Elevator collapse in Russell

So sad.

From KWCH

Quote :

Two Killed in Russell Grain Elevator Collapse


Posted: Jun 24, 2010 3:02 PM CDT
Updated: Jun 24, 2010 8:33 PM CDT
By Chris Durden (RUSSELL, Kan.)

A grain elevator collapse in Russell kills two young men. The victims are 21-year-old Max Greve of Hays and 19-year-old Sean Banks of Russell.



The collapse happened around 2:15 Thursday afternoon at the AgCo Inc. elevator at 913 N. Fossil in Russell.



Eyewitnesses say several tubes in the elevator cracked and grain poured out. One man escaped as the grain came down, his two co-workers did not.




An employee at a local radio station told Eyewitness News shortly after the collapse that officials were aware of problems with the elevator and those would be addressed next week. However, Eyewitness News and the radio statio have since been unable to verify that account.

Emergency crews are carefully moving around the site for fear the remaining tubes may come down.




The Red Cross intends to provide food and water to approximately 100 emergency workers at the scene. It will also serve as a liaison at the incident command center working with local officials.

More pictures and video at the link below.

http://www.kwch.com/global/story.asp?s=12704733



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Photos do not due this justice. seeing it in person is overbearing

I've wondered before how strong old concrete bins full of cracks were, but I really didn't expect to see failure on this level.

This brings up several questions. If the Russell bin issue was known and repairs were planned, why was it holding grain? Also, how many other elevators of that age and older may have the same threat looming? What effect does vibrations from passing trains have on the concrete over time?

Maybe it was from vibra acoustic shit from that wind farm

I spoke with one of the cops last night who was standing guard that when a train passed earlier the whole damn thing shook again. They tried to get the UP to reroute trains but they would not do it. So they are running through Russell slowly.

They should re-route until the structural stability of the remaining bins are verified safe.

slickjay12 wrote:

I spoke with one of the cops last night who was standing guard that when a train passed earlier the whole damn thing shook again. They tried to get the UP to reroute trains but they would not do it. So they are running through Russell slowly.

Yeah heaven forbid Union Pacific be inconvenienced in any way. I hope the rest of it falls down on one of their boxcars while its passing by.

We were digging once within 200 foot of the tracks. We had a rule of nobody in the hole as the train passes. Those things shake the ground pretty good. I used to live a block from the rails and you never had to hear a train coming, you always felt it. That said, structural problems would have to exist or train vibrations couldn't drop a concrete building.

If a train contributed to it then old elevators all over the place would be falling down.

That's just it Blackie. Every elevator is right beside the tracks. Had to be something wrong with the concrete, the re-bar, or both.

Maybe it the age of the elevator? If age does have something to do with the elevator collapse, then how old are all the elevators in Kansas, or the 50 states? Why does it seem that we are falling apart at the seams? I'm really more optimistic than this, but it seems to be hitting from everyside. The oil in the gulf is just over the top bad. We are suppose to be keepers of the earth and the animals. That our purpose as God has planned. Just some thoughts to put out there. { It's also a plain fact that I can spell even though I try, try and try again.}

jewels, no offense, but I'd say you being about the 100 millionth person to ask why does this happen when you didn't figure God intended it this way is why so many of us have decided that religion as we know it is really not much different than shaking rattles at the moon and chicken bones hung over the doorway to ward off evil spirits.

It's much easier, and far more logical, to accept that tragedies like these are the fault of your dipshit fellow man who is only a thousand years past living in caves than to ponder why your all powerful and loving god would allow it to happen.

There could be many reasons why this happened, but a god being involved is not one of them.
Anything man-made is destined to fail, it's just a matter of how, when and how bad. The faliure of the grain elevator could have many contributing factors such as, too wet a concrete mix, too dry concrete mix, not being vibrated properly when poured, too hot the day it was poured, too cold the day it was poured, an improper sand/concrete mixture, a hairline crack could have allowed water in over the years and weakening the steel reinforcement with rust, vibrations from passing trains, the age of the facility.... take your pick. The only thing we know for sure is it failed and 2 young people lost their lives. With any luck, it won't happen at any of the other elevators in the country. But then again, they are man-made.

I don't believe God allowed this to happen. Even before we are born we all have our appointed time to die. Bad things happen to us because of the original sin that was committed in the Garden of Eden. So if you want to blame someone, blame Adam and Eve. But please don't tell the parents, relatives and friends of these fine young men that there is no God because they firmly believe that their loved ones are with God in Heaven. (Just my humble opinion.)

I was under the impression that they were a lot more susceptible to fire than collapses. Guess that idea comes from the explosion in Wichita about 10 or 12 years ago and the massive elevator that burned at the Grand Trunk Railroad Terminal in Maine when I was a kid. I read that e elevator was the largest on the east coast at the time, over 1.5 million bushel capacity.They attributed the fire to some bums who were sleeping in it flicking their ashes in the wrong place. It burned for weeks, but never collapsed. They did tear it down after that.

All I was saying was there we are to be the keepers of the earth (as God Planned for us as it says in Genesis). My heart goes out to the parents, family and friends of these young men. I was also saying if we don't ship shape up and take care of our earth.... then who in the .... is? God had nothing to do with the man made elevator collapsing! I was wondering why,(100,millionth and 1 person) it seems that a lot of things are happening? Weather being crazy half the time, Nothing ever like this, oil in the gulf, has happened to this magintude. I Oh by the way. Ratzilla, your most likely got more religion than I do! Don't whip your non religion bull on me.. We live in America and the last I knew was that we have Freedom of speech and Freedom of Religion. Hummm. Sorry you heard something 100Million times.

It's my very humble opinion that we are not "made in the image" of something so powerful as to be able to create a universe. Once again, no offense, but I've always thought man has elevated himself awful damn high to imagine himself the prize pet of his god and the top life form in the universe based only on the words that highly superstitious men wrote 2000 years ago.

For those who want to believe there's some pre-written plan with a fairy tale ending, have fun. I don't care. Everyone is free to believe as they wish. I just havn't seen any evidence of religion being more than campfire tales of olden times and see no point in pretending I can know what is currently impossible to know.

The Other One wrote:

I was under the impression that they were a lot more susceptible to fire than collapses.

The concrete bins are highly susceptible to grain dust explosions. Collapse is uncommon, but due to age and weather it will start happening more often just as old bridges are collapsing. What's odd is that some concrete elevators built in the early 1900's are more solid than some built much later. Could be the hurry to put them up in more recent decades has something to do with that. When they built the one in Zurich 25 or 30 years ago the work crew was comprised largely of Mexicans pushed hard to finish the job.

Ratzilla wrote:

pretending I can know what is currently impossible to know.

Rat, it's called faith. I'm not trying to convert anyone but in my own life there are things that I couldn't have made it through without my faith one of those being the death of my Father.

lyric wrote:

Ratzilla wrote:

pretending I can know what is currently impossible to know.

Rat, it's called faith. I'm not trying to convert anyone but in my own life there are things that I couldn't have made it through without my faith one of those being the death of my Father.

True Dat! No matter what God, or lack there of, having faith in yourself or an invisible sky man, people find a way to get through in this messed up world..

Ratzilla wrote:

It's my very humble opinion that we are not "made in the image" of something so powerful as to be able to create a universe. Once again, no offense, but I've always thought man has elevated himself awful damn high to imagine himself the prize pet of his god and the top life form in the universe based only on the words that highly superstitious men wrote 2000 years ago.

For those who want to believe there's some pre-written plan with a fairy tale ending, have fun. I don't care. Everyone is free to believe as they wish. I just havn't seen any evidence of religion being more than campfire tales of olden times and see no point in pretending I can know what is currently impossible to know.

I respect your opinion, but I have a different one. I don't agree with everthing the church teach. But I don't have the need to slam thier teaching because different people are taught different things for different reasons. I did study on my own and have different insights or spiritula feeling about the things I learnt. And that's all I'm going to say about that!

lyric wrote:

Ratzilla wrote:

pretending I can know what is currently impossible to know.

Rat, it's called faith. I'm not trying to convert anyone but in my own life there are things that I couldn't have made it through without my faith one of those being the death of my Father.

I'm afraid that can't work for me. I'm not trying to convert anyone either. I just have great difficulty in understanding the concept of religious faith. To you it's a strength and that's fine. To me, relying on religion would mean I have no faith in my own abilities, and having faith in something I can't know just doesn't fit into my pattern of thinking. If I have no faith in my own ability to cope with the world then it's just time to die.

jewelz wrote:

I respect your opinion, but I have a different one. I don't agree with everthing the church teach. But I don't have the need to slam thier teaching because different people are taught different things for different reasons.

jewelz wrote:

I Oh by the way. Ratzilla, your most likely got more religion than I do! Don't whip your non religion bull on me.. We live in America and the last I knew was that we have Freedom of speech and Freedom of Religion.

So you don't slam others? By the way, I support the right to freedom of religious belief. Or not as one sees fit. I guess what interests me most is that it is never an Atheist that questions why God allows or does nothing about tragedy. If you have faith, why question anything?

Meanwhile,...back on topic. Wow, that elevator is unreal....some kid at Weskan fell in one too yesterday I heard. Reminds me of wheat harvest in 1971

WOw, I heard that. That to bad. I hope there is no more! All of you in harvest. BECAREFUL!!!!

I hadn't heard that one. I heard a 14 year old girl rolled a car and was killed at Wakeeney though. What happened with the kid who fell?

Ratzilla wrote:

I hadn't heard that one. I heard a 14 year old girl rolled a car and was killed at Wakeeney though. What happened with the kid who fell?

The young man was working up high and fell into the( grain bens?) 50 feet . He left behind a young wife and 3 weekold baby. Near Goodland, north of there. Sad My heart goes out to all that love him. I didn't hear about the young girl in Wakeeney. Man .

Weskan is south of Goodland

This has been a rough start to Summer.

It sure has made me feel older. Thankful I made it through that time in life. Elevator is a very dangerous job.

alg8tr wrote:

It sure has made me feel older. Thankful I made it through that time in life. Elevator is a very dangerous job.

Did you use to do this kind of work>

Anyone know exactly how it happened? One thing I thought of was a crustover. More than one guy has told of what looked like a full bin only to find out it was just a few feet of grain stuck together on top.

Ratzilla wrote:

Anyone know exactly how it happened? One thing I thought of was a crustover. More than one guy has told of what looked like a full bin only to find out it was just a few feet of grain stuck together on top.

No guarantee that it's complete or accurate, but here's the HDN story.