On August 5~th, 1998, a tractor-trailer carrying approximately 18,000 kg of blasting explosives, struck a rock face on the side of the road near the town of Walden, Ontari. Eye-witness accounts of the incident state that there was an intense fire for approximately 30 minutes before the detonation. The detonation caused severe damage to the tractor-trailer, shifted the pavement and caused blast damage to the rock face. A rock fragment was recovered almost 2.5 km from ground zero and a 70 kg piece of an axle assembly was recovered over 1 km from the site. Windows were cracked at distances of almost 3 km. This ppaer reports the results of the first years of a three year investigation into the accident, with the expectation of determining the appropriateness of existing evacuation distance requirements. It is also the purpose of this investigation to generate data that can assist in determining whether safety will be improved by reducing the maximum amount of blasting explosives which may be transported on one truck, from 20,000 kg to 5,000 kg. Test results include ANFO bum-down rates, initiation via thermal stimulus, and the evalaution of various contaminants on the reaction time of small, confined samples of ANFO.
展开▼
