Big Dig Tunnel Thrill Ride

[Ron61]

Warren,

It is good to know that they got their priorities correct and the bridge will only fall after the tunnel is fixed.
We have our own version of that set up except it is mostly bridge with a short tunnel. The Bay bridge going into San Francisco is a long expansion bridge with a tunnel on Treasure Island linking it to the next section that ends in San Francisco. A couple of sections of the bridge collapsed when they had the last big quake down there, but over all it stood up far better than most of the new free ways did.

Ron

[jams]

Warren you have to ruin a good joke!

So the bridge doesn't use glue or epoxy??? Does it snap together then??

[Excaliber]

Does this mean I should stop using JB Weld?

[Ron61]

Ernie,

If they had used E-6000 this would never have happened.


Ron

[wtm442]

They used steel lego blocks, secured with 200 MPH tape (the 100 MPH tape was not strong enough). The bridge is really cool looking.

They also used anti-gravity hooks to keep the roadway from falling into the water.

[Wes Tausend]

I think construction of almost any product is not so different than the flaws in the Big Dig.

My 1994 Mazda pickup had no added grease in the inside front wheel bearings from the factory. It was built along side Ford Rangers in the same factory and the two are nearly identical. It made it about 11,000 miles on the oily film that the bearings apparently shipped with, including a 3000 mile round trip to L.A. The outside bearings were fine and still full of clean new grease as opposed to the now blued and scored dry inside bearings. The local Mazda dealer refused to warrantee the parts or labor. They said I should have had the bearings repacked after 1 year instead of 18 months. The listed scheduled maintainence was simply due at 25,000 miles, no time frame. I had the replacement done at a private shop for far less money.

In the 70's and 80's, I worked as a self-employed small contractor doing mostly home construction. There was a terrific difference in the quality of construction from home to home. It's not a surprise that the roof blows off some homes in high winds while leaving those next door untouched. During storms, some people die in homes that are not fastened well. A public tunnel falling on a person is one thing; their own home another.

Most homes built before about 1975 have drywall that is full of asbestos and, worse yet, many heating ducts are filled with asbestos dust from original construction. Of course this may not be much worse than the asbestos dust on any street corner that has a stoplight that causes people to use their auto brakes. The brake lining was all full of asbestos in the near past.

Many building specs here have changed since the 80's. Now all new homes must have drain fields around the foundation to combat shifting subsoil due to moisture change besides the occasional dampness. I think they finally require a vapor barrier not only behind the wallboard but, now also, in the ceiling. There was a time when ceilings would fall down at the break of every spring thaw, caused by accumulated humidity that had reached the dew point and therefore condensed in insulation. That wouldn't have happened if windows hadn't suddenly been federally required to not leak so much air (taking humidity build-up with it). The federal requirement was the result of the first energy crisis. My customers were shocked that their new homes did this. The city Chief Building Inspector refused to change the ceiling spec but I was able to use a vapor barrier ceiling paint to save my own warrantee headache.

[wtm442]

Amazing history .....

The first railroad in USA was in my hometown (Quincy MA). They used it to transport granite in the early 1800's to a river 3 miles from the quarries. Used it to build many buildings including the Bunker Hill Monument.

Metal straps were attached to wooden rails using bolts. The wood did not last too long so within 3 years they replaced the wooden rails with granite rails. Still used 3/16 thick flat steel and attached them to the granite. But the bolts came loose. They did not have any epoxy glue back then, so what did they do??????

The exact same thing they are doing in the Big Dig tunnels. Using bolts which expand in the hole and grip tightly. Maintenace on this railroad in the 1830's was approximately $10 a year.

Here is a picture of the beginning of the railroad in Quincy

[wtm442]

Ahhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Gov Mitt says the Big Dig tunnels are all safe now. Guess I'll have to go for another blast thru the tunnels ... but this time with OPEN HEADERS.

[Excaliber]

You evil man you.

...go get 'em!

[Fred Douglass]

Here's a question for one and all (engineers included): What do a nut-and-washer on a bolt and a rove on a rivet have in common?

Answer: they secure the bolt/rivet in such a way that it cannot pull (back) through the materials they are holding together. Ditto toggles, buttons, clinch-nails, etc.

NOW: The dip-**** engineers who felt that fiberglas plugs protruding up into (but not through) the cement beams above the "Newtonian" panels are akin to many other 'envelope pushers". Got blood on their hands.

The aforementioned fiberglass plugs simply rest in the cement beam above the panel. The bolts do NOT project THROuGH these beams. Therefore they lack any washers and nuts. Seems the dorks who thought this would work never (sucessfully) buttoned a shirt. Krikeys.

I have nothing against engineers per se---where would we be without them? But here's another example of the great need to double-check everything. Do you New Englanders remember the windows in the new John Hancock building? Yippa daing! E. N. Pei. He also did that nifty little glass pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre. Blends right in with the work of Henri Mansart, et al, who did the rest of the building in the 1500s.

Good old Bahstin politics.

If the great storm of '76 clobbered that runtish pinko, Dokucka, what do you think the Bid Dig's gonna do with Mitt? I find that too bad, because I wouldn't trust McCain with the Keys to the Kingdom, I'll tell ya. Mitt might be a good Republican presidental candidate (as long as he keeps the 6 other wives stashed). Ar-ar-ar.

[jams]

Well it looks like the epoxy manufacturer was just indited for manslaughter(some variation).

No one else questioned the thought of epoxy holding up tons of weight overhead!!! Engineers????

I am reluctant to hang anything from the ceiling of my garage by mechanical means --never mind epoxy shelves to my ceiling!

[Ron61]

Warren,

Great picture and the history is interesting. You have a lot of historical places around you. We have a few, but most are in desert settings and old mining towns around here and aren't much to look at.

Ron