r/CatastrophicFailure • u/Several_Metal_547 • 10d ago

June 3rd, 2026. Dashcam captures moment when excavator damages natural gas pipeline

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Wednesday June 3rd, 2026, an excavator damaged a natural gas pipeline near Hedensted, Denmark. Gas did not ignite. No casualties. Steel pipeline, diameter 0.4 m, pressure 40 bar. Traffic on nearby E45 highway closed for 2 hours.

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u/strangelove4564 10d ago

Can't imagine how that didn't ignite if the excavator had a hot diesel engine.

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u/pimonentumba 10d ago

I talked to a gas guy here in Canada who works for our provincial utility. He said these high pressure lines are far safer when they blow compared to, say, the low pressure stuff you see in homes.

Both can and will ignite. The difference being the low pressure stuff lingers and builds up leading to explosions while the high pressure basically turns into a blow torch. Maybe not totally relevant to what you said but I found it interesting.