Explosives stolen from Kokomo mining site. (Oh dear)

[printcraft]

Looks like limestone, had to look it up as I didn't even know Kokomo had a large gravel pit out southwest of town

We have 2.

 

[Timjoebillybob]

It would be interesting to know exactly how much is missing.

I worked part-time security/traffic control for the company that did the blasting for that big hole in the ground on West St at the fuel line and they were using 1500 pounds per shot. So if they are actively blasting limestone I would imagine that the quantity on hand is pretty significant.

How much and what. I know they mainly use ANFO, but they do use others as well correct? Along with blasting caps and occasionally iirc other explosives as a detonating charge.

 

[HoughMade]

Maybe I'm the only one that finds this fairly serious. I mean, I know what the first thing that comes to mind when I think of "why would a person steal industrial explosives?"

And us sitting around wringing our hands and fretting helps how?

 

[Frank_N_Stein]

How much and what. I know they mainly use ANFO, but they do use others as well correct? Along with blasting caps and occasionally iirc other explosives as a detonating charge.

The blaster on the job I worked was using a water gel explosive (slurry dynamite in plastic casing). No booster charge needed for it. ANFO would have cast boosters with it because it can't be set off by blasting cap only.

 

[Timjoebillybob]

The blaster on the job I worked was using a water gel explosive (slurry dynamite in plastic casing). No booster charge needed for it. ANFO would have cast boosters with it because it can't be set off by blasting cap only.

The things you learn on this site... But seriously, thank you.

I didn't think a standard blasting cap would set off ANFO at least not with any reliability. I thought they had "higher strength" ones for it, at least that is what I remembered being told, I either misheard or he was talking about the cast boosters. I didn't know about the water gel explosive. The few times I worked with a blaster he used det cord (1000s and 1000s of feet of it) or either dynamite or a plastic. I worked with him at Nipsco plants and once at garbage incinerating power plant in a Chicago suburb. It was interesting at the Nipsco plants, inside the boiler they have layers of pipes about 6ft apart, it looks like floor and ceiling of pipes when you go in. Fly ash builds up on them and occasionally needs cleaned off. The industrial cleaning company I worked for would go in with saws and go between each pipe after we had a layer done the blasters would come in and wrap each pipe with the det cord. It was funny one time a guy who hadn't done it before was working with me and asked what all that "rope" was wrapped around the pipes above our heads, the look on his face when I told him was funny. He wasn't back the next day.

 

[Frank_N_Stein]

The things you learn on this site... But seriously, thank you.

I didn't think a standard blasting cap would set off ANFO at least not with any reliability. I thought they had "higher strength" ones for it, at least that is what I remembered being told, I either misheard or he was talking about the cast boosters. I didn't know about the water gel explosive. The few times I worked with a blaster he used det cord (1000s and 1000s of feet of it) or either dynamite or a plastic. I worked with him at Nipsco plants and once at garbage incinerating power plant in a Chicago suburb. It was interesting at the Nipsco plants, inside the boiler they have layers of pipes about 6ft apart, it looks like floor and ceiling of pipes when you go in. Fly ash builds up on them and occasionally needs cleaned off. The industrial cleaning company I worked for would go in with saws and go between each pipe after we had a layer done the blasters would come in and wrap each pipe with the det cord. It was funny one time a guy who hadn't done it before was working with me and asked what all that "rope" was wrapped around the pipes above our heads, the look on his face when I told him was funny. He wasn't back the next day.

Blasting caps will just scatter the ANFO everywhere. Funny how they used explosives to "clean" the pipes. Did you ever see the Mythbusters episode when they put dynamite in the cement truck barrel(?) to knock loose the dried cement?

 

[hoosierdoc]

Blasting caps will just scatter the ANFO everywhere. Funny how they used explosives to "clean" the pipes. Did you ever see the Mythbusters episode when they put dynamite in the cement truck barrel(?) to knock loose the dried cement?

Yeah. I'm not all that smart and I guessed that outcome

 

[Timjoebillybob]

Blasting caps will just scatter the ANFO everywhere. Funny how they used explosives to "clean" the pipes. Did you ever see the Mythbusters episode when they put dynamite in the cement truck barrel(?) to knock loose the dried cement?

Yep. I liked the end. The explosives worked great on the pipes. When fly ash gets wet it will set up almost like concrete. I've used jackhammers to bust it up. And it didn't come apart easy.