3 Philosophy of failure

The Paper points to the large differences between the buckling resistance of cooling-tower shells and their ability to oppose uplift forces, and indicates the importance of increasing the latter. Preserving the shell structural stiffness by correct arrangement of the necessary additional reinforcement is also considered essential. From regarding the Ferrybridge collapse as a massive full-scale experiment, a design philosophy compatible with the European Concrete Committee limit state approach is outlined. The significance of the present lack of reliable aerodynamic data and the remarkable sensitivity of tower shells to variations in loading are clearly described.

Th e collapse of the Ferrybridge cooling towers has