Is this for real?

“Subject: Yikes!!!!




Grand Canyon Skywalk

Scheduled to open Jan. 1, 2006 Hualapai Indian Reservation



* Juts about 70 feet into the canyon, 4000 ft above Colorado River

* Will accommodate 120 people comfortably (how comfortable would you be?)

* Built with more than a million pounds of steel beams, and includes

dampeners that minimize the structure's vibration

* Designed to hold 72 million pounds, withstand an 8.0 magnitude

earthquake 50 miles away, and withstand winds in excess of 100 mph

* The walkway has a glass bottom and sides...four inches thick”

“yep, it is http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/hualapai/22562/


last edited: 10/19/05 10:14:11 AM”

“I couldnt paste the photo that came with this ,of the sketch but I cant beleive they are really planning something like this!”

“Oh cool ,thanx fer posting the pic ST!

Thats friggin crazy!!”

“NO...you go see the canyon, I'll wait here with the packs......


Remember, this will be built by the cheapest bidder......”

“That design is hideous looking. Just because you can do something doesn't always mean you should.”

“Rad. Something like this would have to be cantilevered and anchored deep into the canyon wall. It looks way sketchier on the "surface" than it would if you could see the hidden portions beneath the ground. I'd walk out there.”

“sure.
70 ft really isn't that far to stick out.

i'd go out there. it's not like FLW designed it.”

“Im more concerned with how much this ugly bugger will screw up the view and maybe lead to other such structures ,than I am about how safe it is! Though I still wouldnt walk on it!!”

“If it's done right, being concerned about going out on this would be like being concerned about hanging your coat on a nail driven most of the way into a 2x4.”

“lol on the FLW...great architect, but not so great an engineer.”

“Im more concerned with how much this ugly bugger will screw up the view and maybe lead to other such structures ,than I am about how safe it is!”
spleencleaver
10:21:29 AM
10/19/05
ignore this user

I agree, a design in this setting should respect and enhance the landscape not intrude into it in this manor.”

“Well, I wouldn't die if the nail failed.

That being said, I'd like to try to walk out it. It would sure mess with head.”

“yup bit. in an engineer's mind, he's the quintessential architect.{poke at zac}

long on fame and artistic ability.
short on the unimportant stuff - like physics.”

“LOL, this thread is a perfect example of engineer vs. architect

my first thoughts - would it be structurally sound? yes. ok then.

zac's first thoughts - would it respect and enhance the landscape? no. ok then.

obvious where cbat stands too.
last edited: 10/19/05 10:32:03 AM”

“Ok, so i'll edit this then sacco.
last edited: 10/19/05 10:37:24 AM”

““LOL, this thread is a perfect example of engineer vs. architect

my first thoughts - would it be structurally sound? yes. ok then.

zac's first thoughts - would it respect and enhance the landscape? no. ok then.

obvious where cbat stands too.
last edited: 10/19/05 10:32:03 AM”
SaccoSeveredHeads
10:31:04 AM
10/19/05
ignore this user

Why be concerned if it will be structurally sound if you don't think it should be there to begin with?”

“Watch out for the trapdoor for emergency release of fecal contents!!!”

“Why be concerned if it will be structurally sound if you don't think it should be there to begin with?”

LOL Cant argue with that logic!!”

“How much weight you think this will support?”

“About 72 million pounds.”

“Its fugly as all hell, if I were to cast a vote on build/no build I'd vote for a no-build. But if the damn thing was already built when I pulled up I'd sure as hell take a walk on it.”

“why be concerned over how it will look if you can't make it structurally sound anyhow?

:)”

“I think I would want dayhiker to do the design calcs.
I would walk on it then.”

“Why be concerned if it should be there in the first place if you can't make it look structually sound?”

“Base jumpers must be drooling over this thing!!”

““why be concerned over how it will look if you can't make it structurally sound anyhow?

:)”
SaccoSeveredHeads
10:49:44 AM
10/19/05
ignore this user

Given enough money, you can pretty much make anything work, but way waste all that time and money to do so?”

“Base jumpers must be drooling over this thing!!
spleencleaver
10:54:11 AM
10/19/05

I heard they were going to make people go out on it nekkid to cut down on that sort of thing.”

“Oh, don't worry, engineers always know what they're doing!


”

“Hmmm?! Nekkid people going splat at over a hundred MPH ,not really my cup of meat!”

“Aero, kindly provide another example of a bridge collapse (due to wind shear) since the the one in your photo. Cantilevering is not a cloudy or uncertain practice. Structural engineers know what they're getting out of their cantilevered designs, it's not the guess-work that it was 100 years ago.
last edited: 10/19/05 11:20:28 AM”

“Notice the albino buzzards hovering about...”

“http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/10/19/massachusetts.dam.ap/index.html

Speaking of structures maybe you guys can figure this deal out.173 yr old wooden dam in mass almost burst,its stable now but...”

“What about the Roman era bridges withstanding European floods whilest the modern ones wash away?”

“Given enough money, you can pretty much make anything look good, but why waste all that time and money to do so?


:)”

“Roman engineering basically consisted of overbuilding the hell out of everything, cost be damned. That's why so much of their stuff is still standing.

Modern buildings and structures are built to achieve an acceptable intersection of safety and cost efficiency, so when the 99th-%tile flood or wind or whatever hits them, they fail, because the structure wasn't designed to withstand that. Why? Because it isn't cost-effective to build every bridge or building so that they will withstand literally anything that comes along.

The Romans did build some pretty amazing stuff though. The Pantheon was the largest unsupported concrete span in the world for ~1800 years.”

“a structural engineering prof. had a poster -

anyone can design a bridge that stands
it takes an engineer to design a bridge that barely stands.”

“We'll see how much faith people have in the structure when some kid starts bouncing up and down at the end of it!”

“Hell, I'd be bouncing up and down at the end of it just to freak nancys like you out!”

“LOL! I'm a geologist- I have to make fun of engineers!”

“Engineers plan -- geologists laugh.”

“I would imagine that they will be charging admission. So I guess they don't care that it is ugly/impedes on the natural beauty...”

“Engineers plan -- geologists laugh -- then morticians make a mint.”

“They always win in the end, which is why I encourage young people to consider running a funeral home as their career.”

““They always win in the end, which is why I encourage young people to consider running a funeral home as their career.”
Ghost of bitpusher
1:10:40 PM
10/19/05
ignore this user

That's one business where clients are dieing to get in.”

“< rim shot >”

“Just my luck I'd be out there and the wind would pick up to 101 mph and there'd be an 8.0 earthquake 49 miles away!”

“The Pantheon was the largest unsupported concrete span in the world for ~1800 years.”
Ghost of bitpusher

That's prolly because the formula for 'crete went the way of the Empire. Mr. Portland figured it out, tho. What? 1800 years later?


Designed obsolescence keeps designers and builders from becoming obsolete.

I'm broke. I'm hungry. I can't get work.

To work my magic requires time - time worth much more than a sack of tacos and a fifth of tequila.

I'm therefore too slow to compete with the rates of Jose, and too slow to work for Joe Contractor who "gets paid by the foot, not the look".

My only other option is my profession by education: high school Building Trades instructor. I'm not that hungry, tho. The extent of hunger required to step back in the school shop is way on the other side of starvation...”