- Author
-
Beausoliel, R. W.
|
Phillips, C. W.
|
Snell, J. E.
- Title
- Field Investigation of the Natural Gas Pipeline Accident at Canterbury Woods, Annandale, Virginia. Final Report.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC
- Report
-
NBS 10 961,
1973,
- Distribution
- AVAILABLE FROM: National Archives, Civilian Records, Room 2800, 8601 Adelphia Road, College, Park, MD 20740-6001, Telephone: 301-713-7230
- Keywords
-
gas pipelines, Virginia; accident investigations, gas pipelines; construction; leakage; natural gas; fires; explosions; damage; detectors; recommendations
- Identifiers
- accident reports; Annandale (Virginia); construction accidents
- Abstract
- On the morning of March 24, 1972, in Annandale, Virginia, two homes were destroyed and a third home was damaged by gas explosions and fires resulting from a construction accident that caused the gas main leak. A field test was requested at the accident site. The objective of the test was to determine how the natural gas entered the homes and the paths the gas followed from the leak to the homes. The premise of the NBS test was that if an air-tracer mixture could be detected at locations where natural gas was known to have escaped, then the original underground gas paths may still exist. Electronic catalytic leak detectors were used to detect a tracer in homes and elsewhere on the test site. Further study is recommended to develop means to prevent similar incidents in the future.