A day’s worth of logging took place in less than a second on a hillside above Hahn Creek.
“This is the most enjoyable part of the job,” Helena National Forest lead blaster Don Senn said as he inspected the parallel lines of toppled trees. “The day goes quickly when you’re concentrating on what you’re doing.”
Concentration was evident in the care Senn’s crew applied to distributing about 100 pounds of explosive sticks among 37 dead pine trees that threatened a stretch of the Hahn Creek Road. Once everything was in place, everyone moved 1,000 feet up the road and watched Senn pick up the Rolhenburler detonator box.
“We call it the ‘Rottweiler,’ ” joked Dennis Davis, a Missoula Technology Development Center blasting engineer. After two warnings, Senn yelled “Blasting now!” and a loud bang rocked everyone on their heels. A cloud of white smoke rose from the forest.
The emulsion-based explosive is more compact than the fertilizer bombs excavators use, and cheaper than the plastic explosives the military likes. Each stick weighs 1 pound. A six-inch tree takes two sticks. A 10-incher may need four or five.
From The Missoulian: https://missoulian.com/news/local/u-s-forest-service-workers-fell-day-s-worth-of/article_71f4354a-a550-11e1-b5c2-001a4bcf887a.html