Questions tagged [infrastructure]
22 questions
10
votes
5 answers
Why are some public benches made with arm rests that waste so much space?
While watching a YouTube video today, I noticed this public/park bench somewhere in the USA:
It looks strange to me the way the arm rests on each side are so far into the bench, wasting a rather large combined space if you count both sides.
Why…
B Burnie
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10
votes
7 answers
Why do we pave roads instead of making them from removable parts?
If roads were made of removable parts, we'd probably have fiber cable internet everywhere by now I'd say.
It'd be so much easier to install e.g. new electricity and water infrastructure and to maintain them if roads where made like that. We'd be…
Yuri Borges
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7
votes
4 answers
Why do water mains break in the winter?
It may just be my perception, but it seems like water main breaks (at least in Pittsburgh PA) are more common in the winter during the cold weather. It may just that they are more news worthy in the winter (water+cold=ice > news).
Are water mains…
James Jenkins
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6
votes
2 answers
Is there a way to reduce leaks and infrastructure damage when turning water on and off at the scale of city?
Cape Town, South Africa is experiencing an extremely serious drought, with estimates putting April 21, 2018 as the day that the city will be forced to shut off all municipal water supplies and begin water rationing, except to essential services such…
Jonathan Rayner
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5
votes
2 answers
What is the cause of this cracking pattern in a simply supported beam?
Background
On May 5th 2022, a bridge was struck in Brantford, Ontario, Canada by a commercial vehicle. This vehicle struck a reinforced concrete protection beam placed on the on-coming side for the traffic lanes passing under the bridge. The beams…
Forward Ed
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5
votes
6 answers
Why don't public transport networks have more routes to each terminal?
When using public transport, we often need to change routes in the middle of the journey. These changes have costs – I can think of the following, but there may be more.
If we're reading, working, etc. on board, we need to take a break, losing…
Yngve Høiseth
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4
votes
0 answers
How does a cable-laying ship retrieve a partly-laid cable?
I was reading an article in the press this week about a project to lay an undersea cable across the Tasman Sea. The ship had had to return to port for repairs and return to complete the job later.
This got me wondering: how does the ship secure the…
Airsick
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3
votes
1 answer
Why culmination points in tunnels?
The shortest connection between two portals would be a tunnel with constant gradient. Why do long tunnels instead rise from both portals to a culmination point, introducing unnecessary steep gradients?
Some thoughts: If it is for drainage, this…
Andreas
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3
votes
0 answers
How many Technical Rescue: Collapse Units are there in the US?
In a story about today's Miami bridge collapse, I saw this photo:
In the upper left, there is a white box truck which seems to say "MIAMI DADE FIRE RESCUE / TECHNICAL RESCUE / COLLAPSE UNIT," even though the start of each line is obscured by a…
WBT
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3
votes
1 answer
Electricity generation via piezoelectric roads, stairways, is it plausible?
I've been wondering if roads and stairways laced with piezoelectric generators be a viable method in clean energy generation?
I'm currently unfamiliar with all engineering aspects of piezoelectricity except for the fact that it generates…
Caprica
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1
vote
2 answers
Is it absurd to think with current or near future technology the energy of a hurricane could be converted into usable power for a city?
I saw a video clip of an interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson saying,
"I'm tired looking at countless thousands of cars exiting a city because a hurricane is coming. Where are the engineers and scientists saying you know instead of running away from…
Bob516
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1
vote
2 answers
Effectiveness of LiDAR in manhole structures?
I'm an intern at an electrical utility and I've been tasked with doing a proposal/cost analysis to evaluate whether or not starting a pilot with a company specializing in robotic inspections is worth it. The pilot, if it goes through, would consist…
Caleb Williams
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1
vote
0 answers
Why is there such a strong focus on 5G in context of remote surgery
Almost every time I see an article or advertisement on 5G, a reference is made to remote surgery. The point that is being made is that 5G has lower latency and remote surgery would be more practical because of it (for example, mainstream media, ad…
Superman.Lopez
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1
vote
2 answers
Oil refinery pipeline direct to gas stations
I know major oil pipelines do exists either underground or under the seabed. However, these usually move crude/unrefined oil from refinery to refinery. Yet we don't have refined petroleum or gas directly piped from refinery to the gas station? I…
Nederealm
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0
votes
1 answer
At what cold ambient air temperature will power lines fail?
I'm wondering just how cold it would have to be before electric power can no longer flow through overhead power lines. I know power lines generate a certain amount of heat just as a side effect from electric current, but I don't know if sucking off…
DrZ214
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