Live support chatEngineering Ethics: The Collapse of the Willow Island Cooling Tower
In Engineering Ethics: The Collapse of the Willow Island Cooling Tower, you'll learn ...
- Details of the deadliest construction site accident in U.S. history
- Multiple errors and deficiencies that converged on a single day to cause the accident
- The decisions and actions of the parties involved in the project from an ethical point of view
Overview
Preview a portion of this course before purchasing it.
Credit: 1 PDH
Length: 16 pages
Around 10:00 a.m. on 27 April 1978 in Willow Island, WV, workers engaged in the construction of a concrete cooling tower began hoisting their third load of wet concrete from the ground to the work platform, which was 166 feet in the air. Without warning, the top of the partially constructed tower collapsed into the center of the tower, killing 51 construction workers.
To date, the partial collapse of the Willow Island Cooling Tower is considered the worst construction accident in the United States. In this course, you’ll learn why the tower was being built, the causal factors in its collapse, and the major findings of OSHA’s investigation of the disaster. The course will examine the decisions and actions of the parties involved in the project from an ethical point of view.
Specific Knowledge or Skill Obtained
This course teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:
- Why the Willow Island Cooling Tower was built, as well as the unique erection strategy that was used
- The root causes of the tower’s collapse
- Warning signs given prior to the accident that were ignored
- The importance of having a qualified engineer review on-site modifications to the erection plan
- Major findings contained in the OSHA investigation of the disaster
- Multiple ethical lapses viewed through the lens of the present day NSPE Code of Ethics
Certificate of Completion
You will be able to immediately print a certificate of completion after passing a multiple-choice quiz consisting of 10 questions. PDH credits are not awarded until the course is completed and quiz is passed.
| This course is applicable to professional engineers in: | ||
| Alabama (P.E.) | Alaska (P.E.) | Arkansas (P.E.) |
| Delaware (P.E.) | District of Columbia (P.E.) | Florida (P.E. Other Topics) |
| Georgia (P.E.) | Idaho (P.E.) | Illinois (P.E.) |
| Illinois (S.E.) | Indiana (P.E.) | Iowa (P.E.) |
| Kansas (P.E.) | Kentucky (P.E.) | Louisiana (P.E.) |
| Maine (P.E.) | Maryland (P.E.) | Michigan (P.E.) |
| Minnesota (P.E.) | Mississippi (P.E.) | Missouri (P.E.) |
| Montana (P.E.) | Nebraska (P.E.) | Nevada (P.E.) |
| New Hampshire (P.E.) | New Jersey (P.E.) | New Mexico (P.E.) |
| New York (P.E.) | North Carolina (P.E.) | North Dakota (P.E.) |
| Ohio (P.E. Self-Paced) | Oklahoma (P.E.) | Oregon (P.E.) |
| Pennsylvania (P.E.) | South Carolina (P.E.) | South Dakota (P.E.) |
| Tennessee (P.E.) | Texas (P.E.) | Utah (P.E.) |
| Vermont (P.E.) | Virginia (P.E.) | West Virginia (P.E.) |
| Wisconsin (P.E.) | Wyoming (P.E.) | |
Preview a portion of this course before purchasing it.
Credit: 1 PDH
Length: 16 pages
