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Underground Blasts Fire Indianapolis Manhole Covers Into Air
AP via ABC News ^ | March 19, 2015 | Jeni O'Malley

Posted on 03/19/2015 2:46:35 PM PDT by EveningStar

Underground explosions caused by electrical arcing shot manhole covers into the air at a busy downtown Indianapolis intersection on Thursday, disrupting commuters, closing businesses and raising concerns about safety as the city prepares to host the Final Four next month.

Indianapolis Power & Light officials said Thursday that the arcing — electrical current jumping a gap in a circuit — occurred in 120-volt underground cables and caused the system to short-circuit.

(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Indiana
KEYWORDS: explosions; finalfour; indianapolis
Gary Varvel cartoon: link only per agreement with Gannett - click on image to enlarge
1 posted on 03/19/2015 2:46:35 PM PDT by EveningStar
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To: EveningStar

Sorry... that was me. I ate Taco Bell.


2 posted on 03/19/2015 2:49:44 PM PDT by Boogieman
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To: EveningStar
120-volt circuit fault blew multiple manhole covers?

Doubt it.

Maybe 120 kilovolt. That'd do it, and more.

3 posted on 03/19/2015 2:49:50 PM PDT by Steely Tom (Vote GOP for A Slower Handbasket)
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To: EveningStar

Isn’t it sexist to call them manholes???


4 posted on 03/19/2015 2:49:56 PM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: EveningStar

They got to fix this NOW! Can’t have the Final Four affected!


5 posted on 03/19/2015 2:50:18 PM PDT by Red_Devil 232 ((VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!))
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To: EveningStar
This happened last year, right next to the Turnverein, a tremendous German society building and activity complex dating from 1893.

Has several German restaurants and bars, a stage, gymnasium, meeting rooms, it is spectacular.

I thought then that it might be a sauerkraut-related catastrophe.

6 posted on 03/19/2015 2:51:14 PM PDT by caddie
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To: EveningStar

Only if the electric sparks ignited some methane buildup or there was a natural gas leak somewhere.


7 posted on 03/19/2015 2:51:59 PM PDT by toast
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To: EveningStar

This story is no good without VIDEO!


8 posted on 03/19/2015 2:55:46 PM PDT by SWAMPSNIPER (The Second Amendment, a Matter of Fact, Not A Matter of Opinion)
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To: toast
Only if the electric sparks ignited some methane buildup or there was a natural gas leak somewhere.

If they run the power cables through the sewer tunnels, that could easily be the case.

9 posted on 03/19/2015 2:56:18 PM PDT by Disambiguator
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To: Dilbert San Diego

Well, woman holes was considered an even more of a bad idea. So... you know.


10 posted on 03/19/2015 2:57:55 PM PDT by AFreeBird
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To: Steely Tom
Maybe 120 kilovolt. That'd do it, and more.

There's a story about a manhole cover that sealed the bomb shaft for a nuclear test. After the test, they never found it, speculating that it went into space.

11 posted on 03/19/2015 3:00:33 PM PDT by Calvin Locke
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To: EveningStar

Reminds me of the story where a manhole cover was blown into space from an underground atomic explosion in New Mexico back in September of 1957. It beat Sputnik in space by two months and is said to have gone over 150,000 MPH making it the fastest manmade object ever. It might be the first object to make it to interstellar space, I think it could be headed for Antares, IIRC.


12 posted on 03/19/2015 3:00:57 PM PDT by Nowhere Man (Mom I miss you! (8-20-1938 to 11-18-2013) Cancer sucks)
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To: Steely Tom
120-volt circuit fault blew multiple manhole covers?

No way. Even a 480V 3 PH dead short, while quite impressive, couldn't do that.

Maybe a 120V control circuit took out the big juice (13,800V or such)?

13 posted on 03/19/2015 3:04:16 PM PDT by MileHi (Liberalism is an ideology of parasites, hypocrites, grievance mongers, victims, and control freaks.)
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To: Nowhere Man
Reminds me of the story where a manhole cover was blown into space from an underground atomic explosion in New Mexico back in September of 1957. It beat Sputnik in space by two months and is said to have gone over 150,000 MPH making it the fastest manmade object ever.

A little quick Google work puts that speed estimate into question.

According to Wikipedia, the test in question (called "Pascal B") had a yield of only 300T (0.3 kT). Using the Unit Juggler, I discover that this yield is about 1255 GJ (gigajoules).

A object going at 150,000 mph (67 kilometers per second) and weighing 2000 lb (as the manhole cover in question is said to have weighed) would amass a kinetic energy of no less than 2248 GJ, almost twice as much as the total energy of the atomic bomb said to have propelled it.

Also, I would think that an object a meter or so in size, exiting the atmosphere at that speed, would have (a) caused a shockwave that would probably have broken windows a couple of hundred miles away (b) created an extremely bright flash as atmospheric heating raised its temperature to white-hot, leading to (c) its probable complete conversion to metal vapor.

14 posted on 03/19/2015 3:27:31 PM PDT by Steely Tom (Vote GOP for A Slower Handbasket)
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To: MileHi

Not the first time this has happened in Downtown Indy.
There was another incident yesterday, and four more over the last four years.


15 posted on 03/19/2015 3:34:31 PM PDT by tcrlaf (They told me it could never happen in America. And then it did....)
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To: tcrlaf

What caused the others?


16 posted on 03/19/2015 3:42:28 PM PDT by MileHi (Liberalism is an ideology of parasites, hypocrites, grievance mongers, victims, and control freaks.)
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To: Steely Tom
Hubby worked for the phone company, before going into a manhole to work on underground cables, they always tested for gas. It can also build up in the manhole. boom, that can blow up a manhole cover also. They use molten lead and a torch to keep the lead in liquid form...
17 posted on 03/19/2015 4:13:44 PM PDT by goat granny
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