own days are factored into the film schedule. Therefore, the business interruption claim is not confirmed until filming is complete and it is known that the accident actually cost any time. In this case, the actors and crew were costing many thousands of dollars per day.”
“Once the tank was drained, we observed that one support leg had broken loose, kicked out, and allowed the set of the ship to tilt into the pit of water. In essence, more flotation blocks were called for to improve the buoyant look during filming, and there was only so much room under the set to fit them in. When the extra blocks were added, the cross braces had to be moved higher on the columns. The structural contractor had completed his work and left the site, so he subcontracted a local welding crew to do the work from an engineer’s plan. One main support leg had pulled loose due to a bad weld, and the bad weld was one of many. The solution was pretty simple. First and foremost, the repair needed to be implemented quickly, because time is money, and secondly, since it had failed once before, we needed to restore trust in the set. Therefore, Haag Engineers were included in the repair oversight. Subsequently, we were asked to assist characterizing the failures to help others define whether they met the definitions for insured delays. Haag also testified at the subrogation arbitration.”
A forensic consultant needs to do more than simply identify the problem, and Haag Engineering has a long history of identifying problems large and small, helping with the solution, communicating the information needed to a variety of parties with different interests, and providing the engineering perspective needed for others to resolve any resulting disputes.
by David Teasdale, P.E., Principal Engineer & VP of Engineering Services
David Teasdale specializes in structural evaluations, earthborne and airborne vibrations, geotechnical evaluations, general civil engineering, and wind and related storm effects. He is the primary author and presenter of a Haag classroom seminar course on earthquake damage assessment and Haag’s California Earthquake Adjuster Accreditation course.