This proceedings contains the papers presented at the First Forensic Engineering Congress, a special part of the American Society of Civil Engineers Annual Convention held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., October 5-8, 1997. These papers cover forensic engineering subjects relating to research, practice, and education. Within these broad categories, a number of topics are explored including: the engineer as the expert witness; the Oklahoma City bombing; near misses and narrow escapes; forensic engineering practice; failures during construction; natural disasters; lift-slab construction; education; steel moment frames; and computer misuse. This collection provides design professionals, researchers, educators, and students with a wealth of technical information regarding the status and progress of forensic engineering. A good balance between theoretical concepts and practical applications is presented.