On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 08:28:58 GMT, Gunner
wrote:

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 06:42:26 GMT, "carl mciver"
wrote:

I honestly don't recall the exact sequence, but I did see the cap blow
off with a large pop and slam into his knee sideways. He went down like
someone pushing the locked knee of someone standing on one leg. Screaming
bloody murder. I always thought those firemen were real men and would never
scream in pain. Guess I was wrong....

Ever wonder why :kneecapping: someone is considered a really bad
thing?

Biker days again?
--
Cliff

On 23 Sep 2005 10:41:01 -0700, jim rozen
wrote:
In article , Karl
Vorwerk says...

It doesn't prevent all of them. Two or three years ago someone ran over one
here and it looked just like on the movies.

Heh. Yep, if you give em a hard enough knock to the side, it seems
to break the valve assembly at the bottom.

This was proved at the corner near my local middle school one
lunchtime. Truck cut the corner too sharp, and the back wheels
clobbered the hydrant which was *right* at the corner.

They had a tough time getting all those kids (me included) back
into the school after lunch recess, the water was shooting about
five feet into the air!

Ahh, but you do not know the secret, Grasshopper... ;-) The fire
hydrant is designed to take that kind of abuse in stride. (Same thing
with vacuum breakers or other large waterworks devices mounted along
the side of the road.)

That bolted flange connection at the ground or sidewalk level of the
hydrant is there for a reason - they use hollow bolts (filled with
grease to stop rust) that are designed to shear and let the hydrant
break away when a car or truck hits them, usually long before breaking
the water main feed pipe underground.

And if there isn't a sidewalk there to provide a proper fracture
line for the flange bolts, they usually also install a 12" tall cast
iron extension riser below ground with a strategically placed
weakening notch around the middle - if a piece of pipe is going to
break, they know exactly how and where.

Makes a nice straight 8" fountain until the water company or the
fire department shuts off the service valve. Then a water department
crew can come out in a few days with a small boom hoist (hydrants are
heavy!) a new set of breakaway bolts and a fresh flange gasket, and
reattach the hydrant.

-- Bruce --

--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net.

That would explain it. I live in Hawaii. Not much in the way of hard
freezes.
Karl

"Bruce L. Bergman" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 10:42:59 GMT, "Karl Vorwerk"
wrote:

It doesn't prevent all of them. Two or three years ago someone ran over
one
here and it looked just like on the movies.
Karl

It all depends on where you live - if the odds of a hard freeze in
your town are at or near zero, the fireplug probably will not have all
that fancy (and very expensive) below-ground valve and self-draining
stuff, the valves are all inside the top of the plug. Shear it off,
and you have an instant municipal fountain.

(At least till they turn off the service valve at the water main.)

They only spend the extra money to rig up freeze-proof fire hydrants
in places where they actually get freezes. And if they don't have the
self-draining hydrants, after they're done testing or using the
hydrant they turn off the bottom valve, siphon out some of the water,
and dump in anti-freeze.

-- Bruce --

--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net.