The Willow Island disaster was the collapse of a

cooling tower A cooling tower is a device that rejects waste heat to the atmosphere through the cooling of a coolant stream, usually a water stream to a lower temperature. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and c ...

under construction at the Pleasants Power Station at Willow Island,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

, on April 27, 1978. 51

construction workers Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and c ...

were killed. It is thought to be the deadliest construction accident in U.S. history.

Background

During the 1970s, many coal-powered power plants were being built in the valley along the

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. The Allegheny Power System was building another, larger plant at Willow Island, which would have two

electric generator In electricity generation, a generator is a device that converts motive power ( mechanical energy) or fuel-based power ( chemical energy) into electric power for use in an external circuit. Sources of mechanical energy include steam turbines, g ...

s with a total capacity of 1,300

megawatts The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

. This was in addition to the two smaller units that were already installed there. By April 1978, one natural draft

had been built, and a second was under construction. One of the

contractors A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

-based Research-Cottrell, was well known for constructing such towers around the country. 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. The scaffolding on the Willow Island cooling tower 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. Cranes atop the scaffolding raised buckets of concrete. One lift of concrete was poured each day.

Collapse

On April 27, 1978, tower number 2 had reached a height of . Just after 10:00 a.m., as the third bucket of concrete was being raised, the cable hoisting the bucket slackened, and the crane pulling it up fell toward the inside of the tower. The previous day's concrete then 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. All fifty-one construction workers on the scaffold fell to their deaths. Immediately following the collapse, other construction workers onsite began digging for their coworkers. Fire departments from Belmont, Parkersburg,

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, and St. Marys in West Virginia, and Marietta in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The s ...

, were called in. Ambulances from Parkersburg and Marietta hospitals were also dispatched. 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. All but one worker were identified by co-workers.

Investigation

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration ( OSHA) investigation team arrived at the site the day of the accident. A team from the National Bureau of Standards (now called the

National Institute of Standards and Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sc ...

) arrived two days later. A number of

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

lapses caused the collapse: * Scaffolding was attached to concrete that had not been given time to sufficiently cure. * Bolts were missing, and the existing bolts were of insufficient grade. (See

Bolted joint A bolted joint is one of the most common elements in construction and machine design. It consists of a male threaded fastener (e. g., a bolt) that captures and joins other parts, secured with a matching female screw thread. There are two main t ...

) * There was only one access ladder, thereby resulting in an escape restriction. * An elaborate concrete hoisting system had been modified without proper engineering review. * Contractors were rushing the construction. On June 8, 1978, OSHA cited Willow Island contractors for 20 violations, including failures to field test concrete and anchor the scaffold system properly. The cases were settled for $85,500, or about $1,700 per worker killed. OSHA referred the case to the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

for criminal investigation. A

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a p ...

was convened, but no charges were filed.

List of those killed

* 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. "Paul" 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. MarysGovernor's Commission on Willow Island, cited in

Other cooling tower collapses

* A cooling tower at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant collapsed on August 22, 2007. There were no fatalities. * On November 1, 1965, three of the cooling towers at Ferrybridge Power Station collapsed due to vibrations in winds. * On November 20th, 1979 a cooling tower of Bouchain Power Station near Bouchain, France collapse

* A cooling tower of Turow Power Plant, Bogatynia, Poland collapsed in 1987 * Collapse of Ivanovo Power Plant, Cooling Tower 4 near Ivanovo, Russia in 2015 * Scaffolding Fengcheng power station collapse, collapsed on a cooling tower being built at the Fengcheng power plant in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangxi on November 24, 2016. At least 74 workers were killed.

References

External links

* Engineering case study, with bibliography. * Collection of articles about the disaster. * PDF of the front page of ''Charleston Gazette'' newspaper the day after the accident. * https://www.osha.gov/index.html Occupational Safety and Health Administration * http://wvgazette.com/News/WillowIsland/200804240435 Downloads of OSHA investigation reports. * Pictures and diagrams. {{DEFAULTSORT:Willow Island Disaster Accidental deaths in West Virginia April 1978 events in the United States Construction accidents in the United States Disasters in West Virginia Pleasants County, West Virginia 1978 in West Virginia 1978 industrial disasters