Improving the Safety of Transportation of Dangerous Goods: An Experimental Study

The transportation of dangerous goods (DG) represents an important portion of the overall freight transport worldwide. Ground transport (excluding pipelines) moves approximately 21% to 31% of the total tonnage of DG in Canada. Accidents involving DG might occur at any time at any location along transport routes or within storage areas, and not only do they have an effect on people and the environment, but also they can have a great effect on the national economy. This paper presents the details of an experimental investigation studying the blast attenuation capability of suppressive shield panels (SSPs). Suppressive shield technology can be used for the storage, processing, and transport of explosive materials and can also be applied to protecting attractive targets and infrastructure deemed vulnerable to explosive attacks. Various configurations of commercially available steel angles were assembled as SSPs and evaluated for their ability to attenuate blast pressure from detonating Pentolite charges. Results obtained from the tests with 0.5-kg charges indicated that the SSPs attenuate the blast pressure to values in the range of 43% to 60%. The results of this research can be extended to include the design and construction of SSPs for transportation of DG by sea as well. Effectively, this can include the strengthening of current standard containers.