Areas served · Tennessee
Forensic Engineering in Memphis
In and around Memphis
What we investigate in Memphis
Memphis carries a seismic exposure few other American cities share: it is the large US city most at risk from the New Madrid Seismic Zone, built on soft river soils that can amplify and liquefy under shaking. We evaluate what actually failed and document it to hold up, and a licensed engineer responds within 24 hours.
The conditions we see in Memphis
Memphis sits inside the New Madrid Seismic Zone, the most active earthquake zone in the central and eastern United States and the source of the great 1811 to 1812 earthquakes. USGS work puts the odds of a magnitude 6.0 or larger event near 25 to 40 percent over the next 50 years. Downtown perches on loess bluffs above the flat Mississippi Alluvial Plain, and USGS mapping shows very high liquefaction susceptibility in the Wolf, Loosahatchie, and Mississippi River floodplains, where soft silt, sand, and clay can behave like a liquid in a strong shake.
Much of the housing stock is older than the national median, and the wind-deposited loess and river alluvium beneath it move with moisture change on their own. That older masonry and mid-century frame construction was rarely detailed for the ground motion New Madrid can deliver. A high-frequency severe-weather corridor adds tornado and river-flood loss to the same building stock, so the driver behind a given crack or failure is rarely obvious on the surface.
How we help in Memphis
The evaluations Memphis cases usually call for
- Seismic and foundation evaluation
When walls crack or a foundation moves in Memphis, the cause can be seismic ground motion, loess and alluvial soil that shifts with moisture, or a construction defect. Our licensed engineers evaluate the structure and the soil behavior together and document which one is responsible, to a standard that holds up in a claim or in court.
Our structural engineering services- Storm and water loss investigation
After a tornado, straight-line wind, or river flood, we separate the storm damage from wind-driven rain and from conditions that predated the event, and we run down the component and product failures that surface afterward. Every conclusion rests on the physical evidence at the property, not on assumption.
Our forensic engineering services
Fire origin & cause
Fire origin and cause in Memphis
Memphis runs on freight, and its warehouse, distribution, and rail corridors place commercial and industrial fire loss alongside the residential fires common in older mid-century housing with aged wiring and heating equipment. After an earthquake or a severe storm, ruptured gas lines and damaged electrical service can start structure fires whose true cause is easy to assume and hard to prove.
Our NAFI-certified investigators work to NFPA 921. They examine the scene systematically, trace burn and char patterns back to the area of origin, evaluate the electrical and mechanical systems, and eliminate causes until the evidence supports a single determination of accidental or incendiary origin. The investigator preserves the physical evidence before it is lost, documents the finding, and testifies to it at deposition and trial.
Fires we investigate
- Residential and commercial fires
- Warehouse and industrial fires
- Electrical, appliance, and space-heater fires
- Vehicle fires
- Post-earthquake and post-storm structure fires
Common questions
Forensic engineering in Memphis, Tennessee
A different question about your case? An engineer, not a call center, answers within 24 hours.
Is foundation cracking in Memphis a seismic warning sign?
Not usually on its own. Loess and river-alluvium soils move with moisture change and produce cracking with no earthquake involved, and drainage problems or defects do the same. We evaluate the structure and the soil to determine the cause before assigning it to seismic activity.
Can you tell tornado or flood damage from older damage?
Yes. Separating fresh wind and flood damage from pre-existing wear or a defect is central to most Memphis storm claims, and we base the conclusion on the physical evidence rather than assumption.
Do you charge travel to reach Memphis?
No. We work Memphis-area cases from our Omaha lab and Los Angeles office with no travel charges, and a licensed engineer responds within 24 hours.
Have a loss that needs answers?
Tell us what happened. An engineer, not a call center, will review your case.