Gothamist: Midtown Manhole Explosion at East 39th Street

just_saying

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:34:00 -0500

Okay, I just read the article. Apparently, Verizon confirmed that only SOME of the liquid nitrogen tanks are theirs. To whom do the rest of them belong?

Politburo

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:10:54 -0500

It wasn't just stated in a comment.. it was discussed and confirmed with Verzion by several sources. http://gothamist.com/2008/01/31/nitrogen_tanks.php

just_saying

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:46:11 -0500

I thought liquid nitrogen was used for cooling: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_nitrogen btw just because something was previously stated in a gothamist comment doesn't necessarily mean that it was true. :)

Politburo

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:29:07 -0500

As discussed previously, the LN2 is used by Verizon to keep their conduits dry.

just_saying

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:08:28 -0500

Yikes! I work in this general area and ConEd has all these big orange cones over the street that have steam shooting out of the top of them. Presumably this is to relieve pressure on whatever is going on under the street. Con Ed also has at least several liquid nitrogen canisters that have tubes extending from them to under the street. I believe this is to cool overheated underground cables. Don't know exactly what is going on in midtown, but it doesn't look good. Whatever they're doing seems like a band-aid approach to me.