In early June Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport had to close one of it’s five runways after a World War II bomb was unearthed during nearby excavations.
Army explosives experts say the 500-pound (226-kilogram) British bomb must remain still for 54 hours because it was moved during its discovery by workers building a road.
Bert van Denham from the local municipality says the bomb is expected to be removed on Thursday.
Schiphol spokeswoman Kathelijne Vermeulen said Tuesday that flights are being diverted to other runways at the airport and no delays are expected.
I’m glad they found the bomb before it was accidentally triggered!
When I lived in Germany this sort of thing happened all the time. I lived in a city that was heavily bombed during the war. Every time excavations were done for new construction, there was always a possibility of digging up on of this “surprises”. Everybody in the local area had to be evacuated and traffic diverted. A royal pain in the ass. This happened a few times a year. There are special bomb squads on call in Germany that are always on call for these occasions.
Oh, I forgot mentioned these were usually the 500 and 1000 pounders that the Americans dropped during their daytime raids with B-17 flying fortresses.