So as most people are probably aware of, there was a bit of a disaster with the project known as the "Big Dig" here in Boston. This is the most expensive road/highway/whatever construction in the United States. Last week, there was a horrible accident in which one of the 4-ton ceiling panels collapsed on a vehicle killing the front seat passenger. The whole situation has led to a criminal investigation, the Gov. taking over the entire project, finger pointing, citizens vowing to never take that route even when it is fixed and tunnels being shut down for months thus leading to a horrible traffic situation.
Well I was reading in my handy, dandy Uncle John's Bathroom Reader: Plunges Into History the other day and found an event that happened in Boston that I would consider a much worse scenario. (This is in NO WAY meant to make light of what happened or the loss of a life. This is an actual event that happened that I found interesting enough to share. If you are easily offended, I apologize). The following features exceprts from the above mentioned book.
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"The 50-foot high tank at the Purity Distilling Comapny of Boston, MA was going full-bore. Filled to near-capacity, it contained two million gallons of steam-heated molasses...Next thing anyone knew, the tank burst, sending - did we mention two million gallons? - warm, sticky molasses into the streets of Boston, moving at 35 miles an hour. Which might have been funny if it hadn't also been carrying huge, jagged sections of the tank."
"In an irony only found in truth, this event really did take place during January (1918). Too bad it had to be an unusually warm January day, 43 degrees, well above freezing. If the weather had been more typical, it might have given the soon-to-be victims time to notice the oncoming calamity..."
"Moving with a dull, muffled roar, the 15-foot hight wall of brown goo surged and rumbled into Boston's North End. It crushed trolley cars, swallowed trucks, horses and carts, and knocked buidlings off their foundation. The parts of the tank propelled by molasses tore into the supports holding up the Atlantic Avenue elevated train...the track collapsed to the ground, jsut as the train was approaching."
"The greatest number of fatalities that day was at a Public Works building. The molasses slammed into the building, shattering it and throwing fragments 150 feet into the air. It was literally a tidal wave, swallowing dozens of people, rolling and crushing them under its brown mass. Dozens were critically injured by the debris picked up and carried by the sticky mess, while others were simply crushed to death... Finally the molasses began to cool and congeal. The final toll was 21 people dead, 150 injured. The clean-up crew pumped sea water from that harbor via hoses. But the molasses and saltwater didn't mix, and soon the whole area was buried under brown foam. It took months before the streets of Boston were their old farmilar dirty gray again."
Copyright 2001 by Portable Press
1 comment:
Really funny story.
dad
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