Willow Island disaster
Encyclopedia
The Willow Island disaster was the collapse of a cooling tower
under construction at a power station
at Willow Island,http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=39.367338,-81.291592&daddr=&hl=en&geocode=&mra=mi&mrsp=0&sz=18&sll=39.367238,-81.291484&sspn=0.00197,0.003428&ie=UTF8&ll=39.367317,-81.29209&spn=0.00788,0.013711&t=h&z=16 West Virginia
, on Thursday April 27, 1978. The falling concrete caused the scaffolding
to collapse. 51 construction workers were killed.
It is thought to be the largest construction accident in American history.
. The Allegheny Power System was building another larger plant at Willow island, West Virginia. The new plant would have 2 generators with a total capacity of 1300 megawatts. This was in addition to the 2 smaller units that were already there.
By April 1978 one natural draft cooling tower
had been built, and a second was under construction. One of the contractors, New Jersey
based Research-Cottrell http://www.hamon-researchcottrell.com/default.asp was well known for constructing such towers around the country.
This scaffolding was different. It was bolted to the structure it was being used to build. A layer of concrete was poured, then after the concrete forms were removed, the scaffolding was raised and bolted onto the new section.
A system of cranes spread around the top of the scaffolding raised buckets of concrete up. Workers were to pour one 5-foot lift per day.
Fifty-one construction workers were on the scaffold at the time. All fell to their deaths.
Fire departments from Belmont, Parkersburg, Vienna, and St.Marys in West Virginia, and Marietta in Ohio, were called in. Ambulances from Parkersburg and Marietta hospitals were also dispatched. However, none of the ambulances were used, because all of the victims were dead.
The Volunteer fire department in Belmont was turned into a temporary morgue. Many of the men were only able to be identified by the contents of their pockets.
) investigation team arrived at the site the day of the accident. A team from the National Bureau Of Standards (now called National Institute of Standards and Technology
) arrived two days later.
Like most disasters, it's still hard to point to one specific triggering event. Instead, a mix of safety
lapses combined to bring the tower crashing down.
On June 8, 1978, OSHA cited Willow Island contractors for 10 willful and 10 serious violations. Among other things, the violations cited the failure to field test concrete and properly anchor the scaffold system.
OSHA proposed $108,300 in fines. The cases settled for $85,500, or about $1,700 per worker killed in the disaster.
OSHA referred the case to the United States Department of Justice
for a criminal investigation. A grand jury
was convened, but no charges were ever filed.
Cooling tower
Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or in the case of closed circuit dry cooling towers rely...
under construction at a power station
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
at Willow Island,http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=39.367338,-81.291592&daddr=&hl=en&geocode=&mra=mi&mrsp=0&sz=18&sll=39.367238,-81.291484&sspn=0.00197,0.003428&ie=UTF8&ll=39.367317,-81.29209&spn=0.00788,0.013711&t=h&z=16 West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
, on Thursday April 27, 1978. The falling concrete caused the scaffolding
Scaffolding
Scaffolding is a temporary structure used to support people and material in the construction or repair of buildings and other large structures. It is usually a modular system of metal pipes or tubes, although it can be from other materials...
to collapse. 51 construction workers were killed.
It is thought to be the largest construction accident in American history.
Background
During the 1970s many coal powered power plants were being built in the valley along the Ohio RiverOhio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
. The Allegheny Power System was building another larger plant at Willow island, West Virginia. The new plant would have 2 generators with a total capacity of 1300 megawatts. This was in addition to the 2 smaller units that were already there.
By April 1978 one natural draft cooling tower
Cooling tower
Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or in the case of closed circuit dry cooling towers rely...
had been built, and a second was under construction. One of the contractors, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
based Research-Cottrell http://www.hamon-researchcottrell.com/default.asp was well known for constructing such towers around the country.
The scaffolding
The usual method of scaffold construction has the base of the scaffold built on the ground, with the top being built higher to keep up with the height of the tower.This scaffolding was different. It was bolted to the structure it was being used to build. A layer of concrete was poured, then after the concrete forms were removed, the scaffolding was raised and bolted onto the new section.
A system of cranes spread around the top of the scaffolding raised buckets of concrete up. Workers were to pour one 5-foot lift per day.
Tragedy
On April 27, 1978 tower number 2 had reached a height of 166 feet (51 meters). Just after 10 AM, as the third lift of concrete was being raised, the cable hoisting that bucket of concrete went slack. The crane that was pulling it up fell toward the inside of the tower. The previous day's concrete, Lift 28, started to collapse. Concrete began to unwrap from the top of the tower, first peeling counter-clockwise, then in both directions. A jumble of concrete, wooden forms and metal scaffolding fell into the hollow center of the tower.Fifty-one construction workers were on the scaffold at the time. All fell to their deaths.
Rescue efforts
Construction workers onsite immediately began digging for their comrades.Fire departments from Belmont, Parkersburg, Vienna, and St.Marys in West Virginia, and Marietta in Ohio, were called in. Ambulances from Parkersburg and Marietta hospitals were also dispatched. However, none of the ambulances were used, because all of the victims were dead.
The Volunteer fire department in Belmont was turned into a temporary morgue. Many of the men were only able to be identified by the contents of their pockets.
Investigation
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHAOccupational Safety and Health Administration
The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. It was created by Congress of the United States under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, signed by President Richard M. Nixon, on December 29, 1970...
) investigation team arrived at the site the day of the accident. A team from the National Bureau Of Standards (now called National Institute of Standards and Technology
National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology , known between 1901 and 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards , is a measurement standards laboratory, otherwise known as a National Metrological Institute , which is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce...
) arrived two days later.
Like most disasters, it's still hard to point to one specific triggering event. Instead, a mix of safety
Safety
Safety is the state of being "safe" , the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be...
lapses combined to bring the tower crashing down.
- Scaffold was attached to concrete that hadn't had time to sufficiently cure.
- Bolts were missing and the existing bolts were of insufficient grade. See Bolted joint
- Only one access ladder, restricting ability to escape.
- An elaborate concrete hoisting system was modified without proper engineering review.
- Contractors were rushing to speed construction
On June 8, 1978, OSHA cited Willow Island contractors for 10 willful and 10 serious violations. Among other things, the violations cited the failure to field test concrete and properly anchor the scaffold system.
OSHA proposed $108,300 in fines. The cases settled for $85,500, or about $1,700 per worker killed in the disaster.
OSHA referred the case to the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
for a criminal investigation. A grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
was convened, but no charges were ever filed.
List of the dead
- Joseph V. Bafile, Washington, Pa.
- James B. Blouir, St. Marys
- Robert W. Blouir, St. Marys
- Steve D. Blouir, St. Marys
- Kenneth E. Boring, Salem
- Richard L. Bowser, Parkersburg
- Thomas E. Cross, St. Marys
- William R. Cunningham, Parkersburg
- Roy F. Deem, Waverly
- Ray Deulley, Glenville
- Darryl Glover, Moundsville
- Loren K. Glover, Moundsville
- Alvin W. Goff, Tuppers Plains, Ohio
- Gary L. Gossett, Walker
- James A. Harrison, Parkersburg
- Claude J. Hendrickson, St. Marys
- Daniel R. Hensler, Newport, Ohio
- Kenneth V. Hill, Midland, Pa.
- Roger K. Hunt, Parkersburg
- Tom G. Kaptis, Cairo
- C. Randy Lowther, St. Marys
- Ronald Lee Mathers, Walker
- Howard R. McBrayer Jr., St. Marys
- Willard H. McCown, Pennsboro
- Clayton P. Monroe, Parkersburg
- Robert B. Moore, Flatwoods
- Chet Payne, St. Marys
- Edgar A. Phillips, Marietta, Ohio
- Raymond W. Poling, Thornton
- Robert C. Riley, Parkersburg
- Ray R. Rollyson, Pennsboro
- Floyd Rupe, Dexter, Ohio
- Alan W. Sampson, Parkersburg
- Glen E. Satterfield, St. Marys
- Jeffry F. Snyder, Vienna
- Earnest Steele, St. Marys
- Emmett R. Steele, St. Marys
- Larry G. Steele, St. Marys
- Miles E. Steele, St. Marys
- Ronald D. Steele, St. Marys
- Richard A. Stoke, Waverly
- Richard P. Swick, Beverly, Ohio
- Brian H. Taylor, St. Marys
- Dale Martin Wagoner, Belington
- Charles Warren, Parkersburg
- Jackie R. Westfall, Newport, Ohio
- Lewis D. Wildman, Stouts Mills
- Ronald W. Yocum, Parkersburg
- Gary Hinkle, Parkersburg
- Larry Deem, Parkersburg
- Fred Pride, St. Marys
Other cooling tower collapses
- A cooling tower at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power PlantVermont Yankee Nuclear Power PlantVermont Yankee is a General Electric boiling water reactor type nuclear power plant currently owned by Entergy. It is located in the town of Vernon, Vermont, and generates 620 megawatts of electricity at full power. The plant began commercial operations in 1972...
collapsed on August 22, 2007. There were no fatalities.
External links
- Willow Island Cooling Tower engineering case study, with bibliography.
- http://www.wvgazette.com/News/WillowIsland Collection of articles about the disaster
- http://wvgazette.com/static/willowdocs/willowfrontpage.pdf PDF of the front page of Wvgazette newspaper the day after.
- http://www.osha.gov/index.html Occupational Safety and Health Administration
- http://wvgazette.com/News/WillowIsland/200804240435 downloads of OSHA investigation reports
- http://matdl.org/failurecases/Other%20failures/Willow.htm Pictures and diagrams
- Google maps http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=39.367338,-81.291592&daddr=&hl=en&geocode=&mra=mi&mrsp=0&sz=18&sll=39.367238,-81.291484&sspn=0.00197,0.003428&ie=UTF8&ll=39.367317,-81.29209&spn=0.00788,0.013711&t=h&z=16