On Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:58:21 -0600, Jimw wrote:

On Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:28:09 -0500, Don Wiss
wrote:

On Sun, 18 Jan 2009 08:54:32 -0800 (PST), dpb wrote:

Let's see---if it were a 1600 sq-ft area, the volume at 8-ft ceiling
height would be 12,800 cu-ft -- ~96,000 gal (ok, that's pretty near
the 100k earlier guess) == ~~6,640,000 lb-wt

I don't follow this. A gallon of water weighs about 8.34 pounds (depending
on the temperature). So I get 834,000 pounds. You must be using the weight
of a cubic foot of water.

Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

That's the weight I got too. Pretty simple math. I double checked
and a gallon of water is 8.34lb (rounded figure).
So I cant see where that 6,640,000 lb figure came from.

However, even if half the water went into the basement or down a
drain, that would still be 417,000 LBS or 209 (rounded) TONS.
No wooden structure could handle that. I farm, and years ago I tried
to unload a round bale of hay, (which weighed about 3/4 ton). using 3
2x6 boards as a ramp. Sure enough, all 3 boards broke as the bale got
midway down the ramp. Then the bale rolled down a hill, busted down a
fence, and finally stopped leaving a large dent in an old junker car.
Fortunately the car was going to the scrap yard, so it did not matter.
On the other hand, the busted fence left a few horses an opportunity
to escape and I spent much of the day chasing after them. I finally
got them, then spent the rest of the day repairing the fence. Not one
of my most brilliant days!!!

Jim
Gotta remember the ice would be pretty well self supporting as a
monolithic block with the edges on the foundation walls, and the
center beam in the middle. It would LIKELY have frozen in layers as
the water flowed out.