Maybe the easiest solution is to no longer have engineers designing roads, bridges, building structures, airframes, electronic and mechanical systems, etc.? I'm sure the contractors will do just fine developing their own designs/ criteria without needing to resort t using engineers. /s
One book the OP may find interesting is "Why Buildings Fall Down" by Matthys Levy and Mario Salvadori. Crap -- hard to believe it is 30 years old now. I think there were some follow-on books, including why airplanes crash.
Ultimately many of the spectacular failures we read about may be due to engineering mistakes, but more often things like changes made by the contractor, improper installation, faulty materials, etc. are to blame. And also material degradation and/ or damage incurred over time. Over the last 40 years there have been big advances in the understanding of earthquake risk, wind loads, etc., as well as computer modeling abilities, that have resulted in numerous design requirements that did not previously exist (at least in the US).