"Exploding Concrete" on Dallas Fwy

Obviously that dude had just enough knowledge to be dangerous (g) Ken.

The first time I was shown how to use a torch I was shown what happens when you place the flame on concrete.

Les

Must have been a heck of a fire considering that interstate concrete is

12" thick and the rebar is > Fox News 6pm report (crews still patching freeway):

Or the ones who report that a small plane crashed after the engine stalled...when it was actually a "stall-spin" accident involving the

*wing* stalling and losing lift due to improper handling by the pilot. The engine is usually running just fine right up to impact...er, sorry, "inadvertent contact with terrain".

-- Mike

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Well.. it could happen, if fire heated with induction (ala induction furnace) ;)

Tim

-- In the immortal words of Ned Flanders: "No foot longs!" Website @

If there was any moisture in the concrete (likely), it could indeed 'explode' (steam).

Dan Mitchell ==========

Ljwebb11 wrote:

See my comments below.

I don't know about fireplaces, but I do know highways. Concrete does retain _some_ moisture, and there is a lot in the ground, underneath. Concrete is also a somewhat better than poor heat conductor. :-) Heat, plus moisture, means _steam_. Here in Indiana, every summer sees "blowups." Concrete as deep as 8-12 inches thick, "blows" chunks all over. You can almost guarantee it, if it hits 90+, for a couple of days, within a week of a rain. I've seen pieces as big as my head, blown from a stretch 6 feet long, and a foot wide. Usually at slab intersection. BTW, rebar does rust, in spite of being "buried" in the concrete. Again, I've seen it.

Roads have a defined "life span." Here in Indy, they closed a section of I-65/I-70 to do just that. Ask your local AAA office about the "Hyper Fix in Indianapolis." Road sections more than 30 years old, are being completely rebuilt. Scheduled to end Late August, and could be done *30* days early. =8-0

I seem to remember that the British (I think) once made an interesting revolver in which the upper frame slid back over the lower frame to which the handgrip was attached, cocking the hammer by recoil, and a set of zig-zag grooves milled into the cylinder rotated it to bring the next chamber into play. (Unfortunately, I *don't* remember the name of the company.)

So -- all we need to do is add a full-auto switch and there we are a "deadly assault machine gun revolver" -- except finding someone who could keep it pointed at the target. :-) Hmm ... while we're about it, make it a 30-round cylinder, and make it that much harder to control. :-)

Enjoy, DoN.

Or a Buck.

Got to love the news reports that talk about some clown sticking a blade in somone and have an "Evil Semiautomatic Pistol" or an AK-47 as the background logo to the story.

Spin? Propaganda? Nah........

Gunner

"What do you call someone in possesion of all the facts? Paranoid.-William Burroughs

The Webly-Fosbury. Quite an interesting arm. I was previledged to shoot one a number of years ago. Had a rather interesting recoild signature (for one used to shooting 1911 clones)

"What do you call someone in possesion of all the facts? Paranoid.-William Burroughs

It might have been during the fighting of the fire. We had an outbuilding burn at our new place. It was "fully involved" when the fire department got there a few minutes after the fire was first reported. This fire was hot enough to melt parts of the copper roof (1960F), spall the limestone around all window and door openings (??), sag the steel crane rails (fully melts around 2200F), and make the bronze window frames run like candle wax (1600+F).

pictures taken by the fire departments.)

The 8" reinforced slab (#6 on 12" x 12") was OK except in a few locations where it had spalled off about 3' in diameter and about

6" deep. I later determined that this was a place where the fire department had played a heavy stream (as opposed to mist or fine spray) on the floor.

--Pete "Peter W. Meek"

no, no, the extra weight adds control, reducing muzzle climb. in the prone position, if the frame/cyl were properly configured, it could automatically _traverse_. --Loren

[ ... ]

Hmm ... I thought that the sudden rotation of the cylinder added

*torque* to the recoil, and a 30-round cylinder would do more so, with its greater mass. :-) What if we rotated the cylinder opposite to the rifling twist -- would they counteract each other to some degree? I want to see a speed loader for that 30-round cylinder, too.

Enjoy, DoN,

i had to wait a few minutes for "speed loader" to sink in. --Loren

My furnace is non-crumbled testament to the false-ity of this statement ;)

Tim

-- In the immortal words of Ned Flanders: "No foot longs!" Website @

Los Angeles has had a few of these tanker fires, (complete with TV helicopter footage from 5 channels at once), and they've had to come in and do emergency resurfacing of the roadway at the hottest spots from the concrete spalling in the heat. No rebar involved.

We're not in a frost zone, so judging from watching them replace cracked concrete slab sections on the US-101 Calabasas Grade it only looks about 8" thick here, with the pre-fab epoxy-coated rebar panels at the bottom. Still gets hammered by trucks.

Holy Smoking Crater of C***, Batman!.... :-) Just a few suggestions (especially since you're rebuilding, and judging from the "Before" pictures you aren't trying to do this work on the cheap...;-) :

Fire sprinklers everywhere. A fire pump. Integrated alarm system with smoke and heat/ROR detectors, central station, etc. Another outbuilding for the shop - a prefab flammable storage shed with all the bells and whistles, and a way to hide or disguise it.

a good starting point.

And if you aren't on city water and have a slow well (sounds like it when you mention they trucked in most of the water) a 6,000 gallon tank isn't nearly enough - you need a /big/ swimming pool with a suction line to a drain in the deep end. Give the fire department a wharf-head with a "HARD SUCTION" sign, and plumb it to the fire-pump suction.

Sounds repairable, though they should take it back to clean concrete and key it in, treat the edges with an adhesion aid, all that stuff.

-->--

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Your furnace is probably a refractory mix designed to consolidate under heat. It also probably cost 3 or 4 times as much as cement.

I learned all about the advantages of refractories at about 5 years old. My great uncle owned Steven's Fire Brick, now part of AP Green. I got to play in the big pile of fuzzy clay. Had no effect on me. HACK!! COUGH!! Wheeze.....

Well, the replacement will have an FM-200 fire suppression system. Also heat and dusty- environment smoke detectors. I think all shops (machine shops included) should have at least detectors and preferably monitored detectors.

Well, I'm not going to supply enough water to fight an entire fire. I don't like the liability issues associated with ponds and pools. The 6000 gallons is just enough for the initial response unit to fight the fire while the tankers get organized. It also supplies the pump that feeds the sprinkler heads. Most folks who live out of the area of city water don't have anything. I can tell you that a natural pond is more likely to clog the strainer than to supply anything useful.

-- --Pete "Peter W. Meek"

Nope, in fact it didn't cost me anything because I didn't buy the supplies.. ;)

Heh heh...

Tim

-- In the immortal words of Ned Flanders: "No foot longs!" Website @