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Clogged valve cause of NYC steam pipe explosion

by ryan | December 27, 2007 at 04:10 pm

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Remember back in the summer when that steam pipe exploded in Manhattan. ConEd has finally released the findings of the investigation; the steam pipe was clogged.

See here for NowPublic coverage from that day and here for video.

Utility Consolidated Edison on Thursday blamed a pressure buildup caused by a faulty repair and excessive rain for July's steam pipe explosion that killed a person and created panic in Manhattan.

The 83-year-old steam pipe exploded underground during the afternoon rush hour on July 18, shaking buildings, creating a towering geyser of debris and sending people fleeing in scenes reminiscent of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The combination of rain water that built up around the pipe and clogging inside a steam trap, or automated valve, created more than seven times the pipe's normal operating pressure in what is called a water hammer, Con Edison said.

That led to the blast that rocketed up through the street near the Grand Central rail and subway station.

One person died and two people were badly burned.

1 See all footage | View Slideshow

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prostophotos

at 03:23 on December 28th, 2007

The explosion happened next to office where I worked and the apartment where I lived. That day I've left work some 15 minutes earlier so I've missed all the hysteria that happened in the office in the moment of the explosion. I was to meet my friends in the city so on my way there I couldn't help stopping to look at what was going on. Honestly, on the pictures it looks scarier than it was on scene — and the people's reaction varied from total shock and screams “Nine-eleven! Nine-eleven!” to complete ignoring and frustration because they had to find a way around.

prostophotos has contributed a photo to this story.

Ethan Kavet

at 06:51 on December 28th, 2007

I was home at the time of the incident. I was listening to my scanner tuned to the FDNY Manhattan frequency. All of a sudden a priority call comes in about an explosion at 43rd Street and Lexington Ave. I remember the fireman's exact wording. "There is a massive explosion...
There was no problem picking up the urgency of his transmission.
My first thought was a terror attack. The time was prime rush hour and what better place than Grand Central Station.
A minute or two after the initial transmission the same fireman tells Manhattan dispatch about the possibility of it being a transformer explosion.
I was a mile away and jumped on my bike. Traffic on 3rd Ave started to slow down after 34th street. As i was riding uptown people were running downtown. The cause of the explosion was still not clear.
Police were still letting traffic move up the avenue. As I arrived, I was met with a deafening sound. The sound of the escaping steam resonated throughout the underground sidewalk gratings and tall midtown buildings.. Rusty water gushed along the side streets. Everyone either had a camera or cell phone to document the incident.

At that time, the cause of the explosion was obvious. There was a collective sigh of relief when told of a steampipe explosion as opposed to a terror attack.

I remained on lexington Ave. and was not near the red truck that lay victim to the explosion.

arvindgrover

at 09:29 on December 28th, 2007

I was on the bus headed downtown when the bus got stuck in a bunch of traffic, about a block north of where this photo was taken. We saw people running down the street, so we decided to leave the bus. When I walked a block south, and looked east towards Grand Central Station I saw what looked like smoke, and people fleeing from it. It was scarily similar to how things looked during 9/11, so people were pretty freaked out.

I was surprised at how fast people heard that it was a steam pipe explosion. Many people were standing on the steps of the NY public library watching. I happened to have my camera on me and took these photos of the incident, and the people watching.

arvindgrover has contributed a photo to this story.

apostolia4

at 12:40 on December 28th, 2007

I took these photos from my office window at work the days following the explosion. The photos selected for this article show the excavation of the hole at it's biggest state, rather than the actual size caused by the blast, which was much smaller. Even still, you can see the damage to the area that happened well beyond ground level. The tallest buildings nearby suffered great damage to their exterior, including my building which was half a block away.

apostolia4 has contributed a photo to this story.