Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

:eh: :omg:

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddly...16970120070611

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

Arch stupidity... :erm:

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

Dilli......what have you been up to?! :D

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

lol Cobby!

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

It's like something out of the Key Stone Cops!

;)

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

Things get done by money exchanging hands, so I guess the blind chap paid the right people not to ask sensible questions such as, "How can you build something you cannot see to a plan you cannot read?"

:D

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

In the absence of Theodoric, can I be the first to mention John Metcalf?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Me...il_engineer%29

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

Interesting. He built roads though. Bridges are a bit more complex :erm:

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

How did his roads get over rivers? :)

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

No idea - the article doesn't say. It just mentions that he floated roads over bogs and understood rain was a bad thing. All I can say is that I've not heard of any standing bridge being built by him :shrug:

Disabled people are really just enabled in a different way. But there are limitations, no matter how determined and talented you are.

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

I'm with Cobby, it was a bridge too farcical lol!

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

Sur le punt d'Avignon eh Tinky? ;)

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

We need Nugget. Someone shine the NuggSign at the clouds....

My contribution: Next time I get Troubled Waters, I'll just put up with them.

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

I suspect (and it's my degree subject, so I'm not totally flying blind here ;) ) that civil engineers then were expected to do the lot - the word 'civil' merely indicated that they weren't 'military' engineers, who were definitely expected to be able to put up bridges and build roads. The idea of specialisation into structures, geotechnics, hydraulics etc. came much later, when the French idea of theoretical engineering rather than good old British rule-of-thumb came in and people actually had to do some hard-core maths.

The word 'theoretician' was an insult in those days (tantamount to calling someone a 'Frenchman'), which explains why a man who unable to explain his calculations could be a successful engineer.

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

Well at least all we have to contend with here is one legged Romanian roofers :D

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...ixnewstop.html

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

Did everyone simply pier at the remains of the bridge?

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

It's a good thing that changed though. Otherwise we'd have missed out on the Forth Rail Bridge. Even my wife thought that a stop to admire its beauty was well worth it.

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

Um.... :)

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

It's a fascinating historical period, actually - the point was that prior to the Industrial Revolution the main architecture types could be built without advanced maths, as they were masonry gravity structures like walls, vaults, arches etc. which just happen to be the only ones where that idea is safe. As soon as you start doing beams and trusses you need calculus as a minimum.

One of Brunel's great contributions was legitimising the mathematical approach - being half-French he wasn't scared of algebra and effectively invented finite element analysis to do the Maidenhead Bridge. He wasn't quite the first, but as usual he was in the thick of progress.

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

[quote=danielf;34330462]It's a good thing that changed though. Otherwise we'd have missed out on the Forth Rail Bridge.

Had occassion to cross that bridge many times in the distant past; wonderful experience!
http://images.google.com/images?q=fo...mages&ct=title

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

Personally my favourite is the Stockport Viaduct.

Not designed to be one of the most asthetically-pleasing bridges, but wonderful in sheer scale. You have to see it, as the pics don't do it justice.

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2007/06/11.jpg
http://freespace.virgin.net/john.fai...es/Viaduct.jpg
http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/ew...izApr04_47.jpg
http://www.webbaviation.co.uk/stockp...rt-viaduct.jpg

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

Forth Road Bridge is another spectacular bridge imho

http://www.civl.port.ac.uk/comp_prog/forth/img00016.jpg

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

This is turning into proper Anorakking :D

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

Yep, didn't know we had so many Gephyrologists on board... :disturbd:

Time the mods started handing out a few Suspensions...

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

That, IMHO, would display a rather reckless, nay, cantilever attitude.

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

Trusst me, you had me beaming from ear to ear & arching my eyebrows at that one... ;)

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

he had his moments, I suppose ;) - personally I wouldn't have had the attention span :)

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

You can't truss anyone these days. I'm just sorry that I, forgetting my duties in the world of cable, stayed reading this poxy thread.

On second reading, this isn't really my area. Still, no doubt it's worth bending someone's ear about

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

Pity he never got to fit the hand braille

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

He obviously had a good feel for the job, though.

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

what was it, you just need the right fulcrum - and a long enough lever? ;)

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

Ahem. Thats quite enough puns.

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2007/06/10.jpg

Now back on topic (I'm sure there is one buried in the thread somewhere)

Re: Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses!
 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...enny_Mayes.jpg

The Queen Elizabeth Bridge @ Dartford. Stunning looking, but terrifying to go over in high winds..