Killer Grooves...Why?

[Jeff Wisnia]

Can some AFCAN familiar with gas station design please let me know what
those rather deep grooves which surround cars stopped at the pumps are for?

I've seen them at several Hess gas stations here in Red Sox Nation,
including one near our home I frequent most often.

My guess is those grooves may be there to contain a fuel spill and
prevent it from spreading beyond their perimeter.

Even though I've noticed them umpteen times, the other night after
filling up SWMBO's car I forgot they were there, snagged a shoe toe in
one and stumbled chest first into a fire extinguisher box on the
adjacent fueling island. I nicked my wrists and arms in a few places but
thankfully didn't bust any ribs, but they're sure to stay sore for the
next week or two.

When I filled my own car there today I snapped this photo:

http://home.comcast.net/~jwisnia18/temp/Killer_Grooves.jpg

I'm blaming myself totally for not paying attention to something I knew
was there, but I feel they must have been put there for a logical
reason, so what is it guys?

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

[Tim Wright]

Must be local to your area, never seen anything like that in Texas.


--

Tim W

[Les Albert]

The following came from a site that is titled, "Preventing Groundwater
Contamination at Gas Stations— What Municipalities and Water Suppliers
Can Do". It was for the state of New Hampshire, but Hess may be doing
it wherever they have a station.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spill Containment
In addition to requiring devices that are designed to contain spills
that may occur when USTs are being filled, DES rules for new USTs4
require a concrete pad with positive limiting barriers (PLBs) to
contain spills in the fuel dispensing area (Env-Wm 1401.28 (v)). PLBs
are grooves in the concrete around the edge of the dispensing area;

http://des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/pip/factsheets/dwgb/documents/dwgb-22-20.pdf
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Les

[Jeff Wisnia]

Thanks Les, looks like my guess was correct.

Those grooves in my photo are placed in a big rectangle which surrounds
the two dispenser island and the cars (up to four) on either side of it.
The grooves are about 5/8" wide and 5/8" deep, plenty wide enough to
catch the tip of my shoe sole.

Jeff (klutzy) Wisnia

[Les Albert]

On Sat, 20 Apr 2013 19:16:53 -0400, Jeff Wisnia
<jwisnia...@conversent.net> wrote:

>Les Albert wrote:

>> The following came from a site that is titled, "Preventing Groundwater
>> Contamination at Gas Stations— What Municipalities and Water Suppliers
>> Can Do". It was for the state of New Hampshire, but Hess may be doing
>> it wherever they have a station.
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Spill Containment
>> In addition to requiring devices that are designed to contain spills
>> that may occur when USTs are being filled, DES rules for new USTs4
>> require a concrete pad with positive limiting barriers (PLBs) to
>> contain spills in the fuel dispensing area (Env-Wm 1401.28 (v)). PLBs
>> are grooves in the concrete around the edge of the dispensing area;
>>
>> http://des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/pip/factsheets/dwgb/documents/dwgb-22-20.pdf
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>Thanks Les, looks like my guess was correct.
>Those grooves in my photo are placed in a big rectangle which surrounds
>the two dispenser island and the cars (up to four) on either side of it.
>The grooves are about 5/8" wide and 5/8" deep, plenty wide enough to
>catch the tip of my shoe sole.
>Jeff (klutzy) Wisnia

Where do they drain to? Or are they just meant to contain the spill
until it evaporates?

Les

[Xho Jingleheimerschmidt]

On 04/20/2013 03:29 PM, Jeff Wisnia wrote:
>
> When I filled my own car there today I snapped this photo:
>
> http://home.comcast.net/~jwisnia18/temp/Killer_Grooves.jpg
>
> I'm blaming myself totally for not paying attention to something I knew
> was there, but I feel they must have been put there for a logical
> reason, so what is it guys?

Make it easier for blind drivers to negotiate the pumps.

Xjp

[Sano]

Xho Jingleheimerschmidt <xho...@gmail.com> wrote in
news:kkva7d$4o4$1...@dont-email.me:

Or busy on their phone, I mean, come-on, what's more important, other
people their cars and gas pumps or -the phone-.?

[M C Hamster]

On Sat, 20 Apr 2013 17:37:40 -0500, Tim Wright <tlwri...@gmail.com>
wrote:

Ditto for Chicago.
--

"Big Wheel Keep on Turnin'" -- Creedence Clearwater Revival

[Jeff Wisnia]

According to that New Hampshire document, they are there to contain
spills so that the spilled product does not drain off the edge of the
paving into adjacent soil. There was something in there about cleaning
spilled liquid out of those grooves ASAP.

Just for Ss&Gs I sent a copy of that photo to Hess's "Comments" asking
them why I've only seen them at Hess stations around here.

My battered chest is feeling a little better every day.

[Greg Goss]

Jeff Wisnia <jwisnia...@conversent.net> wrote:


>According to that New Hampshire document, they are there to contain
>spills so that the spilled product does not drain off the edge of the
>paving into adjacent soil. There was something in there about cleaning
>spilled liquid out of those grooves ASAP.

When I worked at a gas station in 1974, there was a big burlap bag of
sawdust just inside the service bay doors to be used to convert any
spill into something sweepable. I wasn't trained on what to do with
it after we sweep it up into a nicely flammable pile -- stand around
smoking, I guess.

When did clay cat litter become ubiquitous as spill absorbent?
--
I used to own a mind like a steel trap.
Perhaps if I'd specified a brass one, it
wouldn't have rusted like this.

[Les Albert]

On Sun, 21 Apr 2013 19:21:43 -0600, Greg Goss <go...@gossg.org> wrote:

>When did clay cat litter become ubiquitous as spill absorbent?

When the first cat pissed on the floor.

Les

[jeff_wisnia]

On the phone? At a self serve pump? My Gawd, don't they know using a
cell phone near a gas pump could blow up the whole city?

From the little research I've done, I haven't found one authenticated
case proving that a cell phone ignited gasoline fumes. Here's what
Snopes says:

http://www.snopes.com/autos/hazards/gasvapor.asp

So why the little warning signs about the dangers of cell phone use
posted at so many self serve islands?

My best guess is that they don't want customers to spend extra time
blocking a pump while finishing a call before they get back into their
vehicle and drive off.

From my experience last week I'd rather that the little sign would have
read, "Watch your feet clumsy, there's grooves in the pavement around you."

[bill van]

In article <07mdnfJ0lOtxSuvM...@giganews.com>,

jeff_wisnia <jwisnia1...@comcast.net> wrote:

> From the little research I've done, I haven't found one authenticated
> case proving that a cell phone ignited gasoline fumes. Here's what
> Snopes says:
>
> http://www.snopes.com/autos/hazards/gasvapor.asp
>
> So why the little warning signs about the dangers of cell phone use
> posted at so many self serve islands?
>
> My best guess is that they don't want customers to spend extra time
> blocking a pump while finishing a call before they get back into their
> vehicle and drive off.
>

This link:

<https://canadasafetycouncil.org/safety-canada-online/article/cell-phones
-risks-and-rumour>

http://tinyurl.com/bwpx7me

suggests it's a combination of things. One factor is that the
persistence of the urban legend caused first cell phone makers and then
gasoline retailers to take the "abundance of caution" route and put
signs on cell phones and gas pumps just in case.

Another is that gasoline retailers figure that someone filling a gas
tank while talking on a cell phone is distracted, and more likely to
cause a mishap, such as, presumably, spilling gasoline and generating
static electricity to set it on fire.

I think it's likely the UL is so persistent because, as the snopes
article says, fire investigators and police tend to jump to conclusions
when there's a gas station fire where a cell phone was used, and people
tend not to hear about the eventual investigation findings, which are
usually that the fire was caused by static or some other cause that's
not a cell phone.

bill

[Sano]

jeff_wisnia <jwisnia1...@comcast.net> wrote in
news:07mdnfJ0lOtxSuvM...@giganews.com:

No just some bint driving across the apron without paying attention to
anything but what was directly in front of them.

[John Mc.]

In the winter here in Indiana I'm constantly bemused by the sweet young
things who don't dress for the weather. They jump out of their vehicle, run
to the pump and then promptly mess up swiping their cc. I look at them and
idiot men wearing shorts in 15 below weather and wonder what they'd do in a
blizzard when they're stuck somewhere.

John Mc.










Rr

[S. Checker]

John Mc. <Jo...@tdcogre.com> wrote:

> In the winter here in Indiana I'm constantly bemused by the sweet young
> things who don't dress for the weather. They jump out of their vehicle, run
> to the pump and then promptly mess up swiping their cc. I look at them and
> idiot men wearing shorts in 15 below weather and wonder what they'd do in a
> blizzard when they're stuck somewhere.

Freeze.
--
There is no act of treachery or mean-ness of which a political party
is not capable; for in politics there is no honour.
-- Benjamin Disraeli, "Vivian Grey"

[Dover Beach]

John Mc. <Jo...@tdcogre.com> wrote in
news:1616675571388483143.0...@news.eternal-september.or
g:

>
> In the winter here in Indiana I'm constantly bemused by the sweet
> young things who don't dress for the weather. They jump out of their
> vehicle, run to the pump and then promptly mess up swiping their cc. I
> look at them and idiot men wearing shorts in 15 below weather and
> wonder what they'd do in a blizzard when they're stuck somewhere.

Well, if they're like me, they've got a big parka and heavy boots in the
trunk. I prefer to drive with the heat on, and not be dressed like the
Michelin Man in the car.

[John Mc.]

Are they thigh high leather boots??

John Mc.

[Dover Beach]

John Mc. <Jo...@tdcogre.com> wrote in

news:1070480944388508104.0...@news.eternal-september.or
g:

They are Sorel boots, and they will be here after the Bomb, along with
the cockroaches.

[John Mc.]

Dover Beach <moon.b...@mail.com> wrote:
> John Mc. <Jo...@tdcogre.com> wrote in
> news:1070480944388508104.0...@news.eternal-september.or
> g:
>
>> Dover Beach <moon.b...@mail.com> wrote:
>>> John Mc. <Jo...@tdcogre.com> wrote in
>>> news:1616675571388483143.0...@news.eternal-september
>>> .or g:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> In the winter here in Indiana I'm constantly bemused by the sweet
>>>> young things who don't dress for the weather. They jump out of their
>>>> vehicle, run to the pump and then promptly mess up swiping their cc.
>>>> I look at them and idiot men wearing shorts in 15 below weather and
>>>> wonder what they'd do in a blizzard when they're stuck somewhere.
>>>
>>> Well, if they're like me, they've got a big parka and heavy boots in
>>> the trunk. I prefer to drive with the heat on, and not be dressed
>>> like the Michelin Man in the car.
>>
>> Are they thigh high leather boots??
>>
>
> They are Sorel boots, and they will be here after the Bomb, along with
> the cockroaches.

And Dillon Hunt.

[bob...@gmail.com]

The lines are to limit the spread of spilled fuel from going out pass the range of the fire suppression nozzles

[Kerr-Mudd,John]

bob...@gmail.com wrote in
news:3fd01c47-0aba-4aec...@googlegroups.com:

> The lines are to limit the spread of spilled fuel from going out pass
> the range of the fire suppression nozzles
>

Whotcha tolkein 'bout, Willis?

[Jeff Wisnia]

bob...@gmail.com wrote:
> The lines are to limit the spread of spilled fuel from going out pass the range of the fire suppression nozzles
>

I think I might have asked that question here about 3 years ago here.

I tripped when the tip of my shoe poked into one of those grooves and
kept me from moving that foot forward while walking. Luckily I "saved
myself" by holding my arms forward and falling against the case of a
nearby fire extinguisher attached to one of the overhead supporting
uprights.

I just had a slight wrist sprain for a couple of days.

I've watched out for those grooves every time I fill up at a self serve
station now.

If you live where they don't exist, and don't know what they look like,
here's a photo of the ones that got me, alongside my car:

https://www.wkrp.org/jeff/Killer_Grooves.jpg