"Bruce"   

How Aussie is that!





   

Looking at the image of the crater.......

I guess that is why TRANSPORT DEPT's classify some loads as,
"DANGEROUS GOODS"


!!          


Q.
Wouldn't a load as dangerous as that load was [demonstrated to be],
be entitled to have an 'escort' vehicle accompany it ?

Or, would the extra costs be a negative consideration ?



Imagine if this collision [and subsequent explosion] had occurred
on the 'main street' of some small town, while in transit through a small country town.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-01/bruce-highway-long-wait-to-reopen-after-t...

Another person now killed due to the Bruce highway accident.
Details are hard to find but I know first hand Queensland’s back roads can often find So I won’t speculate.

Given it’s taken the Queensland government ten years to upgrade the m1 behind the gold coast and it’s almost half done and 58 times over budget I think the Bruce highway repairs could well be completed next millennium

First ( pretend) world country with third world highways!

How Australian/ Queenslander is that ?!?

Latin australis means 'southern'.  'East' is from Proto-Germanic *aust- east 'toward the sunrise" from root *aus- 'to shine' especially of the dawn.
West from *wes- 'evening, night'.
An Aust highway can take you south, east, west - who knows where?

The largest non-nuclear blast in modern history took place on August 4, 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon, after an estimated 2750 tons of unsafely stored ammonium nitrate exploded.  Within the port area, the explosion destroyed a section of shoreline and left a blast crater roughly 124 m in diameter and 43 m in depth. Homes as far as 10 kilometers away were damaged by the blast, and up to 300,000 people were left homeless by the explosion.
No-one was responsible and anyone with information is requested to shut up.

'In Queensland, ammonium nitrate emulsions are declared as an explosive under the Explosives Regulation 2017 and are treated as blasting explosives of Class 5.1'.
In Qld possession of fireworks by unlicensed persons constitutes a breach of the legislation. A penalty in excess of $52 220 and six months imprisonment can apply. Do not drive your car into an exploding truck.

Terrorist attack in Oklahoma City, U.S in 1995 used homemade bomb composed of more than two tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertilizer and fuel oil concealed in a rental truck.


Judging by the crater size on Bruce Hwy there have to be much more then 2 tons of ammonium nitrate.

freediver wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2024 at 9:48am:


A couple of issues there. Shots on minesites are only set by qualified people, usually always from the supplier. Emulsion is usually only used for wet boreholes and is manufactured off site. I have no issues with the transport other than the route taken. They could have easily bypassed major cities.

B-Doubles containing Dangerous Goods are given designated routes.  They are not allowed to go "downtown".  As for slower speeds, remind me what the speed limit on the Gateway Motorway is again? There have already been Hazmat incidents on that route, and it's probably a matter of time before emulsion is involved.

The death of the ute driver was instantaneous. The accident was probably due to not driving to conditions (both vehicles) and the thick fog at the time. If it had been anything other than explosives, the ongoing consequences would not have been so serious.

They had to evacuate Bororen at very short notice. One resident came back to find a piece of truck embedded in her house.

What I'm saying is that the potential consequences could have been much worse. It was fortunate that  there was very little wind in this case,  and it was blowing away from population centres. (think clouds of NOx blowing across Carindale or Rochedale)

John_Taverner wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2024 at 9:20am:

Thank goodness for that. The Highway and humans would just be oxidised, for a short distance.  A crater of oxidise. Bruce oxide. (Not a greenhouse gas)

Gladstone soil is Aluminum Oxide, Iron Oxide, Potassium Oxide,  Sodium Oxide, Silicon Dioxide, Magnesium oxide and Calcium oxide.  Nothing changes when it's oxidised.
Road tar contains between 50% to 90% carbon. The Bruce crater has about 30 sq m of tar oxidised, with bitumen 80mm depth, 2.4 cu.m, of 95 percent stone, sand and gravel and just 5 percent asphalt. It lost 1 cu.m, say .08 cu.m carbon. 1 cu m of carbon weighs 2 266 kilograms so 190kg. CO2 weight is about 4 times carbon,  760 kg C02.
An average truck emits 223 tons of CO2 per annum, 300 times the explosion's CO2. The explosion was environmentally friendly, added nitrogen to the soil and removed a polluting truck from emitting 70 tons CO2 the rest of this year.

chimera wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2024 at 1:51pm:


So if the ammonium nitrate was being made in Moura - in the heart of mining territory - what was a tanker of it doing on the Bruce Highway near Bororen? Obviously not mining explosives but soil injectable fertilizer.

Liquid ammonium nitrate is used as a fertilizer .. not an addition to explosives for mining. How would they accurately place the right amount of liquid down a deep hole?

It its solid form it's called "urea"it has always been a fertilizer & used in mining explosives.

Just don't go into to Bunnings and buy more than 1 bag at a time. 

chimera wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2024 at 3:26pm:


What a load of bollocks.

Gnads wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2024 at 6:46pm:

True. All of it. There was no explosion, just processing of tar into CO2. Bruce has the pic of the hole in his highway.

Nothing to see here, just gum trees oxidising their flammable eucalypts.  Trucks get rusty. Especially cattle trucks loaded with urea. Closed containers may rupture violently or detonate if heated. May detonate if subjected to strong shocks, such as from an explosion. Ammonium nitrate of any grade, including fertilizer grade should be considered, especially when mixed with oil, charcoal, or other organic materials, an explosive capable of detonation by the combustion or explosion of adjacent materials.

Gnads wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2024 at 6:44pm:


Believe me, they do. I worked in the industry for 7 years.  Urea (carbamide) is not ammonium nitrate. Urea is CO(NH2)2.  It looks a bit like Ammonium nitrate prill, but is totally different.

Emulsion is used for wet blast holes (for example after rain). AN prill is most commonly used under normal conditions, mixed with oil (ANFO). Around 95% of ammonium nitrate production is used for blasting.  If you want to use it as a fertiliser, you need a licence to buy it for concentrations above 40%.

Here is a link to one of the two suppliers, with a description of AN Emulsion:

https://www.orica.com/products-services/resources/blasting-principles

Quote:


It doesn't matter which company is the original supplier.  The EIPs on the trucks reflect the transporter details only.

This is what the tanker looks like.  (The transporter in this particular case wasn't necessarily Toll.)

chimera wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2024 at 3:26pm:


You're an idiot, but I mean that in a friendly way. 

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Urea nitrate is explosive when left in a dry state. Wetting reduces possibility of explosion but may explode under prolonged exposure to heat or fire, even when wet.   Avoid generating dust, particularly clouds of dust in a confined or unventilated space as dusts may form an explosive mixture with air, and any source of ignition, i.e. flame or spark, will cause fire or explosion. Dry dust can be charged electrostatically by pouring, in exhaust ducts and during transport. 

Bunnings Specialised Fertiliser Garden Products.
Richgro 10kg Urea. Place flashing lights on car roof, with red flags front and back. Wrap kids in wet sacks.  Speed limit 10kmh.  Check life insurance and funeral policies. Store Urea in a concrete bunker and alert your Fire Brigade.

Mr Mellish said his department would explore ways to avoid transporting dangerous goods on the highway, such as through the state's rail system or asking Bruce.

Urea.
'If a vacuum is used, explosion proof equipment is required. Nonsparking tools should be used. Dust deposits should not be allowed to accumulate on surfaces, as these may form an explosive mixture if they are released into the atmosphere in sufficient concentrations.'
https://iowafertilizer.com/assets/uploads/2017/02/IFCo-Urea-Granules-SDS-with-ST...

Place sandbags in the boot of your car.  Vacuum the car at the beach or Bruce Highway.

chimera wrote on Sep 3^rd, 2024 at 6:28pm:


Urea.
Dried fermented piss.

Urea Nitrate.
Dried fermented piss and nitric acid.

chimera wrote on Sep 3^rd, 2024 at 7:05pm:


Urea has only one O. Not much oxidiser, maybe rust. Urea Nitrate has 4 to give up, don't let it near your vehicles fuel..

Bobby. wrote on Sep 3^rd, 2024 at 6:39pm:


That's odd. The first picture I saw made it look like a big hole right in the middle of the road.

They were worried about the integrity of a nearby culvert.

Gnads wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2024 at 12:27pm:


Banana bender?

' If you have a claim against a retail store or Bunnings warehouse and your injuries have left you unable to work you might not need to pay for your medical expenses or financial losses At PK Simpson, we can help you lodge retail store claims for compensation whether your accident was caused by, e.g., a falling retail item, an obstacle in an aisle or urea. '
https://www.pksimpson.com.au/bunnings-store-accident-compensation-claims/

At $5.4m per lane kilometre, the average cost of class 1 rural roads is more than four times the average cost of class 3 rural roads.

John_Taverner wrote on Sep 4^th, 2024 at 8:52am:


I stand corrected ..... I'm sure there was a time when urea was hard to buy & they(the authorities) were paying very close attention to anyone who tried to buy large quantities from stores like Bunnings etc.