Treatment Plant Tank Collapse

[bimr]

Link to pictures of a equalization tank collapse:

http://www.knoxnews.com/photos/gall...tewater-treatment-plant/31433/#section_header

 

[coloeng]

Anyone know how old the facility was?

 

[bimr]

The aritcle says it was built in 1979.

 

[bimr]

Does this tank appear to be a prestressed design? It is hard to see rebar in the pictures at the wall connections.

 

[ekolog16]

The structurals were also talking about the rebar. Another article I read says this portion of the tank was built in 1996 and has had some issues.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/apr/08/cause-basin-collapse-gatlingburg-wastewater-plant/

Why did they build a ~2.0MG rectangular equalization tank with 40' walls? Were they tight on space? I'm sure brighter people are working on this right now but if the tank had 850,000 gallons in it when it failed it would have only been 13' full.

 

[bimr]

The tank is approximately 20 feet high. You can see that the top of the tank is about the same height as the 2 story building that is adjacent to it.

 

[ekolog16]

Okay I see now, there were differing reports on the tank dimensions. It looks like it was a 1 MG tank. Still, I'm sorry to the workers' families. Unfortunate they were below it at the time.