TW16.042,
TW16.042, v4, First issue, 18.8.16
Temporary works failure – a forensic history
The aim of this paper is to list some of the key events and publications that
have affected the discipline of temporary works construction, whether
directly or indirectly.
In due course, it is hoped that each entry will be accompanied by a short
resume, highlighting the main ‘lessons learnt’.
Contributions, additions and/or corrections are always welcome. Please
contact the TWf Secretary at [email protected]
18th August 2016
c. 3500 BC
Tower of Babel
1802
Health and Morals of Apprentices Act 1802
1819
Cotton Mills and Factories Act 1819
1825
Cotton Mills Regulation Act 1825
1829
Act to Amend the Laws relating to the employment of Children in Cotton Mills
& Manufactories 1829
1831
Labour in Cotton Mills Act 1831 (Hobhouse's Act)
1833
HM Factory Commission formed – four Inspectors
Labour of Children, etc., in Factories Act 1833 (Althorp's Act). Government
passed a Factory Act to improve conditions for children working in factories young children were working very long hours in workplaces where conditions
were often terrible
1837
Employer owns a common law duty of care to employee
1844
Factories Inspectorate – opening of a central office
1847
Factory Act 1847
1850
Factory Act 1850 (the 'Compromise' Act)
1856
Factory Act 1856
1867
Factories Act Extension Act 1867
1870
Factory and Workshop Act 1870
1871
Factory and Workshop Act 1871
1874
Factory Act 1874
1878
Factory and Workshop Act 1878
Factories Inspectorate – office of Chief Inspector created
1879
Tay Bridge Collapse
1891
Factory Act 1891
1895
Factory and Workshop Act 1895
1898
Factories Inspectorate – first Medical Inspector
1901
Factory and Workshop Act 1901
1908
Quebec Bridge
1909
Newport docks – 38 killed, Collapse of fully timbered deep excavation (13th
June 1909)
1937
Factories Act 1937
1957
Windscale fire, 8th October 1957
1958
Second Narrows Bridge (Gerber hinge), Greater Vancouver, British Columbia Bad construction details detected, but no action taken - construction failure
1958
Crane caused train to crash, 1 dead, December 1958
1959
Factories Act 1959
Barton bridge – 4 killed (could have been 60 No.), Buckling of temporary
props - construction failure (19th February 1959)
Barton bridge - 2 killed and 8 injured - Girder overturned (31st December
1959)
1961
Factories Act 1961
Construction (General Provisions) Regulations 1961 - requirement for strength
and stability
Construction (Lifting Operations) Regulations 1961
1965
Ferrybridge ‘C’ Power Station - 1st November 1965, during high winds, three
out of a group of eight cooling towers at collapsed, with the remaining towers
sustaining severe structural damage. The towers, each 375 feet high, had
been constructed closer together than was usual and had greater shell
diameters and shell surface area than any previous towers
1966
Pugsley, A. G., 1966, The Safety of Structures, Arnold, New York – discussion
about factors of safety
Construction (Working Places) Regulations 1966 – deals with access platforms
and scaffolds
Heron Road Bridge, Ontario (Arch bridge over Rideau River Ottawa) Scaffolding collapsed under weight of fresh concrete, construction failure
Welshpool Road Overpass, Western Australia – Failure of the central
scaffolding tower
1967
Factories Inspectorate – a number of Inspectors were formed into a branch to
inspect building and civil engineering sites, i.e. construction work
1968
Ronan Point - Three die as tower block collapses
1969
Emley Moor - The 1265' TV mast at Emley Moor, Yorkshire collapsed at 5.01pm
on 19th March 1969 due to accumulation of ice on the support wires. Had the
road not been closed due to falling ice, the mast would have fallen on a
school bus. As it was, caretakers in a chapel had a lucky escape as a guy wire
sliced through the building like a cheese cutter. A steel 'umbrella' was in
course of construction to protect the chapel from falling ice
1970
Cleddau Bridge, Milford Haven: Incremental launch of long span, box girder
plate buckling over support - construction failure (June 1970)
Westgate Bridge over Yarra River, Melbourne: Plate buckling due to weak
splicing of longitudinal stiffeners - construction sequence was not wellthought-out; collapsed during construction; 35 died (15th October 1970)
1 971
Birling Road Bridge Collapse, 1 killed 17 injured (22 March 1971) Falsework - Report of the joint committee, The Concrete Society and the
Institution of Structural Engineers, Technical Report TRCS 4, July 1971
Barber, E.H.E., Report of Royal Commission into the failure of West Gate
Bridge, Melbourne (Australia)
1972
BSI Falsework Code drafting committee (Set up on 10th October 1972)
Loddon Viaduct Collapse, 3 killed 10 injured (24th October 1972) - 24 m span
collapsed during placing of concrete due to failure of falsework - construction
failure
Arroyo Seco River Bridge (Motorway bridge near Pasadena, California) Failure of a form tie under weight of fresh concrete eventually leading to
falsework collapse
1973
Skyline Plaza Collapse, Fairfax County, Virginia - 14 killed; 34 injured (2nd
March 1973) – building collapse initiated by the premature removal of the
propping system
1974
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act
1975
Health and Safety Executive
Bragg, S.L., Final report of the Advisory Committee on Falsework, Her
Majesty's Stationery Office, June 1975 – the Appendices contain a number of
case studies
Department of the Environment (DOE) Building Regulations Advisory
Committee (BRAC) published guidance for design-check procedures for High
Alumina Cement (HAC)
1976
Standing Committee on Structural Safety (SCOSS) set up – an independent
body established to maintain a continuing review of building and civil
engineering matters affecting the safety of structures, with the aim of
identifying in advance those trends and developments which might contribute
to an increasing risk to structural safety
1977
Formwork - Report of the joint committee, The Concrete Society and the
Institution of Structural Engineers, Technical Report TR 13, March 1977
CIRIA Report 63, Rationalisation of safety and serviceability factors in
structural codes
1981
Hyatt Regency walkway collapse - took place at the Hyatt Regency Kansas
City hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, on July 17, 1981
1980
Notification of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations
(forerunner of RIDDOR)
1982
BS 5975, Code of Practice for Falsework (first published); Reflected on the
recommendations of Bragg; Dealt only with falsework
1984
Carsington Dam failure
1985
Bradford City stadium fire - The worst fire disaster in the history of football. It
occurred during a league match on Saturday, 11th May 1985; killing 56 and
injuring at least 265
1986
CIRIA Report 111, Structural renovation of traditional buildings
Challenger Space Shuttle disaster
1988
198 8
BS 5531: 1988, Code of practice for safety in erecting structural frames
Piper Alpha disaster - 167 oil rig workers died. The Lord Cullen Report made
over 100 recommendations about how safety should be improved in North
Sea
1989
Wilshere, CJ, Formwork, ICE Works Construction Guide, Thomas Telford
Organisation and quality of falsework construction, A socio-economic study
of the organisational structure of the Construction industry with respect to
the falsework production process and the quality of workmanship attained,
Bryan Burrows, Submitted for the degree PhD, University of Warwick,
Department of Engineering, September 1989
1991
Vintners Place crane collapse - the counterweight of a crane on a nearby
building site left the rose window in the south transept of a an adjacent
church smashed, the chandelier in fragments and the congregational pews
reduced to matchwood
1994
Heathrow tunnel collapse – Extensive damage but no-one injured
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994
Permanent works design: Ramsgate ramp failure - 6 dead (14th September
1994) - Swedish firm fined £1.7 million (Refused to pay; loophole in law; law
changed 2005)
1996
Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996
BS 5975: 1996, Code of practice for falsework (2nd edition) - some technical
changes, but still just falsework
1997
Tagus travelling falsework collapse, Lisbon, Portugal - 6 dead (April 1997)
Pipers Row Multi-Storey Car Park - a 120 tonne section of the top floor
collapsed at about 3am on 20th March 1997
1998
Injaka bridge falsework collapse - 14 dead (6th July 1998)
1999
Safe use of lifting equipment, Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment
Regulations 1998, ACOP, L113
Temporary demountable structures, Guidance on procurement, design and
use. ISE Report, Second Edition, March 1999
So Hae, Korea, travelling formwork system for big bridge collapsed – no
casualties, 5th August 1999
M5 Avonmouth Gantry Collapse; 4 dead; 8 September 1999, £500,000 fine
and £525,000 costs (2001)
2000
Canary Wharf tower crane collapse - 3 dead (21st May 2000)
Collapse of NATM tunnels at Heathrow Airport, A report on the investigation
by the Health and Safety Executive into the collapse of New Austrian
Tunnelling Method (NATM) tunnels at the Central Terminal Area of Heathrow
Airport on 20/21 October 1994, HSE
2001
Trenching Practice, CIRIA Report 97 Second Edition, March 2001
Investigation into aspects of falsework, HSE CRR 394/2001, December 2001
2002
BS EN 13377: 2002 Prefabricated timber formwork beams -Requirements,
classification and assessment, December 2002
BS EN 12811-3: 2002 Temporary works equipment - Part 3: Load testing,
December 2002
2003
Crane Stability on Site, CIRIA C703 (Formerly SP131), January 2003
Guide to Flat Slab Formwork and Falsework, CONSTRUCT, Concrete Society,
CS140, June 2003
Retention of masonry façades - best practice guide, CIRIA Report C579,
September 2003
Retention of masonry façades - best practice site handbook, CIRIA Report
C589, September 2003
Tropicana Casino Carpark, Atlantic State - 6 dead - Falsework collapse (30th
October 2003)
Columbia Space Shuttle disaster – 1st February 2003; disintegrated over
Texas and Louisiana as it re-entered Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven crew
members
2004
BS EN 12810-1: 2003 Façade scaffolds made of prefabricated components Part 1: Products specifications, June 2004
BS EN 12810-2: 2003 Façade scaffolds made of prefabricated components Part 2: Particular methods of structural design, June 2004
BS EN 12811-1: 2003 Temporary works equipment - Part 1: Scaffolds Performance requirements and general design, June 2004
BS EN 12811-2: 2004 Temporary works equipment -Part 2: Information on
materials, August 2004
Nicoll Highway Singapore, cofferdam collapse - 4 dead (20th April 2004)
2005
2005
Burrows M., Clark L., Pallett P., Ward R., Thomas D., Falsework verticality:
leaning towards danger? Proceedings of ICE, Civil Engineering, February
2005, Pages 41-48, Paper 13624
Tower Crane Stability, CIRIA Report C654, September 2006
Gerrard’s Cross cut-and-cover collapse (30th June 2005) – Lessons learnt?
Durrington tower crane collapse
Almunecar Falsework Collapse, Spain - 6 dead (17th November 2005)
Heathrow T5, access platform collapse - 1 dead (3rd August 2005)
Work at Height Regulations 2005
Confidential Reporting on Structural Safety (CROSS) scheme was launched
2006
HSE CIS56, Safe erection, use and dismantling of falsework, Construction
Information Sheet No 56
Milton Keynes scaffold collapse
Battersea tower crane collapse
2007
Liverpool crane collapse
Construction (Design and management) Regulations 2007
Can Tho, Vietnam; bridge falsework collapse - 50 dead (4th October 2007)
2008
A Guide to the Safe Use of Formwork and Falsework, CONSTRUCT, CSG/005,
May 2008
BS5975: 2008 (3rd edition) - Major update; still covers design of falsework
but procedures now applicable to all temporary works
3.8m deep unsupported trial pit collapsed - killed Geologist, Alexander Wright
(September 2008) - Fine £385,000; First Corporate Manslaughter Case
Belfast building, 2nd floor falsework collapsed - 6 injured (March 2008)
2009
Andorra bridge falsework collapse, Spain - 5 dead (8th November 2009)
2009
Liverpool tower crane collapse – Failure of tower crane base
2010
The management of temporary works in the construction industry, HSE, SIM
02/2010/04, November 2010
Waikato Crane Collapse – collapse during bridge construction in New Zealand
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIktwzMZ1aM)
2011
BS EN 12812:2008 Falsework - Performance requirements and general design,
January 2011
Marples, F. The role and competence of temporary works coordinators,
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Volume 164, Issue CE2, page
53, May 2011
BS 5975: 2008 +A1:2011, Code of practice for temporary works procedures
and the permissible stress design of falsework, BSI, October 2011 - Updated
wind loading to Eurocodes; amplified some of the wording relating to
procedures
BS 6187:2011, Code of practice for full and partial demolition, December 2011
Preventing catastrophic events in construction, CIRIA, HSE Research Report
834
Great Yarmouth - four men killed inside a steel reinforcement cage which
collapsed at a building site
2012
Formwork - a guide to good practice, Third Edition, Special Publication CS
030, The Concrete Society, April 2012
TWf, Hoardings - a guide to good practice, Ref TWf2012:01, October 2012
(since amended)
Permanent works component failure:
Macalloy bar, Doha Airport (Ref NCE 25.10.12, Page 8; NCE 18.10.12, Page 7)
Toronto stage collapse - kills man ahead of Radiohead concert; 3 others
injured, 1 seriously
Temporary Works: Principles of Design and Construction, by Murray Grant
and Peter Pallett
Oxford Street London - shoppers crushed when a site hoarding collapsed in
the heart of London less than 24 hours after the structure was erected in
March 2012
2013
Good Practice Guide for the Management of Shoring in Excavations, Part 1 Management Process, Ref. STIG 13/01, CPA, June 2013
TWf, Stability of Reinforcement Cages Prior to Concreting, Ref TWf2013:01,
October 2013 (since amended)
Permanent works component failure:
Oakland Bay Bridge San Francisco - 30 No 76mm dia. foundation anchor
bolts (3m – 8m long) snapped during installation – hydrogen embrittlement
thought likely
Risk in structural engineering, published by the Institution of Structural
Engineers
2014
NASC, TG20:13 Operational Guide - A comprehensive guide to good practice
for tube and fitting scaffolding, 21st February 2014 (with e-Guide software)
NASC, TG20:13 Design Guide - Technical guidance on the use of BS EN 12811-1,
21st February 2014
Good Practice Guide - Ground Conditions for Construction Plant, CPA 1402,
CPA, October 2014
TWf, Clients' guide to temporary works - Recommendations for Clients, their
representatives, programme managers and others on the design and
coordination of temporary works, TWf2014:02, December 2014
2015
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015)
Managing health and safety in construction, Guidance on Regulations, L153,
HSE, March 2015
Lifting accident Alphen aan den Rijn – capsize of barge during bridge
construction, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJevke4_i5Y
Johannesburg M1 bridge collapse
2016
PAS 8812:2016, Temporary Works - Application of European Standards in
design – Guide, January 2016
Didcot Power station – collapse during demolition and dismantling
© Temporary Works Forum Ltd. (2016), E&OE