One winter about five years ago I was walking down Walnut at about 12th when a sheet of ice that probably weighed fifty pounds fell from one of those 13 story center city skyscrapers and smashed onto the sidewalk about 15 feet in front of me like someone dropping a phone booth from an airplane. A woman walking towards me was a lot closer, she screamed, we both jumped back and the rest of the trip I walked in the street. I can't imagine nobody's ever been killed by something like that, and I'd never thought before about re-freezing ice melt forming on the sides of buildings and then dropping off.
I've noticed lately that when there is ice Wharton blocks off the sidewalk around Huntsman hall which I'm guessing exhibits this problem more than other buildings. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Anthony West Sent: Sun 4/22/2007 9:53 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [UC] Trees on 4500 Walnut Street One day I was was walking along Baltimore Avenue in Clark Park when -- wham! I turned around and saw a huge tree branch from an ageing London plane, as thick as a human body, had crashed down on the sidewalk. A woman was standing near me, staring at the branch in a daze. About six seconds earlier she had been walking right across that patch of sidewalk where the branch fell.
