WI - 35W bridge in Minneapolis collapses!

[KarlK]

Did the Romans have a Halliburton Blackwater mercenary force??

Believe it or not they had something like that. Towards the end Roman armies consisted mostly of foreign mercenaries. Since they were almost never paid they rarely bothered to occupy conquered lands, they just sacked and pilfered then moved on. They kept most of the loot to themselves so eventually Rome became broke and the end was near.

More on topic, some Roman bridges and aqueducts are still standing after 2,000 years.

 

[Buzz Mills]

Believe it or not they had something like that. Towards the end Roman armies consisted mostly of foreign mercenaries. Since they were almost never paid they rarely bothered to occupy conquered lands, they just sacked and pilfered then moved on. They kept most of the loot to themselves so eventually Rome became broke and the end was near.

That's Halliburton all over again

More on topic, some Roman bridges and aqueducts are still standing after 2,000 years.

We built ours so that after 2000 years you'll never even know there was a bridge, or an aqueduct, there. I think they call it "no footprint."

 

[SeriouslySearching]

That's Halliburton all over again



We built ours so that after 2000 years you'll never even know there was a bridge, or an aqueduct, there. I think they call it "no footprint."

It would be nice if they could last 100 years tho! I watched a documentary on the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. They did it right!

 

[Trino]

It sure seems we're all in agreement on Haliburton, Iraq money, and the need for infrastructure repair. What can WE, websleuths, do to make a difference?

I'm leaving today for Paris (as in France) so I'll probably monitor your answers. Hubby and I are bicycling. Talk to you in late August.

 

[Buzz Mills]

It sure seems we're all in agreement on Haliburton, Iraq money, and the need for infrastructure repair. What can WE, websleuths, do to make a difference?

I'm leaving today for Paris (as in France) so I'll probably monitor your answers. Hubby and I are bicycling. Talk to you in late August.

Sure Trino, just run off and have fun, and leave the rest of us here to sort through this mess.

 

[Trino]

Sure Trino, just run off and have fun, and leave the rest of us here to sort through this mess.

Do I denote jealousy?

 

[SewingDeb]

Have a great time Trino. Pick up some suggestions for us in Paris. I'm sure they have plenty of ideas on what needs changing in America.:crazy:

 

[SewingDeb]

Could tiny sensors detect bridge crises?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070803/ap_on_re_us/bridge_collapse_sensors

 

[Buzz Mills]

Could tiny sensors detect bridge crises?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070803/ap_on_re_us/bridge_collapse_sensors

SD, my career involved the use of a lot of different types of transducers; transducers are devices, depending on the type, that accept many different types of inputs and output a voltage, for transmission. Strain gauges, temperature gauges, pressure gauges, vibrometers, accelerometers. Yes, all bridges could Be "instrumented" with the data being transmitted, and monitored, using algorithms, such that, should any anomalous conditions occur, electronic alarms would alert others as to the need to check the situation out.

Much the same as warning sytems on cars, airplanes, etc., except with remote monitoring stations.

I designed telemetry for missile systems, and also designed ground realtime processing systems to handle the massive amounts of transmitted data. Any anomalous data is the data of interest.

 

[cheko1]

Do I denote jealousy?

Have a great time Trino,
I am green with envy!!!!

 

[Buzz Mills]

Do I denote jealousy?

You betcha; a bike ride in France sounds great right about now.

 

[SewingDeb]

SD, my career involved the use of a lot of different types of transducers; transducers are devices, depending on the type, that accept many different types of inputs and output a voltage, for transmission. Strain gauges, temperature gauges, pressure gauges, vibrometers, accelerometers. Yes, all bridges could Be "instrumented" with the data being transmitted, and monitored, using algorithms, such that, should any anomalous conditions occur, electronic alarms would alert others as to the need to check the situation out.

Much the same as warning sytems on cars, airplanes, etc., except with remote monitoring stations.

I designed telemetry for missile systems, and also designed ground realtime processing systems to handle the massive amounts of transmitted data. Any anomalous data is the data of interest.

Thanks for the information, Buzzm. At a cost of $1.00 each, I think these should be used.

 

[cheko1]

SD, my career involved the use of a lot of different types of transducers; transducers are devices, depending on the type, that accept many different types of inputs and output a voltage, for transmission. Strain gauges, temperature gauges, pressure gauges, vibrometers, accelerometers. Yes, all bridges could Be "instrumented" with the data being transmitted, and monitored, using algorithms, such that, should any anomalous conditions occur, electronic alarms would alert others as to the need to check the situation out.

Much the same as warning sytems on cars, airplanes, etc., except with remote monitoring stations.

I designed telemetry for missile systems, and also designed ground realtime processing systems to handle the massive amounts of transmitted data. Any anomalous data is the data of interest.

They need to install them on every bridge in the USA.
Why take the chance of a collapse & kill innocent people.

 

[cheko1]

My son was driving by the bridge site & he seen a LE officer that he knows & he told him divers found several cars without anyone in them. They figure the bodies will be found down river. Other cars are smashed on top of others & they can't get to the bodies.

He said it was so sad & the scene was a total nightmare.

 

[SewingDeb]

I heard that on the news a little while ago...that many cars in the water were empty. So sad.

Chico, the link you put up earlier to the pictures doesn't work now.

 

[Buzz Mills]

They need to install them on every bridge in the USA.
Why take the chance of a collapse & kill innocent people.

Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists, in collaboration with the University of California at San Diego, say such a system would provide enough lead time to either shut down a bridge or perform preventive maintenance to avert serious failures.

"The idea is to put arrays of sensors on structures, such as bridges, and look for the changes of patterns of signals coming out of those sensors that would give an indication of damage forming and if it is propagating," said Chuck Farrar, a civil engineer at the lab. The electronic sensors would be powered by microwaves or the sun and would send data via radiotelemetry to a computer for analysis. The sensors detect electrical charges emitted by stress on material, such as steel-reinforced concrete.

Researchers are in the second year of the four-year project — funded at $400,000 a year — and it probably will be years before the sensors are commercially available, Farrar said.

Researchers are trying to incorporate the sensors with microprocessors and wireless telemetry systems so they can work as stand-alone monitoring devices, Farrar said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070803/ap_on_re_us/bridge_collapse_sensors

Geez, had I known, it would have been an interesting project to work on. It's right up my alley.

 

[cheko1]

I heard that on the news a little while ago...that many cars in the water were empty. So sad.

Chico, the link you put up earlier to the pictures doesn't work now.

I just tried the link & it worked SD.

 

[Buzz Mills]

I mentioned this earlier:

It was the shipbuilder's fault

About three million rivets were used to hold the sections of the Titanic together. Some rivets have been recovered from the wreck and analysed. The findings show that they were made of sub-standard iron. When the ship hit the iceberg, the force of the impact caused the heads of the rivets to break and the sections of the Titanic to come apart. If good quality iron rivets had been used the sections may have stayed together and the ship may not have sunk.

http://www.historyonthenet.com/Titanic/blame.htm

 

[SeriouslySearching]

It sure seems we're all in agreement on Haliburton, Iraq money, and the need for infrastructure repair. What can WE, websleuths, do to make a difference?

I'm leaving today for Paris (as in France) so I'll probably monitor your answers. Hubby and I are bicycling. Talk to you in late August.

VOTE!

Enjoy your trip!! Paris is lovely!

 

[SeriouslySearching]

I heard that on the news a little while ago...that many cars in the water were empty. So sad.

They also said they were figuring out some of those people were alive and got to safety. We can only hope.