August 21, 2007

• On other news they finally pulled the last body out of the Mississippi River after the August 1 collapse.  It was a total of 13 dead and six still have serious injuries but I believe these are all expected to recover.  So far they have not found a “smoking gun” on the cause of the collapse.  So far, the stories have been on the decision to monitor rather than repair known stress cracks.  Basically they have no “smoking gun”.

  Basically, I’m still sticking with my hinge/bearing galling/sticking/corrosion theory as “win, place or show”.  The Star Tribune had an article on a bridge stress sensor system though it seemed to operate on a different principle.  The article seemed mostly fixated on the fact that it was “solar powered” rather than the de technical details on what it would do.  Solar is more expensive than pulling into the grid but these sensor systems use so little electricity anyway that “saving the planet” is not a real factor.  I’m sure this is a very good system but the cost per unit is around $30K.  I could build a working demo of mine for $30.  While I designed it for the hinges/bearings with other stress there is distance and a simple laser measurer can do the trick.  A hardened weatherproof device would be more expensive but far less (and yes it could be solar powered! Whoopee dee!).  Actually solar is coming down in price and is ideal for remote locations where it is expensive to hard wire, especially for low use applications but it’s not cost effective with the “grid”.

  I sort of know this stuff. I visited my great grandmother who lived in a log cabin with a wind generator.  (the harsh life no doubt contributed to her death at age 106 ).  To her the early transistor radios and 12 volt florescent lights were god sent.  Se used to “conserve electricity” so she could listen to the Minnesota Twins games on her newfangled transistor radio.

  • 3:14 pm
  • Leave a comment