Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: How in the worl would play this horn????


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Posted by Rick Denney on May 22, 2003 at 16:40:17:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: How in the worl would play this horn???? posted by Jim Andrada on May 22, 2003 at 16:12:59:

Yes, they were rods. The constructability problem was that it wasn't possible to cut the threads into the rods in the middle of their length, so they ended the upper rod with a threaded section and a nut, and started a new rod to go to the lower walkway. Problem is, that puts the weight of both walkways on the one nut, rather than just the weight of the single walkway.

The builders should have initiated a design change to solve the constructability problem (which they did halfway), and the architects should have taken it back to the engineers for a complete new calculation.

But it's worse than that. On the day it failed, they had hundreds and hundreds of people dancing on those walkways. They were designed for walking, not dancing, and the oscillations from too many people jumping up and down in time with each other was a big contributor to the problem. That was the same process that got the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

As with the bonfire, there was plenty of blame to go around. Assigning that blame didn't bring anybody back, but it has made us better at design and construction--until the next time.

We have a pet rabbit who comes out of his inner sanctum to listen to me practice the tuba. If it doesn't bother a rabbit with ears nearly as big as he is, then I suspect the snakes would not even notice. At least I would hope so.

Rick "who once took a picture of the bonfire that sold 10,000 copies" Denney


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