Storage tank specialist John Cornell looks at the need for a change in approach to the use of bolted tanks and tank liners. The subject of tank inspections has been an on-going since the Great Molasses Flood in Boston, Massachusetts, US. On 15 January 1919, a storage tank owned by the Purity Distilling Company, filled with 2.3 million US gallons (8,700 m3) of molasses weighing about 12,000 tonnes, burst. The resulting wave of molasses moved through the surrounding streets at an estimated speed of 35 mph (56 km/h), killing 21 people, untold numbers of horses, dogs and other animals, and […]
Technical features
November 20, 2025
