45.1-161.284 - Surface storage of explosives and detonators.
§ 45.1-161.284. Surface storage of explosives and detonators.
A. Separate surface magazines shall be provided for the storage of explosivesand detonators.
B. Surface magazines for storing and distributing explosives in amountsexceeding 150 pounds shall be:
1. Reasonably bulletproof and constructed of incombustible material orcovered with fire-resistive material. The roofs of magazines so located thatit is impossible to fire bullets directly through the roof from the ground,need not be bulletproof, but where it is possible to fire bullets directlythrough them, roofs shall be made bullet-resistant by material construction,or by a ceiling that forms a tray containing not less than a four-inchthickness of sand, or by other methods;
2. Provided with doors constructed of three-eighth inch steel plate linedwith a two-inch thickness of wood, or the equivalent;
3. Provided with dry floors made of wood or other nonsparking material andhave no metal exposed inside the magazine;
4. Provided with suitable warning signs so located that a bullet passingdirectly through the face of a sign will not strike the magazine;
5. Provided with properly screened ventilators;
6. Equipped with no openings except for entrance and ventilation;
7. Kept locked securely when unattended; and
8. Electrically bonded and grounded, if constructed of metal.
C. Surface magazines for storing detonators need not be bulletproof, but theyshall be in accordance with other provisions for storing explosives.
D. Explosives in amounts of 150 pounds or less or 5,000 detonators or lessshall be stored in accordance with the preceding standards or in separatelocked box-type magazines. Box-type magazines may also be used asdistributing magazines when quantities do not exceed those mentioned.Box-type magazines shall be constructed strongly of two-inch hardwood or theequivalent. Metal magazines shall be lined with nonsparking material. Nomagazine shall be placed in a building containing oil, grease, gasoline,wastepaper or other highly flammable material; nor shall a magazine be placedwithin twenty feet of a stove, furnace, open fire or flame.
E. The location of magazines shall be not less than 300 feet from any mineopening. However, in the event that a magazine cannot be practicably locatedat such a distance, the magazine may be located less than 300 feet from amine opening, if it is sufficiently barricaded and approved by the Chief.Unless approved by the Chief, magazines shall not be located closer tooccupied buildings, public roads, or passenger railways than allowed in the"American Table of Distances for Storage of Explosive Materials" publishedby the Institute of Makers of Explosives.
F. The supply kept in distribution magazines shall be limited toapproximately a forty-eight hour supply, and such supplies of explosives anddetonators may be distributed from the same magazine, if separated by atleast a four-inch substantially fastened hardwood partition or the equivalent.
G. The area surrounding magazines for not less than twenty-five feet in alldirections shall be kept free of rubbish, dry grass or other materials of acombustible nature.
H. If the explosives magazine is illuminated electrically, the lamps shall beof vapor-proof type, installed and wired so as to present minimum fire andcontact hazards.
I. Only nonmetallic tools shall be used for opening wooden containers.Extraneous materials shall not be stored in an explosives or detonatormagazine.
J. Smoking, carrying smokers' articles or open flames shall be prohibited inor near any magazine.
(Code 1950, § 45-53.2; 1954, c. 191; 1966, c. 594, § 45.1-44; 1978, c. 729;1994, c. 28; 2010, cc. 809, 857.)