Investigations of Structural Damage Caused by the Fertilizer Plant Explosion at West, Texas. I: Air-Blast Incident Overpressure
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 30, Issue 4
Abstract
An explosion occurred at a fertilizer plant in the town of West, Texas, on Wednesday, April 17, 2013, devastating a populated neighborhood. A total of 15 people were killed, and approximately 160 people were injured. Approximately 150 buildings were damaged in the explosion. The damage to affected homes and businesses was estimated to exceed $100 million. The purpose of this study was to collect on-site technical data of the explosion and gain knowledge of blast loadings and structural responses from this unprecedented explosion. Specifically, this research documented the building damages caused by the West Fertilizer plant explosion and the affected buildings’ construction and materials and evaluated the technical information for the explosion, including the blast loadings, i.e., the air-blast incident overpressures and ground shocks, on different buildings with respect to the standoff distances. A total of two technical papers have been prepared. The Part I paper (this manuscript) focused on the building damage documentation and air-blast incident overpressure estimation for the West Fertilizer plant explosion case. The Part II paper focused on the effects of the ground shock caused by this West Fertilizer plant explosion.
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Acknowledgments
This paper is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CMMI-1342469. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Additionally, the authors would like to offer a special thank you to the West Police Department, The West News, and Tongji University (in China) for their support.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 30 • Issue 4 • August 2016
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 2, 2014
Accepted: May 6, 2015
Published online: Jul 27, 2015
Discussion open until: Dec 27, 2015
Published in print: Aug 1, 2016
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