbing on
the arch. Such a gate may disturb the architectural image of the bridge. The IBA
engineers did not include any preventive measures regarding arch climbing in
the preliminary design. The engineers did indicate that they were responsible for
a design with rails so that people could not be blown from the bridge in high
winds. The building decree gives some rules for this. There are, however, no
rules or guidelines for preventing people from climbing on potentially
dangerous structures, from throwing things onto ships or from diving from the
bridge into the water.
The IJburg bridge would form part of a public space. This is probably one of the
reasons why there was no real tension between costs and safety. The engineers
indicated that the customer and every other stakeholder were sensitive to safety
concerns regarding the bridge. If the engineers gave clear argumentation as to
why a certain idea or option was not safe enough, then the idea or option was not
used. Every stakeholder wanted the bridge to be safe. The aim was that the
bridge should be safe, yet built as cheaply as possible within the architectural
design.
6.5.2 Decision making on ethical issues
The design process was organised according to different disciplines. Within the
IBA there are engineers that are specialised in concrete, in steel and in the
preparation of a building site and construction. During the design process, two
engineers worked on the steel arches, two engineers worked on the concrete
parts of the bridge and three engineers worked on the building site and
construction preparation, there was also a project leader. One of the engineers
working on the steel arches was also the design leader and one of the engineers
working on building site and construction preparation was also responsible for
making the health and safety plan. A lot of effort was needed to get the
information to everyone that needed the information in this design process.
Some of the decisions made by the engineers designing the concrete parts would
possibly have a large influence on the design of steel arches or on the building
——————————————————————————————————
8 Note that movable bridges are subjected to the European Machinery Directive [98/37/EC]. A
Dutch code for movable bridges, NEN 6787, includes some rules on possible misuse of movable
bridges and access to movable parts [NEN 6787, 2004].
116