[ Jim Lynch wrote in 020629 MMDigest: ]

> The calliope musician continually checks the boiler water level and
> operates his water pump and steam injector as needed, knowing that any
> overheated steel will quickly soften and may bulge and tear a hole.
> If this simply permitted all the steam to rush out, little harm would
> be done but actually _all the water_ in the boiler, which has been
> heated up far above its normal boiling temperature, instantly turns
> into steam in a thundering bomb-like explosion.

Which is why such a boiler must be regularly inspected by state
authorities.  These are the oldest government-mandated safety rules,
and they're there for a good reason: we had several people killed at
the fair in Berea, Ohio when an antique steam tractor blew up.

> For about the last two hundred years, the steel beams and girders of
> new buildings were covered from sub-basement to the roof with plaster,
> asbestos or concrete to protect them from the heat of a fire which
> would otherwise quickly cause the metal framework of the building to
> soften and fail.  In recent years some engineers, architects and
> building inspectors seem to have forgotten what they should have
> learned in college, as can be seen in the World Trade Center disaster.

All steel-framed buildings are still fireproofed, and the World Trade
Center was no exception.  The fireproofing on the steelwork was
inspected each year as required by law.  However, no fireproofing of
that sort can withstand a 2000 degree fire that lasts several hours.
An office or apartment building that could withstand such an attack
couldn't be more than a few stories high and would have no windows.

Mark Kinsler
Lancaster, Ohio
http://www.frognet.net/~kinsler

 [ Editor's note:
 [
 [ I think you mean the boiler explosion at the Medina (Ohio) County
 [ Fairgrounds, July 29, 2001.  The chief boiler inspector for the Ohio
 [ Department of Commerce stated, "I suspect it was a combination of
 [ mechanical and operator error."  See
 [ http://clevessf.dev.advance.net/news/more/medinafair.html
 [
 [ The examiner's report, submitted by the director of the Certified
 [ Boiler Engineers for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, appears at
 [ http://www.doli.state.mn.us/boilerohio.html
 [
 [ The State of Ohio is about to enact legislation requiring inspection
 [ and licensing of steam boilers, which will surely impact steamboats
 [ operating on Ohio rivers.  See
 [
http://www.intercountynews.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=4340072&BRD=1996&PAG=461&dept_id=459492&rfi=6
 [
 [ -- Robbie