Hi,
As an engineer, you prefer not to be on the news headlines. It mostly means something bad happened. Such as the Bazan refinery cooling tower collapse in Haifa this morning.
Those cooling towers (stopped working on 2008) are one of the symbols of Haifa. Although they resemble the heavy industry in the city and its effects on the health of the citizens of the city.
In hebrew those cooling towers are called Labaniyot, as they reminds the glass bottles of Leben.
The cooling tower collapsed is one of two, while the second was retrofitted on 2011 and used as visitor center for Bazan group (oil refining and petrochemicals company).
The structural design office I work in check it on 2010, and proposed to wrap it with FRP strips and take care of the concrete and the exposed reinforcement bars. But it was postponed due to different considerations. Couple of days ago an hole was opened on the upper part, and today the whole upper part collapsed.
The cooling towers were built on 1938 as part on the refineries in Haifa (the oil was pumps through the oil pipeline), meaning they are 82 years old. Over the 50 years concrete structures are designed to stand.
As a construction it is amazing how this 76m high building is so thin (the thickness of the upper part is only 5-7 cm!)
Take Care
Gad
The cooling tower couple of days ago – with hole in it
The cooling tower collapse
The hole opened in the top part of the cooling tower couple of days ago.
The collapse caught in a security camera
A look on the cooling towers from other side
FAnd a look from the distance (from the Carmel mountain)
The cooling towers from above: the visitor center on the bottom of the picture, and the one collapsed on the top.
Tnuva original glass Labniya (leben container) (Source: bidspirit.com)
The structures on 1948