A Small Scale Investigation Of Excavation With Parallel Rows Of Explosions

A Small-scale Investigation of Excavation with Parallel Rows of Explosions

A Small-scale Investigation of the Possibility of Constructing Low-relief Earth-fill Dams Using Nuclear Explosives

The experiment described herein has shown that the concept of low dams produced by ballistic collision of ejecta from simultaneous detonation of properly spaced parallel rows of charges is a feasible one. Rows of 8-pound charges were buried 3 feet deep with 4-foot spacing between charges. When two such rows of charges were placed parallel and 17.5 feet apart, the maximum height of the "dam" was achieved. The spacing of 17.5 feet between rows corresponds to 4.7 times the crater radius of one 8-pound charge at the burial depth which maximizes the single-charge crater. The extrapolation of these results to larger explosions is discussed. The height decreases and the width increases as the spacing between rows is further increased. The mass of material in the "dam" cannot exceed that in the crater of one of the rows. At the spacing between rows which maximizes height, the volume of the "dam'' is about 50 percent of maximum volume theoretically achievable. At wider spacings, the volume increases to 75 percent.

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