If this is a controlled explosion...

[LVSteve]

...you really don't want to be around when they have an uncontrolled event. I assume by 'controlled' they mean the detonation was initiated by a man pressing a button.

Newtownards: Watch controlled explosion of World War Two bomb

 

[444 Magnum]

That was with a blast-reducing sand filled structure around it. Imagine the explosion without it. A few broken windows to say the least.

Still finding ordinance after 80 years-that's disturbing.

 

[Breakaway500]

Looks like they used 600lbs of explosives to detonate a 500lb bomb. There is a job I'd avoid..

 

[LVSteve]

Looks like they used 600lbs of explosives to detonate a 500lb bomb. There is a job I'd avoid..

Um, metric applies. A German '500' means 500 kg, about 1,100 lbs.

 

[boykinlp]

I watched 60 Minutes Sunday night and they had a story on mines left by the Russians in Ukraine. They estimated one million left behind as they left an area or dropped from planes by the thousands. IIRC, the ones dropped from the planes were called Petal bombs. They were very small, only weighed a couple of ounces, and looked kinda like leaves on the ground, so they camouflaged themselves extremely well. If stepped on they would take a foot or leg! It was unreal watching mine clearing efforts. One young lady who did this dangerous job with pride said it may take a year just to clear the field that she was trying to clear! I can't imagine doing that!

They estimated that it might be a decade or more before they found the greatest majority of them. I can't imagine living like that for that long!
Larry

 

[Harrison]

They are still digging up thousands of unexploded shells per year from WW1 in France. There are tens of thousands of acres of "Red Zones" which are no go zones because the estimated millions of unstable artillery and mortar shells, left over from The Great War, and that is not counting the unexploded bombs and shells from WW2.

I imagine parts of Viet Nam may be as bad. My first tour in Korea (1965-66) was in an Artillery battery about two miles south of the DMZ. Almost every time we dug a high angle pit for the howitzers we dug up unexploded ordinance from the Korean War. We even discovered unexploded ordinance inside our compound when digging for a new sewer line.

There is a lot of the stuff all over the world. Supposedly WW1 was the worst because both sidesused so much artillery and their fuses had a 10%-20% failure rate.

 

[rwsmith]

People still get killed.....

That was with a blast-reducing sand filled structure around it. Imagine the explosion without it. A few broken windows to say the least.

Still finding ordinance after 80 years-that's disturbing.

Plowing in fields with ordnance from WWI.s


Oh, and every once in a while some live stuff from the Civll War is dug up, especially downtown when they do renovations.

AND: "Danger UXB"...One of my favorite TV shows of all time. If anybody is interested in real-life bomb disposal, I'd recommend it. It's about a dozen + episodes and is a Thames production from England. A guy I worked with worked i a building that had the 'DANGER UXB' sign left up for nostagia, until somebody painted over it.

 

[DWalt]

I remember that PBS British UXB series, and was going to mention it before you beat me to it. That was a real oldie, maybe 40 years ago. I'll check to see if it is still available for viewing somewhere. Was about British UXO teams working in London during the Blitz. Well worth watching.
----------------
"Danger UXB" seems to be available on Amazon Prime. From 1979.

 

[jeffrefrig]

I believe I would have a great time doing that.

 

[lihpster]

Controlled and contained are 2 different things.

 

[Rudi]

There are also 2500 air crew missing across Europe. What a brutal war.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Controlled and contained are 2 different things.

A good comment. Even "contained" is a bit misleading; all that can be done is attempt to direct the force of an explosion in a specific direction where (hopefully) there will be little or no harm caused. The amount of energy released will be the same, only the route it takes may be "controlled" to some extent. Essentially allowing a vent through a path of lesser resistance.