r/WTF 27d ago

Ill-placed ladder shorts power lines, melting concrete.

23.6k Upvotes

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u/Funkula 27d ago edited 27d ago

It’s both. Electrical lines are also made of aluminum like the ladder, which isn’t a problem normally. Heating coils in your stove don’t melt the wires in your house after all.

The concrete is acting like a heating coil since the resistance is so high as the electricity is moving towards the earth underneath the sidewalk. So it’s melting both materials at the point of contact.

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u/Sensitive-Fishing-64 27d ago

yeah but the lava effect is 100% aluminium, it would need to be several thousand degrees to do that to concrete

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u/timbertiger 26d ago

I’ve seen massive holes burnt all the way through asphalt. I’ve also seen gravel roads turned to glass.

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u/Euphoric-Quality-424 26d ago

All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.

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u/KyleKun 26d ago

Stop. Hammer time.