Rediscovering Timber Construction, and a Rambling Lemming

"Rethinking construction: introducing timber into our commercial buildings [video]"
Geraldine Chua, Architecture & Design (August 21, 2014)

"Following on from our series of articles looking at the possibilities and benefits of building with timber, we spoke to Rod Pindar, a principal at Fitzpatrick + Partners (F+P), about some of the work the practice is doing, with a focus on their Macquarie Park project.

" In this interview, Pindar shares why Australia's building and design industry will move towards mass timber construction (MTC) in coming years even though it has a long way to go.

" 'We think it's important that the knowledge of timber is out there and freely available,' he says.

" 'We'd like to see buildings get built in timber, we'd like to see multi-storey commercial buildings built in particular. We know CLT has been proven in the residential market and that will continue to grow, but the commercial market really is the tough nut to crack.'..."

"CLT?" That could mean Charlotte Douglas International Airport; Chile Standard Time; or the Oprah Winfrey Network, a Canadian TV channel that's now called Canadian Learning Television.

None of those make sense in this context, so the Lemming figures that Geraldine Chua means cross laminated timber, or glulam. It's plywood, only different: apparently.

Most readers of Architecture & Design might see "CLT" and immediately think Cross Laminated Timber. Then again, they might not. Surely the Lemming isn't the only reader whose interests span more than one specialty.

Acronyms, Pronoun Trouble, and a Latvian Bridge

Acronyms are useful when all readers realize what, say, ACK, BLS, CALABARZON, DTs, or ead. mean — and gibberish when they don't.

It's the acronyms that are gibberish for autochthons marginalized from the requisite cognoscente. And that's another topic. Topics.

The Lemming applauds Pindar on realizing that timber, in fact, actually does grow on trees: and was used by humans in the construction of large structures long before other traditional products like steel, fiberglass, or prestressed concrete.

There's a reason why timber isn't used in skyscrapers or long suspension bridges. Short ones — that's yet another topic.


(From Igors Jefimovs, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)
(A suspension bridge in Ozolnieki, Latvia: photo by Igors Jefimovs.)

Very-nearly-related posts:

• "London: Holborn Overhaul and De-Fencing the Street"
  (April 4, 2014)
• "Sochi, Winter Olympics, Lint, and a Rambling Lemming"
  (February 7, 2014)
• "Chicago, City of Lights: Maybe"
  (January 24, 2014)
• "Chengdu's Huge New Mall, and a Musing Lemming"
  (August 30, 2013)
• "Javits Center: Green, Then Gone"
  (January 25, 2012)

2010 Commonwealth Games' Dehli Village: Oops

"Delhi Games village 'unfit for athletes'"
BBC (September 21, 2010)

"The Commonwealth Games Federation head has demanded the Indian government take immediate steps to improve conditions at the athletes' village in Delhi.

"Team delegates have described the accommodation as filthy, unhygienic and unfit for human habitation.

"But organisers of the event, which runs from 3 to 14 October, said the facilities would be excellent.

"Meanwhile, police said 23 labourers were injured as a bridge being built near the main Games venue collapsed.

"It is the latest setback to an event plagued by construction delays, allegations of corruption and a dengue fever outbreak in the Indian capital.

"New Zealand, Scotland, Canada and Northern Ireland have demanded their teams be put up in hotels if their accommodation is not ready...."

This probably isn't quite what India's leaders had in mind when they started working on the 2010 Commonwealth Games. It's the first time that India has hosted - or tried hosting - the games. Offhand, it seems that things could have gone better.

Then, there's the opinion in the article's sidebar:

" 'Clearly, the "Indian way" hasn't worked - and the Games are turning out to be India's bonfire of vanities'

"Soutik Biswas BBC Delhi online correspondent"

There is some good news in all this: apparently nobody was killed when that bridge collapsed. And it looks like visiting teams will spend much of their time safely off-site during the games. As for spectators: I hope that someone takes a good, hard look at the bleachers before folks climb on - or that spectators decide to watch via television.

Assuming that the events will be televised.

The Lemming thinks this may be another example of a recurring issue plaguing governments, large businesses, and any organization massive enough to have executives who are dissociated from whatever the organization is supposed to be doing.

Someone who's never been on the shop floor, or seen a construction site, may need a reminder from time to time that it doesn't matter how good a plan looks on paper: It's got to actually work.

The Cockpit: Cool Architecture, New Technology, Rubbernecking at Freeway Speeds

"Cockpit and Acoustic Barrier, Leidsche Rijn Utrecht, Netherlands"
designbuild-network.com (undated, after November 2005)

"...The design of the Cockpit and barrier construction consists of a building integrated into an acoustic barrier. The barrier runs alongside the A2 highway in the centre of Holland. The aim is to separate industrial and residential districts by muffling sound, while also producing an architectural construction that people can enjoy.

"The acoustic barrier and the Cockpit are designed with drivers in mind, allowing for a car to pass at a speed of 120km/h and guaranteeing a smooth appearance of the structure.

"The Cockpit houses a showroom and garage for luxury cars for Hessing Holding BV. It is positioned 15m from the side of the A2 highway. Drivers can view the cars as they pass by.

"The highway side is composed of a triangular system of glass elements..."


(from designbuild-network.com, used w/o permission)
"The Cockpit houses a showroom and garage for luxury cars for Hessing Holding BV."


(from designbuild-network.com, used w/o permission)
"The acoustic barrier runs alongside the A2 highway in Holland."


(from designbuild-network.com, used w/o permission)
"Complex structures can be built and managed using simple engineering methods."

This is 'way beyond the sound-reflecting walls we see along urban Interstate in America. The Cockpit's design is, apparently, something really new: "...Non-Standard Architecture (NSA) realised on a large scale. The basic principle of NSA is that all compiled components are different...." The designbuild-network.com article mentions the new technology and programming that went into designing and building The Cockpit.

Manufacture of the structure involved something called a "point cloud system." If this catches on, it could be as faddish - and useful in some cases - as Fuller's geodesic domes. As the article said:

"...This shows that within a regular budget large complex structures can be built and managed using simple engineering methods."

The Cockpit was finished in November of 2005.

One thing that bothers me about the design is this sentence: "Drivers can view the cars as they pass by." They're going 120 kph. That's about 75 miles an hour - a sensible freeway speed in my part of the world. Provided that the drivers are watching the road and traffic.

I'm not entirely convinced that it's a good idea to encourage rubbernecking on a high-speed road.

Still, it's been almost five years since the thing was finished - and I haven't heard of any major accidents in central Holland.

Rogers Centre / SkyDome, Toronto, Canada

"Rogers Centre"
Wikipedia

"Rogers Centre, formerly known as SkyDome, is a multi-purpose stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated next to the CN Tower near the shores of Lake Ontario. Originally opened in 1989, it is home to the American League's Toronto Blue Jays, the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts, the site of the annual International Bowl American college football bowl game...."

The name change happened when Rogers Communications bought the stadium in 2005: putting ownership where, in the Lemming's opinion, it belongs, in private hands.

The History Channel has an online video clip from their Modern Marvels series, showing a little of the dome's workings.

"Toronto Skydome"
The History Channel
video, 3:17

A more conventional bit of video journalism is on CBC. This video shows an engineer demonstrating how the SkyDome/Rogers Centre works, using a scale model. It also has a selection of comments about the stadium: apparently it's not universally loved.

"Raising the roof at SkyDome"
CBC Digital Archives (June 4, 1989)
video, length not given

Back to that Wikipedia article:

"...Rogers Centre was designed by Rod Robbie & Michael Allen and was constructed by the EllisDon Construction company of London, Ontario. The stadium's construction lasted about two and a half years, from October 1986 to May 1989. The approximate cost of construction was $600 million (CAD) which was paid for by the federal government, Ontario provincial government, the City of Toronto, and a large consortium of corporations...."

I don't know what percentage of that $600,000,000 CAD came from Canadian taxpayers, but I'm a bit sympathetic with the folks who didn't appreciate footing the bill.

We've got a parallel situation in Minnesota, with the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, in Minneapolis. It's been compared to a giant bundt pan, and might have been more popular if the designers had realized that folks using it would need parking space - and that it snows during Minnesota winters.

Moving along.

"SkyDome / Rogers Centre Built In Two And A Half Minutes"

EllisDonConstruction, YouTube (April 09, 2009)
video, 2:36

"Timelapse of the world's first retractable roof sport's stadium. It was originally called the SkyDom, [!] now called Rogers Centre. The Rogers Centre hosts the Toronto Blue Jays."

It's got a fun, lively, music track: and does a decent job of showing how the stadium was built - and what the dome opening looks like.

Granted: that was a big bill to hand off to Canadian taxpayers. Still, Toronto's got a spectacular stadium that adapts to the city's sincerely non-tropical climate - and, unlike the Minneapolis analog, Toronto's Rogers Centre allows open-air use in the summer.

I'm also impressed by the engineering and architectural planning that went into designing the movable segmented dome.

More:

• "Rogers Centre"
  the stadium's own website
• "Rogers Centre | Ontario, Canada"
  ballparksofbaseball.com

NASA, Collier Trophy, and the International Space Station

"NASA's International Space Station Program Wins Collier Trophy"
International Space Station, NASA (May 13, 2010)

Before someone has a stroke, the International Space Station is just that: international, involving five space agencies and 15 countries. That link is to a page on the NASA website, about the ISS.


(from NASA, used w/o permission)
"...The International Space Station is featured in this image photographed by an STS-131 crew member on space shuttle Discovery after the station and shuttle began their post-undocking relative separation. Credit: NASA"

"The International Space Station Program received the 2009 Robert J. Collier Trophy 'for the design, development and assembly of the of the world’s largest spacecraft, an orbiting laboratory that promises new discoveries for mankind and sets new standards for international cooperation in space.' The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) bestows the award annually to recognize the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America. The Collier Trophy was formally presented at the Annual Collier Dinner on Thursday, May 13, in Arlington, Va...."

I think the ISS is a pretty big deal. The space agencies involved are:

• Canadian Space Agency
• European Space Agency
• Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
• NASA
• Russian Federal Space Agency

The ISS has been up for almost 10 years, has almost 150 experiments in progress and has had over 400.

The folks who run this program have kept the station working and occupied since it first opened - so every day sets a new record for longest continuously-occupied habitat in space.

For now, anyway. We're on the edge of serious commercial and industrial development in space - but that's another topic.

More:

• "Humanity in Space: The Next Few Decades"

The Eiffel Tower: Still Pretty Cool

the official site of the Eiffel Tower
(English/UK version)

"...The end of the XIXth century saw a considerable number of inventions that have revolutionized our lives, from the telephone to car racing and the vaccine against rabies. At the time, Jules Verne was writing his futuristic novels, France was building a colonial empire, trade was prosperous and the industrial revolution was in full swing. Things were moving, everything was changing. This period, sometimes called 'the spring of technology', was a time of creative effervescence, crowned by Gustave Eiffel's 'Grand Iron Lady'. The 'A' over the Champ-de-Mars symbolized the beginning of a major movement that has continued to this very day...."
(From "All you need to know about the Eiffel Tower," on the official site of the Eiffel Tower)

The Eiffel Tower is possibly the most recognizable landmark in Paris. It was also, when it was built, one of the world's great technological / engineering marvels. One thing I particularly appreciated about the *.pdf-format document I quoted, above, was the glimpse at 19th century history, culture and technology. It's good, I think, to be reminded now and then of what the 'good old days' were actually like.

Take rabies, for example. 'Rabies shots' are no fun: but now people in many parts of the world don't have to die if they're bitten by an infected animal.

All things considered, I'd rather live now.

But that's another topic.

Back to that landmark of Paris and its website.

It's visually impressive, and fairly 'intuitive' to navigate. A refreshing combination. Some of the main sections are: News; Practical Information; Children's Corner; Documentation (That's where I found that 'all you need to know' document); The Tower At Leisure (includes a virtual tour and wall paper); Professional Services; Employment Opportunities.

And, of course, there's quite a bit about how to get there and what to do when you do.

A Tower-Climbing - Excavator?!

"Liebherr"

spbhooligan, YouTube (February 02, 2009)(video apparently dates from 1997)
video, 9:14

"экскаватор Liebherr" (Russian, "excavator Liebherr")

What Rupert did with that Liebherr excavator is of the 'kids, don't try this at home' variety. I particularly liked the way he spun the undercarriage after he got to the top and cantilevered the excavator out from the tower.

I probably need to say this: Trying to duplicate this stunt - cool as it is - is a really bad idea. Liebherr obviously went to a lot of trouble to make sure preparations were done the right way.

On a lighter note, we got a really good look at Rupert: there was an in-cab camera. I know that the video wasn't done in America, but Rupert and just about everybody else looked pretty much like a lot of my neighbors.

Oh, wait. Until recent years, people in Sauk Centre were either Irish - or German. That's changing, which is fine by me: it's nice to see a wider range of humanity around town.

By the way: The Liebherr company started in Germany - and has long since gone global. I think their website detects viewer language preferences - but it helps if you know German.

---

A tip of the hat to my father-in-law, for the heads-up on this video.

Hypersonic Transports: Not Yet, But They're Coming

"New Hypersonic Rocket Test Launched in Australia"
Space.com (March 26, 2010)

"Australian and United States military scientists test launched a new hypersonic rocket this week, the latest in a string of demonstration flights aimed at developing ultra-fast supersonic aircraft.

"The test rocket streaked through the atmosphere at speeds of greater than Mach 5.5, which is equivalent to more than five times the speed of sound.

"The flight marked the second in a series of up to 10 planned flights designed to advance research on high-speed flights and hypersonic technology, said Greg Combet, Australia's Minister for Defense Personnel, Material and Science, in a Monday statement. An earlier test was performed last May...."

The idea is to eventually design and build vehicles that can fly at hypersonic speeds for extended periods of time. There's no reason, in theory, why we shouldn't be able to do that. There are fairly big engineering issues to work out - but that's being done now.

Eventually, something like what's shown in this animation might be as routine as transoceanic airline flights are today:

"Skylon Mission Animation"

deanfilip YouTube (February 07, 2009)
Credits: Reaction Engines Ltd.
video (8:17)
(embedded in "Skylon: Spaceplane for 2019" (March 12, 2009))

Related posts:

• "X-51 Waverider, Bullet Trains: Change Happens"
  (March 11, 2010)
• "Hypersonic Vehicles: Waveriders to Space"
  (November 2, 2009)
• "Skylon: Spaceplane for 2019"
  (March 12, 2009)

More:

• "The Future: Just Like Today, Only Different "

Burj Khalifa, the Dubai Tower: Points of View

So much depends on how a person - or news service - looks at things:

"Terrifying lift ordeal at Burj Khalifa tower, the world’s tallest building"
Times Online (February 10, 2010)

"Turkmenistan president visits Burj Khalifa"
UAE / General, gulfnews (February 10, 2010)

"Dubai tower visitors were stuck almost 'At the Top' "
France24 (February 10, 2010)

The impression I've gotten from these and other news accounts is that Dubai officials have decided to comment on the elevator situation.

The official account, which is that an electrical malfunction caused the "bang" and dust/smoke that visitors noticed, is - in my opinion - consistent with eyewitness accounts that made it into the news. I think that the tower's owners and Dubai officials might have been a little more prompt in giving an explanation - even a 'we don't know, but we're looking into it' statement - but then, I'm an American. Not all cultures have our somewhat manic sense of urgency.

Which is okay. This world would be rather boring if everybody was alike.

For Dubai's sake, I hope the folks who run the tower get its systems up and running soon. I get the impression that the country could use the tourism revenue, if nothing else.

Related posts:

• "Explosion and Evacuation at Burj Dubai / Khalifa - and Lots of Silence"
  (February 10, 2010)
• "Burj Dubai: Record-Setting Superscraper Opens Today - With the Usual Complaints"
  (January 4, 2010)

Ares I-X Booster Dented: This is Why They have Test Flights

"NASA: Test Rocket Damage Caused by Parachute Failure"
Space.com (October 30, 2009)

"NASA engineers still aren't sure what went wrong with a pair of parachutes that failed during Wednesday's Ares I-X rocket test flight, causing damage to the spent booster when it splashed into the Atlantic Ocean harder than planned.

" 'There was an indication that we had a parachute problem,' said Ares I-X mission manager Bob Ess on Friday. 'Afterward, when we saw the parachutes we assumed, properly, that [the rocket] must have hit harder than it should have.'

"Ares I-X's first stage solid rocket booster was equipped with three giant 150-foot (46-meter) parachutes. One completely failed to deploy, while one appeared to open about half way, Ess said. The result: The booster was falling faster than expected when it hit the sea, so it buckled under the pressure and dented...."

The bad news is that not everything in the Ares I-X worked exactly the way it was expected to.

The good news is that NASA engineers have a huge volume of data - and the malfunctioning equipment - to work with as they try to figure out why only one and a half of booster's parachutes worked.

I remember the 'good old days' of the space program, when a substantial portion of the rockets blew up - either on the pad, or shortly after liftoff. The matter of a dented booster and uncooperative parachutes needs to be looked into and the problem debugged: but right now it looks like the vehicle as a whole flies the way that the mathematical models said it would.

Which is good news.

More:

"Ares I-X damaged in splashdown, but test was a success; no oscillation"
Orlando Sentinel (October 30, 2009)

"The prototype of NASA's next rocket design sustained serious damage when its parachute recovery system failed and its first stage slammed into the Atlantic Ocean at the end of a test flight Wednesday.

"Ares I-X mission manager Bob Ess said that after the solid-fuel first stage separated from its mock upper stage, one of the rocket's three main parachutes failed completely and another failed to open fully...."

"...He [Bob Ess] said initial information showed that Ares I-X flew according to plan. He described the controllability of the rocket as “rock solid”, and said initial analysis show that the shaking of the rocket on ascent – a potential problem known as thrust oscillation – was minimal.

" 'It's only a preliminary look, but so far the oscillations look very small,' Ess said. 'There was very little there. At this point there is nothing that indicates that thrust oscillation was even a factor.'

"He said it also cleared its launch tower with minimal expected damage from the flame shooting out of the rocket...."

Ares I-X Booster Test Flight: It's Kind of a Big Deal

"Liftoff! NASA Launches Moon Rocket Prototype on Test Flight"
Space.com (October 28, 2009)

"A one-of-a-kind NASA rocket soared into the Florida sky Wednesday in a brief but critical test flight of a new booster slated to launch astronauts into space and, eventually, toward the moon.

"NASA's Ares I-X booster, an unmanned prototype of the planned Ares I rocket intended to carry astronauts after the space shuttle fleet retires, blasted off on an experimental mission from the seaside Launch Pad 39B here at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC).

" 'I can't tell you how proud I am of all of ya,' KSC director Bob Cabana told the launch team after liftoff. 'That was just unbelievable, it was spectacular. I got tears in my eyes.'

"After several false starts due to bad weather, the rocket took advantage of a brief break in the clouds to loft at 11:30 a.m. EDT (1530 GMT)...."

The Ares I-X is long and skinny, and the tallest rocket currently in use. NASA engineers were concerned about that.

It wasn't the aesthetics of the launch vehicle they were thinking of. Although mathematical models of the Ares I-X checked out for stability and being able to handle the stresses of a launch, nobody's tried to actually fly something this tall and this narrow.

This flight demonstrates that the thing will fly - and NASA collected masses of data that'll help fine-tune this launch vehicle.

The Space.com article does a pretty good job of discussing the launch and its significance. The only glitch I saw was the spelling of triboelectrification - building a static charge with friction - not "trioboelectrification," as in the article. (Details, details.)

Related posts:

• "NASA's X-37 Project, New Technologies, and - EEEK! the Military!!"
  (October 23, 2009)
• "Ares I-X Rolled Out for Test Flight - It's About Time!"
  (October 21, 2009)

More:

• "Teamwork Brings About Successful Ares I-X Launch"
  NASA (October 28, 2009)

20 Years of Building Stuff One Atom at a Time

"20 Years of Moving Atoms, One by One"
Gadget Lab, Wired (September 30, 2009)

"Sometimes genius looks like an elegant equation written in chalk on a blackboard. Sometimes it's a hodgepodge of wires, canisters and aluminum-foil-wrapped hoses, all held together by shiny bolts.

"Despite its homebrew appearance, this device, a scanning tunneling microscope, is one of the most extraordinary lab instruments of the last three decades. It can pick up individual atoms one by one and move them around to create supersmall structures, a fundamental requirement for nanotechnology.

"Twenty years ago this week, on Sept. 28, 1989, an IBM physicist, Don Eigler, became the first person to manipulate and position individual atoms. Less than two months later, he arranged 35 Xenon atoms to spell out the letters IBM. Writing those three characters took about 22 hours. Today, the process would take about 15 minutes...."

Okay: Being able to spell "IBM" with 35 xenon atoms, although cool, doesn't have all that many practical applications.

Being able to build machines, one atom at a time, at extremely small scales: That's got real possibilities.

We've got small devices now, like ViRob, an R&D prototype that's designed to tunnel through a person's body. It's small: about one by four millimeters. That's small, but certainly not microscopic.

"Nanotechnology" Doesn't Mean 'Kinda Small'

"Nanotechnology" is "the branch of engineering that deals with things smaller than 100 nanometers (especially with the manipulation of individual molecules)" (Princeton's WordNet) One nanometer is one billionth of a meter, or 0.000000001 of a meter. A millimeter, by comparison, is one thousandth of a meter, or 0.001 of a meter.

So Virob is about 1,000,000 by 4,000,000 nanometers. Yeah: That's small. But not what you could reasonably call 'nanotech.' You could measure the Queen Mary 2 in inches. (The QE2 is roughly 13,500 inches long.) But that doesn't mean it's equivalent in size to other things we measure in inches - like desktop computers.

Real nanotech, though, where machines could have individual molecules as components, has exciting possibilities beyond making really small data processing units.

So We May be Able to Build Really Small Machines: So What?

A human's red blood cell is about six to ten micrometers (AKA microns) in diameter: 0.000006 to 0.00001 meters across; or - if I'm doing the math right, 6,000 to 10,000 nanometers across. Viruses are 30 to 50 nanometers across, atoms around 0.1 to 0.3 nanometers, depending on the element. ("Size and Scale," Materials Research Science and Engineering Center / Interdisciplinary Education Group, University of Wisconsin, Madison)

They may not go into production in my lifetime - but I'm pretty sure we'll soon have machines around the size of one of our red blood cells, able to travel through our blood vessels without damaging them: programmed to look for (and maybe fix) damaged veins, arteries, and capillaries. Others could be made to swim or burrow between our cells, acting as a sort of artificial immune system.

Okay - maybe not "soon" in the American sense of the word. But I think, based on what information technology and miniaturization has done in my lifetime, the time scale is decades rather than centuries.

Related posts:

• "ViRob: Tiny 'Robot' Travels Through Body"
  (June 27, 2009)
• "Nanotechnolgy and Electronics: Atom-Sized Transistors ('Nanotronics'??)"
  (February 20, 2009)
• "Slick Idea from MIT: Nanotech Oil Spill Blotter-Upper"
  (July 10, 2008)
• "The Chembots Are Coming"
  (July 1, 2008)
• "Programmable Metallization Cell (PMC): One Terabyte of Data in a Little Package"
  (June 20, 2008)
• "Spiderman Suit: From CGI to R & D"
  (March 31, 2008)
• "Nanosieves: Energy-Efficient Filters"
  (March 5, 2008)
• "It Bends! It Cleans Itself! It's Solar Powered! Meet the Cell Phone of the Future! Maybe"
  (March 3, 2008)
• "Artificial Skin: New Technologies Coming"
  (February 12, 2008)
• "Nanotech Solar Collector: Revolutionary, With a Big Catch"
  (January 16, 2008)
• "Nanobot Designed for Clearing Arteries"
  (November 21, 2007)
• "Nanotech Batteries in Clothing"
  (October 19, 2007)
• "Something New that Water Can Do"
  (October 19, 2007)

Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci, Online

the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci

"'The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.' - Leonardo"

This website is mostly a collection of drawings done by Leonardo da Vinci. He drew quite a few subjects, and names given to his drawings show that: Study of a Tuscan Landscape; Siege Machine; Study of Brain Physiology; Study of Horse and Rider; Five Characters in a Comic Scene; Studies of Concave Mirrors of Differing Curvatures; Anatomy of the Neck; and Head of Saint Anne.

Looking at five-hundred-year-old drawings isn't for everyone, but I think this is a good place to start looking at what a remarkably artist, engineer, and researcher was doing.

There are also links to related resources, like the Milan Science Museum and Leonardo da Vinci Exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science.

Power Stations in Space: California Caught On

"Calif. Considering Space Solar Power"
Discovery (April 17, 2009)

"The California Public Utilities Commission is considering a plan that would provide 200 megawatts of electricity -- enough for about 150,000 homes -- from solar power collected in space.

"The company providing the power, Solaren Corp., of Manhattan Beach, Calif., has backing from Pacific Gas and Electric, the state's biggest energy utility, which last week filed a request with regulators to purchase power from Solaren's space-based network for a period of 15 years, beginning in 2016...."

I first read a serious proposal for constructing solar-powered generating stations in space, beaming the power to Earth as microwaves, in the mid-seventies. The engineering was straight-forward enough, pickup antennas on Earth would be effectively transparent: networks of wires which could be set over cropland, or low-rise urban areas, for that matter.

I suspect that California is looking at the orbital option, after somebody did what I did about twenty years back: do the numbers, and find out just how big a solar array you'd need to power, say, Los Angeles.

Back then, it looked like a big chunk of the Mojave desert would have to be paved with solar collectors. It would work just fine: the Mojave's just north of Los Angeles, it's fairly level, and is quite sunny. Between construction equipment chewing up the soil, and a permanent solar eclipse at ground level, most of the plants and animals there would die - but the power generators would work.

Generating stations in space wouldn't involve that conflict of interest: saving the pupfish, or keeping the lights on in Los Angeles.¹

I've wondered how long it would be, before someone else figured that out.

More:

• "Mojave fields are an energy-crisis solution"
  The Boston Globe via Boston.com (March 31, 2009)
• "Desert clash in West over solar potential, water"
  FOXNews (April 18, 2009)

¹ Of course, there are other power sources - but people do use electricity these days, and I can't see us going back to coal stoves and kerosene lamps - which had their own environmental problems.

Taipei Performing Arts Center Proposal: Ordinary, This Isn't

"NL architects: TPAC - taipei performing art center proposal"
design boom (March 2, 2009)

"NL architects have designed the taipei performing arts center aiming to make
the building accessible to everybody. the public character of the center is guaranteed
by the elevation of a substantial part of its program, creating a public square underneath it. as such the square becomes part of the building inside of it...."

As you can see, from the absence of capital letters - except for the firm's name - design boom is very artistic and aesthetically sensitive.



They also, to my relief, give a pretty good description of the Taipei performing arts center, along with a profusion of photos, diagrams, and side views (they may be cross sections). This is an innovative design, probably somewhat practical, and - if it's built - will probably be the subject of rave reviews: Both for and against.

Dutch Engineers Reducing 1 in 10,000 Chance of Flooding to 1 in 100,000

"Before the Levees Break: A Plan to Save the Netherlands"
Wired (December 22, 2008)

"On a late fall afternoon on the western edge of the Netherlands, coastal engineer Marcel Stive stands atop a 40-foot dune. He stares out beyond the posse of wet-suit-clad surfers wading into the breakers of the North Sea. Where the surfers see inviting waves, Stive sees dry land—and a distant storm. He points south toward Rotterdam, Europe's busiest port. Arm outstretched, Stive rotates 180 degrees to face the shoreline running north. 'As far as you can see, in both directions, we're going to push the coast out 3, maybe 4, kilometers,' he says. 'We have to—to keep the water out.'...."

Engineers in the Netherlands are quite interested in making sure that the dry land in the country they made stays that way: dry. Particularly the part where Rotterdam is. That city, and the rest of the country that's below sea level, produces about 65% of Holland's GDP.

"...Yet the chance of a breach at Ter Heijde is actually quite low, about 1 in 10,000 in any given year. (In the lingo of storm protection, that's known as a 10,000-year flood.) The coastline and river deltas of the Netherlands are arguably the best-protected lowlands in the world, and the Dutch are a little miffed at Al Gore for suggesting in An Inconvenient Truth that their homeland is as vulnerable to rising seas as far less protected places like Bangladesh and Florida.

"To Stive and other sea-rise hawks, however, 1 in 10,000 has become too risky. They want to crank up defenses in some critical areas to the level of 1 in 100,000. 'To understand risk, you must consider the value of what would be lost,' says Stive...."

The article includes photos, a video, and maps: a fairly detailed look at a huge engineering project.

Two Really Big Bridges That Aren't Built Yet

"Dubai Wows Again with Biggest Arch Bridge Ever"
InventorSpot (February 11, 2008)

"They've got amazing hotels, artificial islands, even an indoor ski mountain. And now, to add to the list, Dubai will become home to largest arch bridge in world when the constructions of this monster is finished in 2012. Seriously, what can't they do over there?..."


(From Fxfowle, via InvetorSpot, used without permission)

The author seems to be hyperventilating a bit: but this Dubai project is pretty impressive.

"Dubai to build world's longest arch bridge"
ArabianBusiness.com (January 29, 2008)

"Dubai plans to build the world's longest arch bridge at a cost of 3 billion dirhams ($816.9 million), the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said on Tuesday.

"The RTA said it would take four years to construct the mega-bridge, which will measure 1,600 metres with an arch 205 metres high and 667 metres long.

"Once complete the bridge will overtake the Lupu Bridge in Shanghai as the longest in the world...."

This news article is quite a bit longer, and much more detailed, than the InventorSpot post.

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But Wait! There's More!

"A bridge too far?"
ArabianBusiness.com ((August 3, 2008)

"Already labelled the 'Bridge of the Century' by its supporters, developers plan to make engineering history by building a $25bn causeway between Africa and the Arabian peninsula. But is a project of such unprecedented scale viable?

"It's nothing if not ambitious. According to its backers, the $25bn 'Bridge of the Century' will be the world's longest suspension bridge, crossing the Red Sea at an 29-km wide strait known as the Bab al-Mandep, or 'Gate of Tears', and connecting the southern tip of Yemen with the Horn of Africa in Djibouti.

"The entire scheme, which also entails the creation of special economic cities at each end of the crossing, will demand a total investment of over $200bn in the two impoverished nations...."

I don't know what to think of this uber-mega-super-scale project. I don't doubt that eventually people will be building structures on this scale, but this Africa-Arabia bridge seems to be a bit of a big jump from existing megastructures, like the Lupu bridge and Dubai's artificial islands.

ArabianBusiness.com does a pretty good job of discussing what's happening, and speculating on how probable, or improbable, success of the transcontinental bridge and city-building project is.

Channel-Bridge Over the River Elbe

"Have you ever seen a WATER bridge over a river?"
Krify Buzz (undated)

An impressive photo of a bridge in Germany. Two waterways cross on different levels.

Green Technology at Stanford: Smart Building, Smart Ideas

"Green Building at Stanford Just As Smart As People It Houses" How to Change the World (March 1, 2008)

The title's claim may be an exaggeration, but it's an impressive building. The technologies include photo-voltaic solar panels, different types of windows for different walls, internal water recycling (you may not want to think too long about that), and a smart atrium.

This is smart design.

Sixties Slope Solution

"The Chemosphere" "...a bundle of contradictions, a spectacularly odd landmark, a unique effort, a kind of high-water mark, a signpost to a future that never developed."

Photos and discussion of a remarkable generic solution to sloping lots.