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1978 Willow Island disaster...
1978 Willow Island disaster...
Item # 719777
April 27, 1978
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, April 27, 1978
* Willow Island disaster
* Cooling tower - power plant
* Scaffolding collapse
The front has a headline: "Scaffolding fall kills 51" with subhead and two related photos (see). More on page 3 with two more related photos.
Complete with all 152 pages, tabloid size, nice condition.
AI notes: The Willow Island disaster occurred on April 27, 1978, at the Pleasants Power Station construction site near Willow Island, West Virginia, and stands as one of the deadliest construction accidents in U.S. history. During the construction of a 492-foot-tall concrete cooling tower, a scaffolding platform on which workers were installing concrete collapsed, killing 51 ironworkers instantly. Investigations revealed multiple safety failures: the scaffolding had been anchored to newly poured concrete that had not fully cured, inspections were inadequate, and workers were not provided sufficient safety oversight or fall protection. Many of the victims were local men, some relatively inexperienced, who had been working under intense pressure to meet tight construction deadlines. The disaster exposed critical lapses in engineering and safety management and prompted widespread reforms in occupational safety regulations, particularly concerning scaffolding, concrete curing practices, and construction oversight, leaving a lasting mark on U.S. industrial safety standards.
Category: The 20th Century
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