Hole in Gravelroad caused by pipe-damage

[georg ruf jr.]

It must've been 74 or 75, when one Saturday morning we had this giant hole in the gravelroad behind our house. Between 3rd and 2nd Avenue. A pipe had burst and washed all the sand out. It was quite dangerous. If any kid had fallen into it, it would have drowned.
Of course we didn't listen to what our parents said: To stay back. Took days befor someday realy took care

[Michael Alexander]

I remember when they were laying water pipes on the east side of town, those trenches were cool places to play in when the workers went home....

[barb (Fry)]

Those trenches were there of months, over a meter deep, with the pipe lying alongside waiting to be installed and fitted together.  This must have been when the taps often produced no water all day, then when the water was switched on there would be great bellows and coughing as the water ran, brown and horrid looking, we bathed in it anyway.  No harm done.

[georg ruf jr.]

A specific way of getting a tan...

[barb (Fry)]

  but we were so tanned and dirty anyway it didn't make a differance.

[Michael Alexander]

Now in later life, we ponder what those pipes were made from? Asbestos?

[georg ruf jr.]

I heard asbestos keeps your lunge from burning...
I think all houses in om had asbestos roofs.

[Michael Alexander]

All Houses in Oranjemund still have Asbestos roofs....in the 1st world, this is illegal....

[barb (Fry)]

When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. 

[georg ruf jr.]

Barb.
Sometimes your "secret language" realy makes my life hard.
Mike your right. Asbestos is absolutly forbidden. I've seen pics with workers dressed as in a neclear war ripping asbestos out of old buildings to replace the stuff with something more healthy. vampire

[Michael Alexander]

The whole cancer debate around Oranjemund is another webpage to itself, but I know of 15 people that all worked in that post office block over the last 30 years, and they all died of cancer, my mum included.....

:emot77:

[Michael Alexander]

I found a pipe made from asbestos lying in the dumps.... the pipes I was talking about.... were like this one, just a larger size...

[SandyB]

asbestos pipes .. we were even ingesting the fibres .. but then we did nnot know better .. asbestos has now been replaces by fibre cement products ,, just as good .. mostly silica ( glass based ) vis Everite ... think about it  in the 1800's  radium was a miracle product and  people even drank  elixirs with radium in them ??

[Bob Molloy]

I can vouch for the presence of asbestos in Oranjemund, my brother - who spent ll years on Omund - died of pthisis brought on by asbestos in the lungs. Recently I had a slight lung function problem which required a scan. The specialist reported back that I had "nothing to worry about, but you must have been exposed to asbestos at some stage, you have a few specks. We need to keep any eye on that.....".
In my view there'd be little risk from the roof asbestos under normal conditions but in my case as part of my job I spent a lot of time in crawl spaces under asbestos roofs which is the most likely place for asbestos dust.
Regards,
Bob.

[Andrew Darné]

The same consideration of exposure for any sparkie that spent any length of time roof ratting for Town Electrical.