But the tank had been built quickly in the winter of 1915 to meet rising demand for industrial alcohol, which could be distilled from molasses and sold to weapons companies, who used it to make dynamite and other explosives for use during World War I.Īnd instead of inspecting the tank and filling it with water first to test it for flaws, USIA ignored all warning signs, including groaning noises every time it was filled. Why Ukraine Has Seen Centuries of Conflictīoth the inadequate thickness and rivet issues were signs of negligence, and structural engineers knew better at the time, says Rossow. At that point, the tank held enough molasses to fill 3.5 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The fourth top-off happened two days before the disaster, when a ship arrived from Puerto Rico carrying 2.3 million gallons of molasses. Although molasses had been poured into the container 29 times, only four of those refills were to near-capacity.
#Deadly feet update full#
But its steel walls, which ranged from 0.67 inches at the bottom to 0.31 inches at the top, were too thin to support the weight of a full tank of molasses, found a 2014 analysis by Ronald Mayville, a senior structural engineer in the Massachusetts consulting firm of Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger.įlawed rivet design was another problem, according to Mayville’s analysis, and stresses were too high on the rivet holes, where cracks first formed. Designed to hold 2.5 million gallons of liquid, it measured 50 feet tall and 90 feet in diameter. More recent investigations suggest several fundamental problems with the structure of the tank. Industrial Alcohol, the company that owned the tank, was found liable, even as many questions remained about what had actually happened.
#Deadly feet update trial#
The trial that ensued lasted for years and gathered input from thousands of expert witnesses, producing 20,000 pages of conflicting testimony. “Explosion Theory Favored by Expert,” reported the Boston Evening Globe. Some blamed anarchists for setting off a bomb.
In the immediate aftermath, news coverage included speculation about fermentation that produced too much pressure inside the tank. READ MORE: The Great Molasses Flood of 1919
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