6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

[bassman284]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

In modern times, evacuation has become almost a first resort. I can kind of understand that local officials, hearing about 6 M pounds of anything, would evacuate first, ask questions later. Major evacuations have occurred for a lot less.

I am reminded of an incident here in the old home place when a meat locker caught fire and burned to the ground. Approximately 500 people located within a 1 mile radius of the fire were evacuated because a 300 lb tank of anhydrous ammonia was burning and putting off toxic fumes. Granted, the burning building put off an impressive cloud of thick black smoke and, since it was almost 90 years old, anybody's guess what kind of fumes there were. BUT, 300 lb of anhydrous ammonia? Turned out the tank was intact after everything cooled down.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

just a question out of curiosity, but does the u.s. military use metric tonnes as a measure ( not necessarily for explosives) ? you do use meters and kilometers etc??

YES. Confused? Depends on what they are doing and where they are. A "short ton" is the American term and a "long ton" is the metric term. Most equipment was labeled both ways.......

Explosives is normally in pounds BUT....... many explosives are packaged (such as dynomite) in grams nut TNT was in pounds...... it keeps people confused LOL.

Kilometers in Europe and as a driver you had to mentally do the conversions - easy...... Now an Artillery Man, tanker or motorman.....uses (mil-radians) Mils (for short) and Grads for a compass and a sniper uses minutes and mils....... I am telling you it was fun!

If you want a headache.....google the mil-radians for a compass! And people thought the Thermometer conversions were tough between F & C

 

[nwcove]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

lol....now im sorry i asked that question!!! im still stuck ( as a metric nation) using pounds for weight, feet and inches for short distances, kilometers per hour for speed, and degrees C for temp. my kids are fully metric, but i was "converted" around grade 5.

but doesnt the us military use meters for distance?? or do i watch to much tv? ( way off topic , i know!)

 

[F14CRAZY]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

bah, you need 50 megatons

Soviet atomic bomb project - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

tim???? are you figuring in the exchange rate????? lol

No. I am a bit of a UOM wonk...it's a hobby.

Since you didn't bother to specify what type of pound....I used Troy....

 

[nwcove]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

rofl.....note to self....be more specific!

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

YES. Confused? Depends on what they are doing and where they are. A "short ton" is the American term and a "long ton" is the metric term. Most equipment was labeled both ways.......

Just to continue the confusion, ....or add to it.... .... not really.
You got "short ton" right, but a "long ton" is a British measure and not at all the same as a "metric ton (tonne) "; it is about 2% larger.
Not much if you are shoveling it, but maybe significant if you are paying for it.

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

rofl.....note to self....be more specific!

When I'm bored on a long drive I like to mentally calculate gas mileage in firkins per furlong....helps pass the time.

(just kidding )

 

[rbh]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

Note to self - Wake up and have coffee before posting!!

And to the rest, smart azzes!!:llama::llama::llama:

 

[bassman284]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

When I'm bored on a long drive I like to mentally calculate gas mileage in firkins per furlong....helps pass the time.

(just kidding )

Whoa dude! You got furlongs in Canada?

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

Whoa dude! You got furlongs in Canada?

Can't do horse racing without 'em.

 

[southkogs]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

Wow.

 

[dwco5051]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

Just to continue the confusion, ....or add to it.... .... not really.
You got "short ton" right, but a "long ton" is a British measure and not at all the same as a "metric ton (tonne) ";

A long ton is expressed as the amount of seawater in 35 cubic feet. Since there is a large variable in the weight of seawater (thus the need for Plimsoll marks on a ships hull)l it is considered to be 2240 pounds. This term is mostly used for marine shipping purposes as it is an easy conversion for comparing loads to capacity based on displacement.

Also very useful to simplify the math back years ago when I took a Navy course in Damage Control and Ships Stability in computing moments of inertia when calculating ships roll, metracentric height, et al, when compensating for flooded compartments.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

Back on topic here

I would love to get a supply of that powder just for my own use.

I would probably test it to see if it could be used as a blasting agent similar to black powder for drilled blast holes

OR....... Here is an idea

Convert it to a fuel to burn to heat up a boiler for heat or electricity. I would hate to see it destroyed or wasted. I could see a lifetime supply of power from that to power a town.

 

[southkogs]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

Back on topic here

I would love to get a supply of that powder just for my own use.

I would probably test it to see if it could be used as a blasting agent similar to black powder for drilled blast holes

OR....... Here is an idea

Convert it to a fuel to burn to heat up a boiler for heat or electricity. I would hate to see it destroyed or wasted. I could see a lifetime supply of power from that to power a town.

Interesting Bob - could it be converted over to things like stump remover? (I know nothing or a little less about explosives)

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

It could be used to up-root or completely move a stump to another piece of property...... depends on who is working the formula and placing the charges

I have been giving this some more thought and that stuff could power a steam generator for a LONG time to produce heat/electric power or both.

 

[nwcove]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

im no tree hugger, but how clean would that stuff burn?

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

Back on topic here

I would love to get a supply of that powder just for my own use.

I would probably test it to see if it could be used as a blasting agent similar to black powder for drilled blast holes

OR....... Here is an idea

Convert it to a fuel to burn to heat up a boiler for heat or electricity. I would hate to see it destroyed or wasted. I could see a lifetime supply of power from that to power a town.

I'd bet a dollar to a donut that one of the main reasons that material hasn't been destroyed is because of the toxins it gives off while being burnt doesn't conform to today's EPA clean air rules. It would probably have to be disposed of in an incinerator with a scrubber type filtration system, which is very expensive and not the way the disposal was bid.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

I'd bet a dollar to a donut that one of the main reasons that material hasn't been destroyed is because of the toxins it gives off while being burnt doesn't conform to today's EPA clean air rules. It would probably have to be disposed of in an incinerator with a scrubber type filtration system, which is very expensive and not the way the disposal was bid.

Well.....if that is true (which I do not know) ....... I would still be willing to research it.

Many of the trash disposal plants use extremely high heat and have the scrubber's you are talking about...... maybe it could power a trash facility. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incineration#Pollution

 

[MTboatguy]

Re: 6 MILLION lbs. of explosives???

Again, in the long run, it is going to come down to exactly what type of explosives they are storing. Without knowing, it is hard to say what could be done with it.

Here is a link to just one of the follow up stories I found this morning.

Two Million Pounds of Explosives Moved So Far at Site in Doyline, La.

Here is another published by Home Land Security, seems it was M6 artillery propellant.

http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire...unds-of-explosives-neighboring-town-evacuated

So it is hard to say at what level of deterioration it was, especially the stuff that was stored outside.

I do find it kind of odd, that such a volume was disposed of by the Military if it was still a viable product that had been stored properly, it will be interesting to gather some more information on this. I might have to make some calls to friends. Makes me want to say, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.