Experts clamour to explain botched California implosion.
Two state agencies have opened investigations into Saturday’s power plant implosion along Coffee Road that seriously injured one man and hurt several others.
Representatives of Cal-OSHA and the California Public Utilities Commission said their inquiries were under way Monday. Cal-OSHA enforces public and workplace safety laws, while the commission oversees the plant’s owner, Pacific Gas & Electric Co.
A Cal-OSHA spokeswoman said her agency’s investigation is focusing on Alpha Explosives, a Lincoln-based demolition company hired by PG&E’s prime contractor on the job, Cleveland Wrecking Co., of Covina.
The shrapnel may have escaped because too much explosives — or the wrong kind — were used, they said.
Or, the explosives could have been placed incorrectly within the structure — or the measures used to contain them may have been inadequate, they said.
“When something unusual like this happens, it’s a combination of many factors,” said Brent Blanchard, director of field operations for Protec Documentation Services, a New Jersey structural blast consulting firm.
have ways of containing shrapnel.
Typically, he said, structural columns in buildings set for implosion, are wrapped in a tough fabric that is then surrounded by a chain link fence material.
After that, Taylor said, the column usually gets another layer of strong fabric, and a plywood structure is built around it to contain any shrapnel.
“Usually it tends to be pretty effective containing the shrapnel in these instances,” he said.
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