DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

The causes of failure can be classified as

  • poor design
  • materials failure
  • human factors
  • poor maintenance
  • extreme conditions

In the explosion of the PEPCON plant in Nevada:

  • built on top of a natural gas line
  • not all of the storage containers were sealed
  • welding in another area of the facility
  • no safety equipment to help control fire spread
  • stockpile of oxiderizer was kept in facility, stored in materials essential to creating compound of rocket fuel.
Johnstown, PA Flood of 1889
  • stored excessive amounts of water with no place to move it if need be
  • screens placed on dam became backed up
  • maintenance neglected
  • no maintenance leads to build up of debris
  • collapse of dam
TEXACO Well
  • drilling for oil and mining salt in same location
  • misreading of original site map for drilling
  • lead to salt mine collapse and drainage of lake into the mine 
DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.