drilling and blasting - 28 photos

Photos of a road construction sites and mines using dynamite to blast rocks (Bolivia, Vietnam and India)

In Vietnam, I stopped to see what the road construction people were doing and I realized that there was 20 pounds of dynamite sitting on the road just next to me! There were sticks of dynamite all over the place, as well as blasting caps. The motorized traffic on this country road is so infrequent that they did not really care about any sort of traffic control. Just don't be there when they blast! Next blast in 15 minutes.

I had never seen real dynamite in my life. It feels strange to be so close from something that can blow you to small pieces. I hope the dynamite they use is good quality and stable. I still have the stick they gave me as a souvenir (just kidding). Actually I don't think they would have cared if one was missing, though. There were so many sticks everywhere!