Structural integrity and failure

Structural integrity is like when you build a sandcastle at the beach. You make sure that you put the sand in the right place so that your castle stays standing and doesn't fall apart. Just like how engineers and architects make sure that buildings, bridges, and other structures are built to stay strong and not break, this is called structural integrity.

Sometimes, even with the best planning, things can go wrong, and something may break or fall apart. This is called structural failure. It's like when your sandcastle gets knocked down by a big wave or mistake made while building it. Just like how structures can sometimes break, it can be very bad and dangerous if that happens to a building, bridge or other structure.

That is why people who make buildings, bridges, and other structures, need to be very careful and make sure they do everything correctly so that these structures are safe and strong. They use lots of calculations and tests to make sure everything is designed and built in the way it should be so that we can use them safely.