Ask X3What does 49 CFR 173.60 (General packaging requirements for explosives) require?
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As an Ask X3 fleet-compliance assistant, here is what 49 CFR 173.60 requires for motor-carrier owners transporting explosives:
* Packing Group and Performance: Unless provided otherwise, packaging for Class 1 (explosives) materials must meet Packing Group II requirements. Each packaging must be capable of meeting specific test requirements from subpart M of part 178 at the required performance level.
* Metal Closures & Nails: Unprotected metal nails, staples, or closure devices cannot penetrate to the inside of the outer packaging unless inner packaging protects the explosive from contact.
* Liquid Explosive Closures: Liquid explosive containers must have double protection against leakage (such as a screw cap secured with tape). Metal drum closures must include a suitable gasket, and metal-to-metal screw-threads must prevent explosive substances from getting into the threading.
* Prevention of Shifting and Friction: Inner packagings, cushioning, and fittings must keep the explosive substance from becoming loose during transport. Metal components of articles must not touch metal packagings. Uncased explosive articles must be separated using padding, trays, partitioning, molded plastics, or receptacles to prevent friction and impact. Explosive substances must also be kept out of the recesses of double-seamed metal packagings.
* Freezing Protection: If packaging includes water that could freeze during transit, you must add enough anti-freezing agent (like denatured ethyl alcohol) to prevent freezing, provided it does not create a fire hazard. Combined weight of water and anti-freeze can be substituted if a specific percentage of water is required.
* Ignition and Electrical Protection: Articles with their own means of ignition or initiation must be effectively protected from accidental actuation during normal transport. Articles with an electrical means of initiation sensitive to external electromagnetic radiation (such as radar or radios) must have their means of initiation effectively protected from these sources through packaging or article design.
* Liners and Coatings: If loose explosives or uncased/partly cased articles can touch the inner surface of metal packagings (1A2, 1B2, 4A, 4B, and metal receptacles), you must provide an inner liner or coating.
* Material Compatibility and Static: Packagings must be made of materials that are compatible with and impermeable to the explosives, preventing interactions or leakage that would make the explosive unsafe or change its hazard division/compatibility group. Plastic packagings must not generate or accumulate enough static electricity to cause the explosives to initiate, ignite, or function. Metal packagings must be compatible with the contained explosive substance.
* Pressure Regulation: Explosives cannot be packed in inner or outer packagings where internal and external pressure differences (from thermal or other effects) could cause the package to explode or rupture.
* Water Soluble and Desensitized Substances: Packagings for water-soluble substances must be water-resistant. Packagings for desensitized or phlegmatized substances must be closed to prevent concentration changes during transport (having less alcohol, water, or phlegmatizer than specified makes the substance "forbidden").
* Unpackaged Articles: Large, robust military-type articles without means of initiation (or with at least two effective protective features on their initiation means) may be carried unpackaged if they passed Test Series 4 of the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria. Their ignition systems must be protected, and they must be secured to cradles, crates, or launching devices using DOD-approved procedures so they will not loosen during normal transport (or subject to Associate Administrator approval based on operational safety tests).
Reference: 49 CFR 173.60.