Highway damage near Charleville.

Link to a similar accident 42yrs ago.

http://blogs.abc.net.au/queensland/2013/04/truck-explosion-memorial-unveiled.html?site=capricornia&program=capricornia_breakfast

I've always been concerned that large quantities of both parts of a well known explosive are carried on the same truck without there being any real measures taken to prevent those two parts from mixing in the case of an accident.

50 tonnes of explosive is going to make a big hole no matter which way you mix it.

1 tonne of that mixed right would make a big hole.

Think of the mess this would have made if it was in or near a populated area.

Lots of town have curves or bends comming into them.......if a similar thing happned comming into one of those towns, there would be carnage and most of the town would be flattened.

look at what happened to that solid concrete bridge that was "nearby".

scary as hell

cheers

The blast was not felt 30km away - that was an unrelated earth tremor that just happened around the same time.

A blast of that magnitude would be felt from a long way thats for sure. It demolished the road.

This is another fertilizer explosion. I saw this film over 40 years ago during training with the RAAF and the WA Mines Dept.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TworcINhDhQ

The percentage of diesel required to make it explode is very low but that may be more for economy reasons than anything else. A lot more of it may well give the same results.

It takes a decent size shock wave to get it going. A detonator in a bag of it is more likely to just just scatter it. About a quarter of a stick of gelignite as a primer is usually needed.

The real problem seems to be when it is exposed to heat in a confined space.

Ammonium Nitrate doesn't need diesel to go off. It can go off with internal heating when there's a stockpile (or a truckload, or a shipload).
An AN explosion can be caused by a process known as Self Sustained Decomposition.
This is where the product commences to decompose chemically in the middle of the stockpile or load.
The SSD process generates heat, and the heat generated can start a fire, and BANG, up it all goes.

There have been numerous AN explosions around the world.

The Texas City Disaster in 1947 was the worlds worst AN explosion. A ship loaded with 2600 tonnes of AN blew up in Texas City port after a fire started in the hold, and the blast caused immense destruction.
The TCD killed a total of 581 people and the blast broke windows 40 miles (64kms) away.

A more recent one in France (Tolouse) in 2001 caused 2.5 billion euros worth of damage, and killed 31 people.
Another one in 2004, a train explosion in NK, killed 162 and injured 3000. The real toll was probably much higher.
This explosion was reported as a possible attempt on the Little Fat Wun's life - who only travels by train to avoid assassination - but it was more likely due to impurities in the AN, which are a big no-no.

AN disasters around the world

We have to balance requirements of a dangerous product with the risk.
We transport tankerloads of petrol around the world, and huge shiploads of AN as well.
Ammunition and explosives ships regularly transport huge amounts of explosives during Wartime.
All possible steps are taken to minimise the known risks. No smoking, safety a priority, minimising the possibilities of fire or overheating.

There hasn't been a major AN disaster for a while. There's bound to be one in the future when all the holes in the cheese line up, as the pilots are fond of saying.

However, in this case, Kalari and the AN shippers need a good kick up the a****.
It seems rather obvious the truck driver went to sleep and ran off the road.

This is an entirely avoidable scenario for AN transport.
There should be two drivers at all times, minimal driving hours to avoid tiredness - and no night transport.
I'm sure something like these conditions/regulations will soon be introduced for AN transport.

There will be screams about "nanny state" when tighter rules and regulations are brought in - but it can all be sheeted home to trucking companies who treat transport of DG's with a casual attitude.

In this same vein, Cootes petrol tanker disaster has had a major impact on trucking conditions, Australia-wide.
My workshop neighbour, a truckie, has just lost all his work and contracts, because he was happily using a 1977 KW to haul his Woolworths trailers around.

Last month, he got booted unceremoniously out onto the street with his contract stripped off him on the spot - because since the Cootes disaster, all major companies now deem old trucks (even though they are in GC and well-maintained) as an unacceptable risk.

The companies now demand near-new trucks for their trailer-hauling, and have immediately relegated a lot of good trucks to paddock work.

The trucking companies only have themselves to blame for any draconian rules that are now initiated as a knee-jerk reaction.