I watched a show on ABC tonight called "In An Instant". It was about the November 1999 tragedy on the Texas A&M campus that happened when they built their annual bonfire to precede their University of Texas football game. I remember it happening, but never realized what the process to build the structure entailed. They had done it 90 times before with no major injuries.
It took months to complete. Students took weeks to cut all the trees used in the build with axes!! Weeks more to separate the "poles" according to diameter and length and stack them. As the project got closer to completion, they would work 24 hours a day.
The 60 foot high project, built in a wedding cake style, collapsed killing 12 and injuring 27! Many of the logs had to be removed, one at a time, like Pik-Up Sticks. The last person removed alive had been in the pile for 7 hours! The weight of the pile of wood was estimated to be that of two 747's full of gas, luggage, and passengers.
Of course, this was the end of that tradition. If you get a chance, watch in on demand. It was very interesting. Anybody else watch it?
It took months to complete. Students took weeks to cut all the trees used in the build with axes!! Weeks more to separate the "poles" according to diameter and length and stack them. As the project got closer to completion, they would work 24 hours a day.
The 60 foot high project, built in a wedding cake style, collapsed killing 12 and injuring 27! Many of the logs had to be removed, one at a time, like Pik-Up Sticks. The last person removed alive had been in the pile for 7 hours! The weight of the pile of wood was estimated to be that of two 747's full of gas, luggage, and passengers.
Of course, this was the end of that tradition. If you get a chance, watch in on demand. It was very interesting. Anybody else watch it?
