On Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:14:22 -0500, "Existential Angst"
wrote:

"David Lesher" wrote in message
...
In another place I hang out, we're discussing a tower that was
toppled by a tornado 25 years ago. Seeing as how this was a
327 ft tower, weighing ~135 tons, that's a lot of bent steel.

But the story is, it was not sellable as scrap because it was
galvanized. They ended up burying it on-site!

You guys know lots more about steel than I do, so why is it you
can't reuse galvanized steel?

It may have been related to the fact that welding/flame cutting galvanized
steel apparently releases very toxic gaseous compounds of zinc, so scrappers
may have been reluctant to cut it up -- altho one doesn't normally think of
scrappers as being a health-conscious environmental lot.... LOL

Anyone who has ever experienced zinc-fume fever, even a mild case of
it (raises hand) doesn't need health-consciousness to know it's bad
news. It's like a short-lived case of flu. In severe cases, it can be
really nasty. I got a mild dose from welding or brazing (I forget
which) EMT, and I don't want to experience it again.

Today, there are throw-away masks that can protect you from it. 3M
makes one, or did. I bought a few around 10 years ago. Ordinary dust
masks and solvent-fume filters won't do it.

--
Ed Huntress (yes, I'm coming to Yonkers soon)


. May have turned into a kind of scrap urban lore, in some locales. Just
guessing....