That suction hose burst on the Mississippi job 3 years ago and I still get goosebumps thinking about it

We were working a tight channel near Baton Rouge back in July 2022 and the 12-inch suction hose started vibrating real bad after we hit a submerged tree trunk. Nobody noticed the hose had a small crack until it blew open and sent mud and water spraying 40 feet in the air, almost capsizing the barge. Has anyone else had a hose fail like that on a weekend job, and what do you use to check for weak spots now?

3 comments

3 Comments

drew_park1mo ago

I had a 6-inch line blow on a Sunday morning near Greenville and it took three dunkings in the river before I stopped twitching. Now I run a cheap ultrasonic thickness gauge over every hose before the weekend starts, catches the thin spots before they become a problem. Still jump every time I hear a pump cavitate though.

alice3361mo ago

Yikes that's brutal. Three dunkings in the river sounds like a rough Sunday. Smart move with the thickness gauge though, cheap insurance beats a hospital visit every time. That pump cavitation sound would probably haunt me too.

holly_sanchez751mo ago

Man that thickness gauge idea is genius, @drew_park. My buddy used one of those on his irrigation setup and caught a hose that looked fine but was basically paper-thin inside.