Thread: 56 tonne bomb

Originally Posted by wrinklearthur

Leave the transport of Ammonia Nitrate alone, it's quite safe being transported by using trucks on the road.

I take a different tack here and ask why did that truck at Wyandra leave the road?

How then can we make it safer for drivers to control their trucks?

If we do have a worry, it's with the household groceries that SWMBO carries home in the boot of the car. If the chemicals normally stored in the cupboards in the Laundry and the sweet stuff in the pantry mix ----- there could be spontaneous combustion and a massive explosion, enough to completely destroy a family home could result.



.

Also when you think about the timeline,

1. Truck has accident and rolls
2. Someone has to raise the alarm, if this wasn't the driver it could have been minutes after the intitial accident.
3. Details taken via 000 network, relayed to QFRS, turnout firies from Charleville,
4. Accident scene 30km from Charleville so run time probably 15-20 min.
5. If the vehicle was on fire it could have been burning for up to 30 min before emergency services are on scene.
6. Coming from Charleville, down the Mitchell hwy there is only one approach direction open to them.
7. Pull up just as it detonates

Martyn

Originally Posted by JDNSW

Hardly "discovered". The first two AN disasters I can find records of were in munitions plants in the UK and USA in 1916 and 1918, and the first "fertiliser" AN disaster was in 1921 in Poland (then Germany) when workers tried to use explosives to dislodge thirty tonnes of AN that had set solid in two wagons, killing 19. In the same year, at the BASF plant in Germany, the use of explosives to break up an ammonium nitrate/ammonium sulphate mix resulted in about 10% of 4500 tonnes exploding, killing 461 and injuring about 2,000.

So to say the explosive properties were discovered in 1947 is a bit of a stretch.

Nevertheless, AN has long been used and widely distributed as a fertiliser with accidents such as this very rare. Until recent years it was sold in most garden shops and rural suppliers in Australia, and it is a safe bet that a number of this forum's readers have some stashed away in their garden sheds.

John

John,
I do know there were previous explosions in Germany (now Poland?) and Belgium in the early 1900s and many more worldwide but at the time not widely communicated nor understood that just adding an oil based additive could make it an explosive on its own (actually needs shock impact and that was the key missed). I also have some pics of the BASF explosion aftermath somewhere. The 47 Grandcamp disaster was the first large scale explosion with investigations quantifying the explosive properties when mixed with a shock ignition source. The initial fire is thought to have been a cigarette discarded, but the ship also had on board some ammunition, machinery and sisal twine. The belief is maybe the ammunition exploding caused the catalyst an explosion that then ended up with fuel oil mixing with the AN. The explosion then took out the AN plant and other plants in the dock area causing a chain reaction. 581 dead that were known of but probablly a lot more not known, with thousands injured and displaced.
This was the main event that led to AN being used as an explosive in quarrying, military and later mining and further investigation into what would become ANFO. The original discovery of use as an explosive goes back to 1659 with some further serious research in 1867 but not much came of this until Nobel developed dynamite, but large scale use of AN and fuel did not really occur in large scale until the mid 20th century, until then was largely used to make packaged explosives containing AN as a gelatin substance. Also used in bombs but was basically converted to ammonia. As said different process but still AN and not used as ANFO until a lot later. There was some very early observations of AN and Parafin causing explosions, but could not be quantified enough to use or prove.
The AN on the Grandcamp was being transported from the Texas facility as fertiliser.
I would also like to highlight that AN was not categorized as an explosive by itself.
ANFO usually needs a shock to detonation process to cause the explosion moreso than just fire itself.
AN is also used in the instant cold packs to cause an exothermic reaction.
AN mixed with a bit of water in a bag, drop in your warm stubby and it will chill it quickly.

When our family business was running a daily freight service to the inner Darling Downs in the 60's, we carted heaps of the stuff in lots from a pallet to a truck load to fertilizer depots and direct to farms. The fertilizer works insisted we tarp before leaving their yard and wouldn't load a truck that didn't have an adequate fire extinguisher (rare to be carrying one in those days). Never had a problem with it. We knew it could go bang if mishandled. I reckon LPG is far more dangerous cargo. We used to carry boxes of explosives regularly. Then most country hardware stores had boxes of Nobel & Co. gelatine dynamite behind the counter. As an aside, drums of Avgas had to be tarped before leaving the fuel depot and nothing to be loaded on top of it..

Originally Posted by Bushie

Also when you think about the timeline,

1. Truck has accident and rolls
2. Someone has to raise the alarm, if this wasn't the driver it could have been minutes after the intitial accident.
3. Details taken via 000 network, relayed to QFRS, turnout firies from Charleville,
4. Accident scene 30km from Charleville so run time probably 15-20 min.
5. If the vehicle was on fire it could have been burning for up to 30 min before emergency services are on scene.
6. Coming from Charleville, down the Mitchell hwy there is only one approach direction open to them.
7. Pull up just as it detonates

Martyn

The reality is it takes some sort on impact explosion to detonate the AN. Firefighters got there just at the wrong time. Hence why we would have to respond so quick to AN trucks with fire or brake probs before any sort of explosion occurred or a contained vessel heats up to point where it will go bang. AN burning on its own will not explode.

I used to drive a magazine truck for Guthridge's in Sydney carting Noble's AN-60 An-75 when they were building Carcoar Dam west of Bathurst,in a little J1 Bedford dropside with a Magazine box on it,a ton of Noble's and percussion and electric detonators in a separate section,it never worried me, if something had happened, then they would have found enough bits to send home to my family,the stuff that worried me was Japanese "Kirri" dynamite, they didn't label that stuff "Danger Explosive" until the fuse was lit, boy was that unstable, even the Harbour explosive barge blokes handled that stuff gently.

I seem to remember a truck that went up on the New England Hwy in the early 70's that was carrying "Nitro Prills" driver was killed,we were riding motorcycles at the time and pulled up driver told us to get the H--l out of there,we were about 5 miles up the road and heard the bang over the motorcycle engines.

Originally Posted by UncleHo

I used to drive a magazine truck for Guthridge's in Sydney carting Noble's AN-60 An-75
... .... ....
,the stuff that worried me was Japanese "Kirri" dynamite, they didn't label that stuff "Danger Explosive" until the fuse was lit, boy was that unstable, even the Harbour explosive barge blokes handled that stuff gently.

In that case you would probably appreciate the movie "Wages of Fear" (the original 1953 French version in preference to the 1977 remake).

Was that the movie where they were carting Nitro G in glass jars in horse drawn wagons?

No, they were using some fairly decrepit old trucks.

Le salaire de la peur (1953) - IMDb

Unfortunately the trailer doesn't show much of the trip in the trucks.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAYCADJHImc[/ame]