That reminds me of when they accidentally poured concrete into the server room that controlled, I think, the Victoria line. When they realised their mistake, workers bought all the sugar around the site to pour it in before the concrete would set to make the cleanup easier.
Either it’s bullshit, or the amount of concrete in question was less than an inch thick.
Though sugar spread in front of the concrete would prevent it from adhering to surfaces, so maybe that was the goal. The wood forms they use to hold concrete in place are coated with a sugar and oil mixture so they come off easy. So that would make sense.
Appreciate the article. I seriously doubt that sprinkling on top prevented a foot deep puddle of concrete from curing, but if it was still liquid it would have helped get the top layer and if they kept sprinkling while removing each layer it may have been helpful enough. Or they’re exaggerating about it being a foot deep, and we’re all know construction workers would never exaggerate a fuck up like this. Article is a bit light on detail of the cleanup process, but it still is clear that sugar was the start of the cleanup.
That’s the photo from the article. Not much concrete on the floor in the picture on the left, but man, it’s all over the place. Maybe it just really splashed around or something? If it wasn’t deep but covered the whole tech, maybe trying to throw sugar at every surface covered in concrete would indeed be the best course of action?
That reminds me of when they accidentally poured concrete into the server room that controlled, I think, the Victoria line. When they realised their mistake, workers bought all the sugar around the site to pour it in before the concrete would set to make the cleanup easier.
How did they mix it in, though?
Either it’s bullshit, or the amount of concrete in question was less than an inch thick.
Though sugar spread in front of the concrete would prevent it from adhering to surfaces, so maybe that was the goal. The wood forms they use to hold concrete in place are coated with a sugar and oil mixture so they come off easy. So that would make sense.
https://theweek.com/uk-news/transport/57039/how-bags-sugar-saved-tube-tide-concrete
They… “sprinkled it on top”? Sounds weird. But still.
Appreciate the article. I seriously doubt that sprinkling on top prevented a foot deep puddle of concrete from curing, but if it was still liquid it would have helped get the top layer and if they kept sprinkling while removing each layer it may have been helpful enough. Or they’re exaggerating about it being a foot deep, and we’re all know construction workers would never exaggerate a fuck up like this. Article is a bit light on detail of the cleanup process, but it still is clear that sugar was the start of the cleanup.
That’s the photo from the article. Not much concrete on the floor in the picture on the left, but man, it’s all over the place. Maybe it just really splashed around or something? If it wasn’t deep but covered the whole tech, maybe trying to throw sugar at every surface covered in concrete would indeed be the best course of action?
Just looked it up again… Pictures suggest that it wasn’t that much volume:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/victoria-line-cement-flooding-fixed-workers-used-sugar-to-stop-spilled-concrete-from-setting-9082206.html