Greatest engineering masterpiece?
- Thread starter Stobart Stopper
- Start date
1927
Funnier than he thinks he is.
Hollis said:
I agree but boy did i get into trouble when i started a Concorde appreciation thread during its last week of flying!
The argument basically being that as it was a rich peoples play thing it couldnt be beautiful or admired for its engineering brilliance!!!
Anyway at the risk of starting an argument my second nomination is...
sherriff rosco
Mostly harmless unless catering is shut.
John Harrison`s accurate marine watch no 4 for measuring longtitude...
World travel started after that..
.p.
World travel started after that..
.p.
pk
drink flounce rinse repeat
The greatest achievement mankind has ever known, and the largest machine in the world, would have to be the global telecommunications network.
Pick up your mobile phone and you can contact anyone, anywhere.
Think about the infrastructure and the internet routing - there is the genius of mankind at it's most prolific.
Pick up your mobile phone and you can contact anyone, anywhere.
Think about the infrastructure and the internet routing - there is the genius of mankind at it's most prolific.
sherriff rosco
Mostly harmless unless catering is shut.
pogofish said:The ancient seafaring cultures of the near-east, Mediterranian, pacific islands plus the Vikings & Orcadians might all take issue on that one!
yep! but they couldn`t map accuratly where they were ? Always had top respect for the polynesians , travelling across hundreds of miles of oceans in open canoes....
.p.
thelittlechef
Ale Drinker
What a great question!
My nominations would have to be... er... so much to choose from!
"old engineering" would be the canal network in the UK, the sheer size of such a project even now is staggering.
"new engineering" would be on the canal network, the Falkirk Wheel is a huge and very technically challanging project which looks graceful and powerful at the same time.
My nominations would have to be... er... so much to choose from!
"old engineering" would be the canal network in the UK, the sheer size of such a project even now is staggering.
"new engineering" would be on the canal network, the Falkirk Wheel is a huge and very technically challanging project which looks graceful and powerful at the same time.
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
sherriff rosco said:
Unsure of the Southern Ocean & Med cultures but there is reasonable evidence that the sailors of Scottish & Norse cultures were able to repeatedly & accurately find the then very remote fishing grounds off Greenland & Northern Canada. Something that involved a signifant number of days sailing out of sight of land/landmarks. Old families like the St Clairs of Orkney became the medieval equivalent of oil-barons thanks to their centuries of dominance over the salt-fish trade. There is at least one map from that period (@C14) still intact.
i think this is a pretty wonderous thing:
http://www.waterscape.com/servicesdirectory/A/Anderton_Boat_Lift.html
http://www.waterscape.com/servicesdirectory/A/Anderton_Boat_Lift.html
Funky_monks
Neo-Rustic
I get to look at this one every day:
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
mains said:and sadly many, many of them died)
As well as the general lack of safety considerations for workers at that time, many of the deaths on the bridge were due in no small part to the antics of the proprietors of the Hawes Inn. They kept many workers well-pissed throughout the working day. Sited directly under the line of the southern bridge approach, the men working there used to lower ropes directly into the brew-yard & hoist-up large quantities of beer. Later on, as the bridge progressed, the Inn got its own boat going to make deliveries directly to the caisson crews & those working on the cantilevers
History dosen't record just how many of the deaths were wholly or partly attributable to drink but it must have been a significant number. Other than Sunday closures, the history of licencing laws in Scotland began here as an attempt to restrict the death-toll somewhat. Always amazed me that for one of the caissons, they were never able to get a solid foundation. The sands were just too deep. A credit to the design & weight distribution that it dosen't seem to matter one bit!
mains said:
The Forth bridge aka 'The Bridge' - to think it was built in the 19th century with thousands of workers toiling in gale force winds, rain and freezing temperatures (and sadly many, many of them died
ditto that
<impressed>i am surprised that peeps know about the Cruachan HP job</impressed>
but the old nipponese have the bridge thing sussed
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
stroober said:
Cruachan & the other Scottish Hydro schemes are a bit of a minor interest of mine - after exploring many of the areas around them on holidays as a kid. I was always awestruck by these massive structures built in the most remote palces. Later, on learning something of the history of the scheme, I was also surprised that at inception & throught much of the programme, it had been almost an old-style utopian socialist undertaknig. Much of the history of this has been put on paper recently in the excellent book "Power from the glens"
One of my photos of the Monar Dam in full-flow (BIG waterspout - WOW!) was purchased by a major tool company once & used as part of the concept for one of their adverts.
Johnny Canuck3
Well-Known Member
This is one of my favourite subjects...I love the planning and methods used in giant construction projects...
I was a rigger on several power stations years ago and the size of some of the bits is massive...EG. The main beam that the suspends boiler at Bayswater and Mt. Piper power stations is about 12 feet across and twenty or so feet deep, that may not sound big but when you stand on it it is.
The entire structure of the boiler is suspended from this beam (1 of 4) because of the stretching the metal does once heated up (it expands about 300 ml) The boiler/s itself are about 350 feet by 150 by 150 and over 1000 kilometres of stainless steel tube in each one.
One of the cranes I used could lift a 300 ton object and lower it millimetre by millimetre with incredible accuracy...
Like a kid playing with great big toy's!....
When the Sydney harbour bridge was built they worked from both ends and when it was ready to join they were less than an inch apart, not bad for the size of the bridge.
I was a rigger on several power stations years ago and the size of some of the bits is massive...EG. The main beam that the suspends boiler at Bayswater and Mt. Piper power stations is about 12 feet across and twenty or so feet deep, that may not sound big but when you stand on it it is.
The entire structure of the boiler is suspended from this beam (1 of 4) because of the stretching the metal does once heated up (it expands about 300 ml) The boiler/s itself are about 350 feet by 150 by 150 and over 1000 kilometres of stainless steel tube in each one.
One of the cranes I used could lift a 300 ton object and lower it millimetre by millimetre with incredible accuracy...
Like a kid playing with great big toy's!....
When the Sydney harbour bridge was built they worked from both ends and when it was ready to join they were less than an inch apart, not bad for the size of the bridge.
Any 'masterpiece' is relevant to when it was made. I regularly visit old churches & cathedrals when I'm on holiday - not because I'm religious (definitely not) but because I'm astonished at the scale when I consider that most of them are several hundred years old
I remember being in Peterborough cathedral just after the Channel Tunnel was opened - I remenber thinking that, when you take into account the available technology, the Catherdral was probably the greater engineering feat.
I remember being in Peterborough cathedral just after the Channel Tunnel was opened - I remenber thinking that, when you take into account the available technology, the Catherdral was probably the greater engineering feat.
Similar threads
