Perhaps the Most Spectacular Bridge Collapse Ever Caught on Film November 7, 2010

Tacoma Narrows Bridge: A Big Mistake

On This Date In History:   The Tacoma Narrows Bridge opened in July 1940 to great fanfare. With a span of 2800 feet, it was the third longest bridge in the world. The builder decided to save money by making the bridge only 39 feet wide to support just two lanes of traffic which seems pretty short sighted given that it was probably a pretty good bet that traffic in the years ahead would continue to increase.  Nevertheless, the bridge only had two lanes but was designed to withstand winds of 120 mph. People flocked to the bridge after it’s opening, not just because it was faster than the ferry, but also because word had traveled that the moderate winds that are common in the area would make the bridge sway and even undulate up and down.   It was pretty cool to see.  Drivers reported losing sight of the autos in front of them when the bridge waved. The bridge gained the moniker “Galloping Gertie.”

Brave (or stupid) Pedestrian

All the fun and games came to a crashing end on this date in 1940 when steady winds of just 42 mph made the bridge sway…and then leap. It continued throughout the day until the entire structure failed. The bridge had been closed but the last man let across lost control of his car and, in fear of being tossed 190 feet into the Tacoma Narrows below, he fled on foot. He tried to retrieve the family cocker spaniel from the back seat but the pup would have none of it. As he reached the end of the bridge, the bridge collapsed spectacularly with the dog as the only casualty.

The result of the collapse was analyzed and is a common subject in college physics classes. Basically, the wind was in tune with the natural harmonics of the bridge. The more the wind blew, the greater it increased the amplitude of the harmonics creating a wave. Its a similar phenomena as when a singer breaks a glass. To avoid a similar fate, bridges today, including the one that replaced “Galloping Gertie” have damping and aerodynamic features built in and wind tunnels are used to test the ability of the structure to resist wind and prevent compromise of the integrity of the structure.

Here is the 1940 Newsreel Footage of the Collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge

Here is a different, color film on video of the collapse

Whatever man builds, can come down. Gravity and other forces are constantly at play. There are some things in life in which compromise can be a good thing. But engineers cannot afford to not get it right the first time. It kinda reminds me of what US Grant often said, “man proposes; God disposes.” These days we often teach our kids that close is good enough. If that is your methodology, mommas don’t let your babies be engineers.

Erie Canal Is a Great Example of American Ingenuity and Boldness October 26, 2010

Without a Mule or a Horse, You Went Nowhere on the Erie Canal

The Erie Canal Stretches 363 miles across Upstate New York; Quite an accomplishment in the early 19th Century

On This Date in History:  In 1817, DeWitt Clinton became governor of New York following a victory we only see today in totalitarian countries.  DeWitt received almost 97% of the vote as he gained 43, 310 votes with those opposed only registering 1,479 votes.  That kind of victory would give anyone the notion that perhaps he had a mandate.  Only trouble was that he had promised something that had never been done and many suggested could not be done.  You see, the United States was still a small, largely coastal nation but expansion contintually pushed the nation westward through the continent and away from the coast.  Trade was a great necessity for the fiscal stability of the nation and for the needs of settlers in the nation’s interior.  Roads were unreliable and rivers didn’t flow toward the East Coast so a great need developed for a quick, reliable way to connect the interior parts of the nation to the seaports on the East Coast.  An impediment was the Appalachian Mountains and, not only did the mountains impede economic concerns but they also were a potential limitation to national security.  If the young nation could not find a way over or around the Appalachians, then it could lose its frontier to Britain or France. 

Erie Canal Today Near Albany, NY

So, Clinton had seized upon and idea that had first surfaced in 1784 which was to link the Great Lakes with the Hudson River with a canal.  Initially, it was called the Great Western Canal but later took on the Erie Canal moniker.  Now, that was a great task as the rise in elevation from Albany to Buffalo is about 675 feet so it was not a matter of simply digging a ditch.  There were huge engineering obstacles to overcome.  Clinton had served on a commission to study the issue in 1810 and that New York State Commission concluded that the project went beyond the state’s means and that federal funding would be necessary.  Federal funds had never been used in such a manner in the past and, at the time, the states looked at themselves as independent entities loosely held together in a confederation rather than a unified nation.  The changeover from a “union” to a “nation” would not come about until after the Civil War.  So, other states objected to New York getting federal monies as they reasoned the Empire State would get all of the benefit.  Thomas Jefferson said building the canal was “a little short of madness.”

Towns Like Baldwin Built Feeder Canals to the Erie Canal To Connect The Township to the rest of the world

Undeterred, Clinton went on a crusade to build the canal.  Using the power of his vote total, he proposed and the legislature passed a funding bill but the legislative approval was not the final tally.  New York had a Council of Revision which was made up of 5 men and they had to approve the measure.  Two were in favor of the canal project and two were firmly opposed.  That left it up to one man to decide.  That one man was New York Supreme Court Chief Justice James Kent and he was all set to vote “no” when he got a surprise knock at his door.  US Vice-President and former New York Governor Daniel Tompkins made a call and he told Kent that another war with Great Britain was imminent.  The Vice-President cautioned that New York should not waste its time and money on such a foolish project.  Most of the time, presidents tend to want vice-presidents to be seen and not heard.  If Tompkins’ feeling mirrored those of the adminstration,  then President James Monroe would have done better to send his VP to a funeral than to pay a call on the Council of Revision.  Kent was so peeved at the intrusion and saber-rattling attempt at coercion that he said, “If we must have a war, or have a canal, I am in favor of the canal!”  An odd twist to this part of the story is that Tompkins had been plagued by charges of misusing federal funds while serving as governor of New York.

Locks Were Needed to Overcome the 675 ft change in elevation over the distance of the canal

So, the project was approved but it started off quite curiously as there were no American engineers who any expertise in building canals, let alone one of such a scale.  For some reason that gave the state the great idea to hire two lawyers to lead the project. At least one newspaper of the time took note of the rather unorthodox appointment of Benjamin Wright and James Geddes to face the challenges posed by the canal when it described them as ”a brace of country lawyers with a compass and a spirit level.”   However, the state wasn’t totally out of its mind because it was not unusual for men to have more than one profession and both Wright and Geddes are remembered today as engineers more than their jurisprudence with Wright earning a popular distinction as “the father of Civil Engineering.” 

Boats Had to Bring Their Own Mules; They Rotated Them Over the Course of the Journey

I’m not sure if it was considered a “shovel-ready” job, but the shovels must have been ready because work began on the job in July 4, 1817 and it was initiated in an easy spot.  The land west of Frankfort in Oneida County was soft and level.  By today’s standards, or even those of the late 19th century, the canal was quite small.  The specifications called for the canal to just be four feet deep and only 40 feet wide.  Bret Favre could possibly have thrown a football across the canal without throwing an interception.  But, one must remember that flatboats were relatively small at that time and the boats that used the canal had to be pulled along by animal power.  Teams of mules or horses walked along the banks of the canal with the boat in tow.  Before the canal could be dug, trees had to be cut, stumps removed and underbrush cleared.  Parts of New York State were still quite an untamed wilderness so such an undertaking was no easy task.  The clearing work was done in sections as small as just a quarter mile long.  Local contractors and farmers  contributed animal and human muscle to the endeavor, though some work-related contraptions were invented to help with the work.

Quite a View From Lockport

Within the challenge of overcoming the elevation change was problem of how to construct the Erie Canal locks.    Canvass White was considered by many to be the most gifted engineer on the entire project.  He had been recruited for the project by Governor Clinton who suggested the young engineer go to England to study that country’s canals.  He did so on his own dime and studied the methods used, including the use of hydraulic cement to seal the mortar used to connect the stones.  But, importing hydraulic cement from Europe was costly so they tried to simply coat the mortar with a thin layer of hydrolic cement.  It was no solution because it would take no time at all to crumble.    As it turns out, while digging the canal, limestone was discovered that doubled as a natural cement rock.  White, who was working on the middle section, calcinated the local rock, turned to to powder and mixed it with water and sand.  The new substance was found to harden with time under water and form an underwater cement that was far better than anything used before.   White patented his new discovery and the new material caught on rapidly.  Trouble was for Canvass, no one paid much attention to the patent and he received next to nothing for his effort.  When he died, his wife was left with an estate that included little more than the house furniture which she subsequently was forced to sell. 

Governor Clinton boarded the first boat to traverse the Erie Canal on October 26, 1825

Another challenge was the number of streams and rivers that had to be crossed and to overcome those hurdles, a page was taken out of the Roman playbook.  Much as White had observed on his tour of England’s canals, aqueducts were built over rivers and pipelines were used to divert streams.  In Western New York, the marshes were a prime breeding ground for malaria carrying mosquitos so workers wore necklaces that served as mini-smudge pots that kept mosquitos away; they must have smelled lovely at the end of the day.  Beyond all of those challenges, the issue of the elevation change remained but that was overcome with a series of 83 locks along the 363 mile canal.  Not all of the land was made up of soft earth as New York is famous for its granite subsurface.  Five of the locks had to be blasted from solid rock near the future site of Lockport.  This series of locks lifted boats 76 feet over the Niagara Escarpment. On this date in 1825, the Erie Canal was completed and, a few weeks later, the canal boat Seneca Chief brought a keg of water from Lake Erie to New York Harbor for a “Wedding of the Waters.” 

Passengers as well as cargo used the Erie Canal

In the end, the Erie Canal not only proved that great engineering obstacles could be overcome, even with lawyers in charge.  It also showed that government could effectively build a public works project as the total cost came in at $7 million and it was paid off in tolls after just 12 years.  Between 1836 and 1862, the canal was enlarged to a depth of 7 feet with a width of 70 feet to accomodate the larger boats and needs of the expanding nation.  The number of locks was reduced by 9.   By 1900, boats had outgrown the canal and once again expansion was needed.  An enlargement project was proposed in 1903 and completed in 1918 that increased the depth to 12  to 14 feet, broadened the width to 120 to 200 feet and reduced the number of locks to 57 that could handle barges carrying up to 3000 tons of goods.  Today, the Erie Canal is used largely by boating enthusiasts and not be commercial traffic but, in its day, it was a true marvel.

High Risk for Severe Weather is a Bit Unusual

15% Chance for Tornadoes in Ohio Valley

Weather Bottom Line:

  After a very long, boring stretch, it would appear we have some action afoot.   The boys at the Storm Prediction Center have us in the High Risk for Severe Weather for Tuesday.  A warm front of sorts came through and opened the door for warm, moist air from the South.  First time we’ve had the Gulf open up for some time.  There is a strong upper level jet which is not unusual for this time of year and is indicative of a changing season.  See, the time of most severe activity will be in seasonal transition.  The primary time is the spring with the secondary prime time being the fall when we still have some times of warm moist air coming from the Gulf but we have the introduction of winter-like systems from the North with accompanying strong upper level energy.  It’s going to be windy all day with something like 20-30 mph winds with gusts to 40.  We should see a line of thunderstorms, most likely racing through the area between noon and 3 pm.  The potential for high winds will be the biggest threat though tornadic activity can’t be ruled out, especially along any bowing segments of the line.  There is such a strong level of dynamics that the SPC has issued a Tornado Watch for the area until 4 PM EDT on Tuesday

Wind Biggest Threat For Damaging Conditions

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This situation is not very unusual to have such a storm this time of year.  In fact, this situation is really a bit similar to that of the in 1975 when the Edmund Fitzgerald sunk.  In that situation, there was an extremely deep low pressure area making its way across the Great Lakes that produced very strong winds and the result was huge waves on Lake Superior and Michigan.  The common nature of the scenario is why Gordon Lightfoot referred to the storm as the Gales of November.  Mariners know that there are some tough weather conditions found in November in that area and Lightfoot had the famous line “When the Gales of November come early”.  Well, this is a little before November so I’d say that the Gales of November will be coming early to the Great Lakes as this storm will have a central pressure of about 959 mb which is would support a category two hurricane.  Like the storm with the Fitz, this storm will have a very long cold front extending south that will sweep through the area.  It will be racing through so the action will be quick and possibly rather ferocious.

Leaning Tower of Pisa, A Magnificent Engineering Failure August 9, 2010

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a Magificent Engineering Failure

On this Date in History:  In Medieval Italy, a cathedral complex was begun in Pisa, Italy.   Ultimately,the complex would include four structures and be  known as the Campo dei Miracoli or Piazza dei Miracoli, which means Fields of Miracles.  If you are going to build a cathedral complex, it’s probably best to start with the cathedral and so the first building constructed was Duomo di Pisa.  It’s a fabulous example of Roman architecture and is set upon a white marble pavement.  Just to the west of the cathedral dome, the baptistry was constructed.  The third part of the Campo dei Miracoli was the bell tower, more properly referred to as the campanile.    While  the entire complex is considered by many experts to be the most spectacular assembly of Roman (Romanesque) architecture (though the cathedral is topped with an Islamic-style dome), the bell tower has become one of the world’s iconic structures and iconic engineering failure.

Photographer Dan Heller Provides a Look Inside the Cathedral in Pisa

The tower’s design called for a 185 foot tall, circular, eight-story column made of white marble.   The bottom floor consists of 15 arches with the next 6 stories containing 30 arches each and the top floor utilizing 16 arches for structural integrity probably more than asthetics.   A spiral staircase of 297 steps leads to the top floor which houses the actual bell chamber.  Truly, it is an astonishing engineering feat when one considers that construction was begun on this date in 1173.  The tower was perhaps the tallest of its type in all of Europe and was not built for any religious purpose.  Instead, it’s construction came about as a symbol of the wealth of the city.   This was the time of the rise in the city-state in Italy that eventually led to the Renaissance.  Pisa went to war with many of its city-state neighbors, including its chief rival, Florence.  The first order of business was the foot of the tower but the effort was halted due to the outbreak of war with Florence.  

Aerial View of Campo Dei Miracoli

In fact, construction of the tower was interrupted so often that it was not completed for 136 years.  Work was restarted in 1180 and the first 3 floors were completed 5 years later.  Funding ran out about that time because the city-state’s treasure was being put toward another war with Florence.  It was in that very year that the incomplete tower began to lean.  While the builders looked for a solution to the lean,  they put bells on top of the 3rd floor so that at least they would have a bell tower.  The battles with Florence and other city-states were frequent enough that construction was not restarted until 1275 when the wars were at such a manageable level that the work was able to continue for 9 straight years.  But, in 1284 the Navy of Pisa was decimated by that of Genoa partly due to the betrayal of Pisa’s own count, Count Ugolino della Gherardesca.  The count and his family were put into a prison tower and the folks in Pisa literally threw the key to the tower of Gualandi into the Arno River.  The disgraced family died of starvation and the tower has been known as the Torre della Fame (tower of hunger) ever since.  Dante started a story that the count was found gnawing on the bones of one of his dead kids and he has been referred to as the ”Cannibal Count,” though recent evidence may have determined that the count was not a cannibal.   By 1319, the tower was finally completed.  But the symbol of Pisa’s power didn’t last long because in 1392, Florence bought the entire city-state of Pisa.  I suppose one might say that is when it became a tourist attraction.

Inside the Bell Tower

However, it is not known as the Campanile of  the Campo dei Miracoli or the Bell Tower of Campo dei Miracoli.   Instead, it is most often referred to as the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  No one knows for certain who designed the tower but he must have been someone of great skill, capability and guts.  But, it seems when they began the footing, they only went to a depth of about 10 feet on a dry stone bed.  When they finished the third floor and construction was halted, the building had sunk by about a yard (40 cm) and there was a lean of 5 cm.  If you think about it, a lean of a couple of inches is not that obvious to the naked eye so they had to have reasonably sophisticated capability to determine if a building was level. 

False Report of Tower's Demise

Short of tearing it down and starting over, the staircase design and weight of the material didn’t leave much room for fixing the lean.  When they got to the 6th floor, one side of the upper floors were raised to try and correct the lean which was then obvious to the eye as it had grown to 90 cm or about 7 feet.   Curiously, it is thought that the numerous delays in construction due to war or political unrest allowed the structure to settle to a relative state of stability.  Over the years, many people have come up with ways to correct  the lean.  One suggestion was to dismantle the tower and rebuild it at a different location.  If that had been allowed to come about, I doubt that the tower would be nearly as famous as it is today.  In the 1920′s,  a cement solution was injected into the foundation that may have provided extra stability.  Apparently,  Benito Mussolini also tried to add cement to the foundation but it sunk the clay. 

Cable Scheme Proposed to Save Tower

Today, the tower leans about 14 feet from center and it is estimated that the lean grows at about 1 mm per year.  Maybe it’s still settling.  It’s six feet shorter than it was originally and some estimates say that it will fall in about 175 years.    Efforts to find a permanent stablization method continues today, including the use of steel cables to hold up the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  That might keep it from falling down but it sure wouldn’t look too good.   The tower was closed from 1990 to 2001 while a solution was sought.  More stablization work was done and the tower reopened in 2001. Italian engineers claim the work means the Leaning Tower of Pisa won’t fall for 300 years.    Some say the 800 year mystery of the Leaning Tower of Pisa has been solved.  But, it does continue to lean further each year.     From time to time, the bell tower has been closed to the public but its open in the 21st century and remains an iconic tourist destination that gives people an extra reason to visit the small town of Pisa.  Perhaps the folks in Florence knew that they had their own Disneyland when they bought their enemy out.

Weather Bottom Line:  Hope you enjoyed the weekend weather because the heat and humidity is back.  We’ll be talking upper 90′s to near 100 and as the week goes on, the humidity will get worse and worse until Wednesday becomes pretty tough.   A front may get close enough on Wednesday to help destablize things enough and work with the afternoon heat to trigger some t’storms.  The ridge appears to re-establish itself on Thursday so that would mean more limited chances and then on Friday, we have another front that again gets close enough to raise the prospects of t’storms and rain.  Biggest difference between this week and last is that it doesnt look like the front will be able to make its way through and bring a break in the heat.

Hoover Dam Is the Name and It Will Never Look the Same July 7, 2010

This Beautiful View of Hoover Dam Is Gone Forever

View of Hoover Dam from Behind Still Spectacular Even with Bridge

On This Date In History: This is a tale filled with politics so it’s confusing. Back in 1902, Arthur Powell Davis, an engineer with the Bureau of Reclamation, came up with an idea for a dam along the Colorado River at a place called Boulder Canyon.  Herbert Hoover, an engineer by education himself, was Secretary of Commerce in 1921 and he made it a priority to support a high dam at Boulder Canyon. Plans were set for the project to be begun in 1922. Well, there was Congress to contend with and water rights and states rights…lots of politicians. So the project didn’t get started until This Date in 1930. By that time, coincidentally, Herbert Hoover was the 31st President. It was also the beginning of the Great Depression and Hoover wanted to be re-elected. While work started on July 7, the official ceremony commemorating the beginning wasn’t until September when Hoover’s Secretary of the Interior, Ray Wilbur, declared the project would be known as the Hoover Dam. It was appropriate since Hoover had been instrumental over the years in getting the project going. But, Hoover also wanted the project to bear his name to remind people of all the jobs he had created. It didn’t work. Hoover lost badly to Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 election.

Frank Didn't Think Herb Deserved a Dam Named For Hiim

As the project was getting started, it was determined that geologically it was better suited down the river in Black Canyon. Nevertheless, it was still called the Boulder Canyon Project and on May 8, 1933, Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes, father of the current Democrat politicial figure and lobbyist Harold M. Ickes) declared that the name of the project would no longer be known as Hoover Dam, but instead Boulder Dam.  Ickes claimed that Wilbur was wrong in naming the dam for President Hoover.  

Construction of the Hoover Dam Was a Monumental Task But Perhaps Not as Difficult as Settling on a Name

FDR had been in office for a few months and I suppose that erasing any mention of Hoover perhaps was high on the priority list of helping the US to be fearless against “fear itself.”   Then again, maybe the former Teddy Roosevelt “Bull Moose”  Republican Ickes simply did not like Hoover.  Ickes claimed that the legislationfor the project had been approved during the Coolidge administration and therefore linking it to Hoover was no good.  It did not seem to matter to Ickes that the original sight had been changed from Boulder Canyon to  Black Canyon.   Even though Ickes did some token work to allow African American laborers to live in Boulder City, NV, I doubt that “Black Dam” would have been acceptable, though “Black Canyon Dam” may have passed muster.  But, Ickes explained that   “The name Boulder Dam is a fine, rugged, and individual name. The men who pioneered this project knew it by this name.”   Today, the Department of the Interior says that the name was never officially changed from Hoover Dam.   I guess Mr. Ickes overstepped his authority.

Wouldn't a Bridge Spoil a Beautiful View of a Magnificent Structure?

Nevertheless,  I suppose  that even though it supposedly wasn’t officially called Boulder Dam,  in 1947, President Harry Truman  found it necessary to sign a resolution of the Congress changing the name back to Hoover Dam….but the town built for all of the workers is still Boulder City. When I was a kid we stayed in a motel in Boulder City that looked like it was from the set of National Lampoon’s Vacation. Christie Brinkley didn’t show up though.  Here’s a link to all sorts of stuff about Hoover Dam including a bunch of photos from the 1930′s. Notice that it is called the Boulder Dam Project..AKA Hoover Dam. There are some things of which some people will not let go, Congressional resolution and Presidential signature or not!  The photos show just how majestic and beautiful the dam really is but now that has changed. 

Artist's Vision of What the Completed Bridge Will Look Like

The traffic over  the bridge I suppose just got too congested because they went and built a new bridge to bypass the dam and they built it right in front of the huge structure.  That’s progress for you and necessity but the image of the dam with the Hoover Dam Bypass is just is not the same anymore.   Nevertheless, the bridge is pretty cool and is supposedly on schedule for a fall 2010 opening.  The bridge will be called the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge in honor of a popular Nevada Governor Mike O’Callaghan and NFL star and war hero Pat Tillman who died tragically in Afghanistan.  People in Las Vegas are happy because it will shorten the drive to Phoenix and make it more safe.  And while it is extremely appropriate to name it in the honor of Pat Tillman, I still wish they would have put it somewhere else.  But again, that’s progress.  I suppose that there were people who think that the dam itself, which was a sign of progress, spoiled the natural beauty of Black Canyon.

Weather Bottom Line:  The heat will continue for another couple of days but by Friday, a frontal boundary will be sagging our way.  While it is not entirely clear exactly how much rain we will get, the front’s approach will give us the most substantial risk for rain in several days.  The front will move through and bring some relief but don’t look for a repeat of the nice weather we had late last week with the last front.  It will be drier and highs over the weekend will be in the upper 80′s and overnight lows in the upper 60′s.  Perhaps more significantly is that this front may represent at least a short term change in the long wave pattern such that the ridge that has been dominating the east limiting rain and elevating temperatures may be broken down.  That should allow for a better chance for scattered showers than we have seen and the edge removed from the excessive heat.  It’s still going to be hot…just maybe not quite as hot and humid as it has been.