History of the ASME Code

On March 20, 1905, a disastrous boiler explosion occurred in a shoe factory in Brockton, Massachusetts, killing 58 persons, injuring 117 others, and causing a quarter of a million dollars in property damage. For years prior to 1905, boiler explosions had been regarded as either an inevitable evil or an act of God (see Figs. 1.1 and 1.2). But this catastrophic accident had the effect of making the people of Massachusetts see the necessity and desirability of legislating rules and regulations for the construction of steam boilers in order to secure their maximum safety. After much debate and discussion, the state enacted the first legal code of rules for the construction of steam boilers in 1907. In 1908, the state of Ohio passed similar legislation, the Ohio Board of Boiler Rules adopting, with a few changes, the rules of the Massachusetts Board.

1.1 : The Brockton, Massachusetts, shoe factory. ( Courtesy of The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company.)

1.2 : Shoe factory after the boiler explosion of March 20, 1905, which led to the adoption of many state boiler codes and the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. ( Courtesy of The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company.)

Therefore, other states and cities in which explosions had taken place began to realize that accidents could be prevented by the proper design, construction, and inspection of boilers and pressure vessels and began to formulate rules and regulations for...