Collapse of Charles De GaulleIntroductionTerminal 2E of Charles de Gaulle International Airport was built in 2003 with a capacity of up to 34.7 million passengers. The $950 million airport was one of the largest international airports in the world. However, after a year, the company began to experience problems and on the morning of May 23, 2004, it collapsed. A 110-foot section of Terminal 2E collapsed, causing the loss of four lives and injuring three others. Due to the critical nature of this technical failure, the remaining section of the terminal was subsequently demolished. After the collapse of the terminal and the conviction of the architectural firm responsible for the design, execution and operation of the terminal on charges of involuntary manslaughter (John Conway), a new terminal was rebuilt according to similar design plans, but replacing the defective concrete blocks with steel and metal structures in order to prevent any similar disasters in the future. The new extension was completed and reopened in March 2008.I. Structure of the terminalThe terminal was acclaimed for its innovative design and optimized use of space based on a vault design concept. Arch design is a roof structure design in which the roof is supported by a system of interconnected arches where no internal support, such as pillars, is required. Therefore, this design provides greater open space within the structure, which is one of the priority concerns of an airport terminal. This building design was first used by the ancient Egyptians, then also used in Roman architecture and improved by the Byzantines (Encyclopedia Britannica). However, questions have been raised over the extent to which Terminal 2E's wide, elliptical arch design caused unnecessary system overhead - 'T...... middle of paper ......phy1 ) “Analysis of the report archives.” Np, and Web. April 18, 2014.2) “Asp Torres Paris Report”. Np, and Web. April 18, 20143) Conway, John. “Terminal 2E of Charles De Gaulle airport.” Np, March 2005. Web. April 18, 2014.4) The editors of the Encyclopædia Britannica. “Vault (architecture).” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, nd Web. April 18, 2014.5) Loughran, Patrick. Failing Stone: Problems and Solutions with Concrete and Masonry. Basel: Birkhäuser, 2007. Print.6) Torres, Pablo. “Final Report-CDG Terminal 2E.” Np, December 2004. Web. April 18, 2014.7) Bolton, Andrew. “The official explanation for the collapse of Charles De Gaulle airport last year still has significant gaps.” Civil engineering and construction news, engineering jobs and news on major infrastructure projects from the New Civil Engineer (NCE). Np, and Web. April 18. 2014.