The second willow island, West Virginia cooling tower collapsed while still under construction on April 27, 1978, killing all 51 workers. It is regarded as the deadliest construction accident in the whole of US history.
Category: Lessons from Failures
At approximately 7pm that day, guests heard popping noises moments before the fourth-floor walkway fell into the second-floor walkway. Both walkway then fell to the ground killing 114 and severely injuring over 200 persons
At approximately 7pm that day, guests heard popping noises moments before the fourth-floor walkway fell into the second-floor walkway. Both walkway then fell to the ground killing 114 and severely injuring over 200 persons
Five years into the night of 18 January 1978, when the Civic Center had been exposed to its heaviest snow load since construction – heavy, but still only half of the design load. At 4:19 that morning, with the arena empty, the 1270t space frame collapsed in its entirety (see post cover mage). What was most disturbing, though, was that just six hours ago, more than 5,000 people were sitting below, watching a basketball game.
Picture the scenario, you’ve been tasked with the design of a complex large stadium roof and interestingly you’ve just received your new state of the art structural analysis software package. It’s exciting and going to be a perfect chance to demonstrate what can be accomplished if you have the right technology.