The West Winford Incident

by John Parker

  “Before we begin formally, Mr Rolfe, may I offer you our condolences and add that you seem to have misunderstood our purpose. We are, at this stage, merely compiling witness statements of fact. There is no intention to interrogate witnesses. The only questions will be for matter of clarity.”

  “That’s as maybe, but I want my union rep here all the same. Then there’ll be no misunderstandings later.”

  “Perhaps before you begin you could indicate where you were positioned immediately prior to the incident.”

  “It was my responsibility to read the tachometer during the test. In order to fulfil my duty I was located at the governor end of Number 2 turbine on the west side of the high-pressure cylinder. I monitored the instrument reading as the speed of the turbine was increased. I would like to state at this point that it’s my belief that there is an issue of safety arising here. Turbines can be dangerous pieces of equipment even at normal running speed, so it is obvious that they present an even greater risk during overspeed…”

  “Mr Rolfe, please could you confine yourself to your factual statement. We are just recording where witnesses were positioned and what they observed.”

  “That’s as maybe, but it would be a simple matter to close off the area during overspeed testing. Bill Winscombe and poor old Harry could also have been killed, along with Terry.”

  “Mr Rolfe, please.”

  “Well, the tachometer read 3,000 revs per minute while the turbine was still connected to the system. It gradually increased when the overspeed test started and we were just about at 3,250 revs when there was a loud bang. We all jumped. From where I was sitting I saw a great gush of steam from near the top of the first low pressure cylinder and lagging flew off the steam pipes. A few seconds later there was an almighty explosion and flames shot up further along the machine. I joined the others in a rush to the control area away from the turbine. We were all shocked. It will be a while before some of them get back to work, I can tell you.”

  *

  It had been a timely break. They had needed it. Short but sweet. After the past three months of helter-skelter, Sue with all the hard work around the house and he getting into the job; yes, just what they needed. No phones, no papers, no TV. A second honeymoon.

  He slowed as he approached the main gate. The gatekeeper waved him through. Something seemed strange. The lab car park was half empty. Dave entered the building. The first couple of labs were deserted. His office was next on the left. Hmm! Quite a pile in the in-tray – the downside of taking a break — then he saw the note on his desk:

  ‘Take care of the shop – be in touch later. Tony.’

  Tony – Dave’s Section Head. How odd. Dave went out to explore the rest of the building. Not a soul about. At the end of the corridor was the rig hall where some of the big experiments were running. When he opened the door he found the reassuring hum of the operating rigs welcome. Even more welcome was the sight of Gritty and Geoff working on one of the fatigue testing machines.

  “Where is everybody?” called Dave, raising his voice over the noise of the machines.

  “Be with you in a mo,” mouthed Gritty.

  Dave returned to his office and was shortly joined by Gritty, who sat on the corner of the desk.

  “They’ll be glad to know you’re back,” he greeted. “Good break?”

  “Fine thanks. Nice of you all to go to so much trouble to welcome me back here.”

  “Nothing personal,” grinned Gritty, “just this West Winford incident, you know.”

  “What’s that all about?”

  “Come on Dave, don’t say you’re the only person in the civilised world that missed all the fuss? Even made the national press.”

  “Not a word. We’ve deliberately stayed out of touch during our break. It was such a pleasant change, not even TV.”

  “Well, to each his own. I can’t imagine my Mary missing a single episode of her Coronation Street, not if we were in Timbuktu. Anyway, I better fill you in. Tony will be back later. He and Sweety are up at HQ this morning with some of the big-wigs, trying to sort out a Technical Investigation Committee and get the first meetings organised.”

  Sweety was the nickname for the Head of Scientific Services, Dr Alan Honey.

  “The bare fact is that Number 2 turbine exploded during an overspeed test at West Winford. Went through the roof, some of the pieces apparently,” added Gritty with relish.

  “Anyone hurt?”

  “Yes, sadly, one fatality and a couple of chaps with comparatively minor injuries.”

  “So Tony will provide the details later?”

  “Right. I think he’s going to ask you to look after our routine work here whilst everyone else is down on the Winford site. Could take months by the sound of it.”

  “Surely not everyone will be needed?”

  “Almost. There’s so much to do. They’ve already seconded people from other departments and got in quite a few on contract; photographers, engineers, non-destructive testers and so on. Mind you, from what I hear it’s a tad late for non-destructive tests, apparently the place is like a bombed site. Anyway, best get on, I’ll speak to you later.” Gritty returned to the rig hall.

  Dave realised that there would be a lot of stuff to be dealt with, even if he only did the absolute minimum to keep things ticking over. He was annoyed, as this would delay getting his own research project, on the sea water corrosion performance rig, started. He realised that any chance of promotion depended upon how well his project had developed by the time of his technical appraisal.

  Geoff and Gritty joined Dave for lunch in the small mess room. They learned about his holiday and generally chatted about the early form of, recently promoted, Swindon Town under Fred Ford, their new manager, although Dave did not number amongst their devoted fan club.

  “The skittles team will suffer if all the lads are away for long,” grumbled Geoff. “It’s difficult enough under normal circumstances to get a decent team out, but with so many lads away we shall be really struggling.”

  Mid-afternoon, Tony Richards’ Triumph Sprite soft-top zoomed into the car park – he had a reputation for modelling himself on Stirling Moss. Staggering under the weight of paperwork, he barged into his outer office and dropped a pile of files onto his secretary’s desk.

  “Brenda, get David Harrison over here asap.”

  “Hi Tony, you wanted to see me? The balloon certainly appears to have gone up. I’d better not take any more leave.”

  “Well David, I hope you enjoyed it. You know the score I expect?”

  “Only this morning. Sue and I have been out of contact with all the news whilst we were away, but Gritty has given me the gist.”

  “Good. I haven’t got time today to go into detail. Suffice to say, it’s going to be planning on the hoof for some time. I’d guess that it could be three months at least before we get any semblance of normality back here. I’m sorry about your own research, but we’re going to have to keep our more direct practical services going for the present. You’ll have Geoff Buswell and Gritty, of course. Although they must keep the ongoing tests running, they should be able to undertake other jobs in between times. In addition, I am getting a couple of extras to help you. One chap over from Electrical Section and also a new lad called Ian who has asked for a secondment to us prior to a PhD course. Think you can manage?”

  “I’ll certainly do my best. Fortunately all the summer outages have been completed so, apart from Winford, the power stations should be fully up and running continuously through the winter. We should only get unscheduled stuff, which hopefully won’t be too bad.”

  “I hope so. I’m afraid that you’ll have to make the day to day decisions, as obviously my priority is going to be centred on the Winford investigation.”

  *

  “If you will move into the Day Room the porter will bring Mr Fielding along directly,” said the staff nurse. The formally dressed, five-man inquiry team settled themselves around a space they felt adequate for
an imaginary wheelchair – an incongruous spectacle – as they awaited Harry Fielding’s arrival. After a few minutes the patient was brought along and wheeled into position.

  “Good morning Mr Fielding, we are pleased that you are well enough to speak to us, as we feel that it is important to gather the facts whilst fresh in the mind. May we offer our condolences before we begin?”

  “I shall be pleased to help if I can, though I’m not sure that I shall be able to as it all just happened so quickly.”

  “We understand that you were with Mr Winscombe alongside Number 1 turbine.”

  “Bill. That’s right. Just passing the time of day on my way to the loading bay when there was this bang, a real big ’un, and some flames. Then dust and lagging flew about and I was hit by something hard and down I goes and that’s all I remember. I was so sorry to hear about poor Terry. A couple of the lads came in last night and reckoned that it was a chunk of bearing housing that caught me. Must have ricocheted. Just a glancing blow, fortunately. Concussion, bruised ribs, broken humerus and this sprained ankle. Be back at work in no time.”

  *

  Although Dave welcomed the challenge and set about his new role with vigour, it became evident that many hectic weeks lay ahead. His first task was to take a step backwards, assess priorities and direct himself and his skeleton staff in the most efficient way. Clearly there were only so many man-hours available, even including a more-or-less continuous overtime regime. He had sought advice from colleagues before finalising his plan. His ad-hoc team were advised, encouraged and exhorted and their response was tremendous. A collective determination seized them all.

  A few days later, what at first appeared to be an early distraction arose when Dave was invited to accompany Mike Pearson to make his first power station visit. This proved to be anything but a distraction, as West Winford was the destination and the result was to give even greater impetus to Dave and his team.

  During the drive southwards, Mike added to Dave’s increasing knowledge of power station operation by explaining the turbine layout. Each turbine comprised three sections (cylinders) in which the rows of bladed wheels (rotors) were housed. Hot, dry steam from the boiler entered the high pressure (HP) cylinder and passed through the turbine blades, turning the rotor. The cooler steam was then divided through a twin system of pipes and directed into one of the two low pressure (LP) cylinders, where it passed through a second series of bladed wheels. The wet exhaust steam was then returned to the boiler.

  The trip to Winford had become routine for Mike over the past couple of years and since the turbine failure, he had been at the site almost continuously, with the odd break to attend meetings. He was due to stay overnight again this trip and so Dave would be travelling back with a chap from the Engineering Department.

  They checked in at Reception and then went onto the Mechanical Engineer’s office to notify their arrival. During the journey Mike had advised Dave on the accepted protocol when visiting working sites. The turbine failure had made this visit particularly sensitive.

  They next went to the locker rooms. Dave, taking his cue from Mike, found an empty locker. His pristine white overalls contrasted sharply with Mike’s heavily soiled outfit as he followed him self-consciously into the turbine hall.

  A vast, well lit space with a tiled floor and, in front of them, six blue turbine-generators stretched away into the distance. Dave took in the scene. The machines hummed and wisps of steam drifted from various vents. He was surprised to note that the areas surrounding the turbines were virtually deserted, with just one or two operators evident.

  Recalling what he had learned from Mike’s description, Dave could imagine, beneath the cladded exterior of the turbines, the large bladed wheels rotating as the hot steam flowed through. He took in as much as possible as he followed Mike past each turbine along the hall. He noted the tachometer instruments, which were reading a steady 3,000 rpm.

  As they approached Number 3 turbine, halfway down the hall, they found a barrier had been erected across the full width of the building. The final three turbines were silent. Then the shock. The Number 2 turbine was badly scarred and the LP top covers had been removed, exposing the shattered interior. The surrounding area was littered with the damaged components; large battered covers, steam pipes, rotors, broken discs, bearing housings, bolts and much more, and within the exposed lower half of the turbine, masses of smaller items from who knew where? One LP cover had a large hole punched through it. Dave needed little imagination regarding the inner workings of the turbine in this instance, as the broken rotors and discs were exposed to full view. A frightening scene, indeed.

  Looking upward at the turbine hall roof, which must have been over fifty feet high, Dave was amazed to see several large holes. What force had been released to cause such damage? Below the roof several large pieces of debris were precariously balanced on the overhead girders and netting had been extended below these for safety reasons.

  The scene was of busy activity around the turbine, with men engaged on a variety of tasks. There were photographers, engineers, and technicians busily occupied with their own concerns. Away from the main area of debris, some of the larger fragments had been placed, and in some cases, partially reassembled as a giant jigsaw. Amongst these was a fractured LP rotor, identified in bold white paint as R/LP/GE, and an LP turbine disc, identified as LP/1AE which, Mike explained, were from the low pressure section. These had been reassembled from the fragmented debris and appeared to be virtually complete, apart from the outer blades of the disc. It was clear that the main fracture of the LP disc had originated in the keyway in the central bore and extended right across to the outer rim.

  Just before half past twelve a gradual change came about. Dave sensed this. The workmen’s chatter subsided to a murmur; cigarettes were stubbed out, followed by a shuffling of feet away from the turbine. Then, as these men withdrew, they were joined by colleagues from other areas. Slowly a wide perimeter of the station staff, including office workers, canteen staff, and others, assembled around the cordoned off section. Taking his cue from Mike, Dave moved out to join them. After removing their hard hats, the assembled group settled.

  A gap through the crowd had been left near the doorway to allow access for a small party of visitors. Several smart-suited men and a clergyman escorted a middle-aged lady with two teenage boys into the area vacated. The group moved to a prearranged spot. A few words were spoken; it was a sombre moment. Working men, heads bowed, haunted looks, rough men, reverent, some in tears. A few minutes’ silence, apart from the background hum of the turbines. All thoughts focused on the man – Terry, exactly one week on. A moment of quiet, a moment of dignity. Dave, a stranger, felt the emotion.

  As the visiting party withdrew and the men stirred and slowly returned to their duties, Dave was confronted by a wide-eyed worker, clearly angry and emotional.

  “It’s a bit late you, in your smart white suits, coming down here, aint it? Should do your job in the first place, not come here when it’s time to pick up the pieces. Engineers? I’ve shit ’em.”

  Dave was taken aback and made no reply as some of the man’s colleagues helped him away with murmured apologies.

  “Sad time for your first station visit,” said Mike, “so different from the usual noise and banter.”

  Dave joined his engineering colleague for their return into Wiltshire. During the journey he reflected upon what he’d experienced on his visit. He was surprised at the devastated condition of Number 2 turbine. How could anyone hope to find the cause? At Fisher’s Tubes he had come across failures of plant items involving their tubing, heat exchangers in particular, and had contributed to the investigation. However, a turbine was quite a different matter. Despite this, he had been hoping that, at some stage, he might be involved with the turbine failure enquiry and today’s experience had reinforced that hope. His first duty though, was to continue to keep the day to day work progressing and he took some comfort from the fact that this was, in
a small way, contributing to the West Winford effort in freeing up other staff members for the investigation.

  4

  Certainly, the demand did not ease and Dave continued to work long hours. Though difficult, he usually managed to get a couple of runs in during the week. His favourite route, when daylight allowed, was through the nearby Highwood Estate.

  Gritty and Geoff undertook as much as they could fit in between their commitment to keeping the rigs running. Gritty was doing his best to look after the Fracture Group’s work and the two secondments were surprisingly useful considering their lack of experience. The group did make time for occasional social evenings which, Dave felt, played an important part in engendering the team spirit between them. Despite all their efforts however, the backlog of work kept mounting.

  Section members who were working on the turbine failure at Winford turned up at the labs occasionally to conduct tests as part of the investigation. Often they arrived, their car boots heavily laden with some large, distorted, metallic object which had originally been an integral part of Number 2 turbine. As Mike had explained the turbine layout to him, together with what he’d seen during his visit, Dave could appreciate much of what was arriving. He knew that the turbines operated at a running speed of 3,000 revs per minute and, once a month, each turbine was taken off the system for an overspeed test in order to check that the safety equipment, installed to control the speed of the turbine, was operating correctly. The test involved raising the speed of the turbine from its operating 3,000 rpm up to 3,300 rpm. The failure had occurred during an overspeed test on Number 2 turbine.

  A detailed procedure had been established before items were removed from the Winford site. The first task was recording relevant details of the piece. An area was photographed untouched, then the larger fragments were removed, identified with a painted number or code, carefully replaced and re-photographed. It was not until an area had been recorded in this way that the pieces of debris could be taken away for individual examination. Work then moved on to another area of damage.