Whatzit?

[webenda]

Are they cold-to-the-touch or the same as the surrounding air ?

They feel cool but not cold.
This one's sting felt like sticking yourself with a sewing needle at first, then changed to an ache for about 20 minutes.
Other people report pain and numbness for days. I guess he did not get me really good.

[chuck]

Yep, the Firth of Fourth Bridge



Some additional pics that show off the size.

Note the shadow on the water to the right. I believe this shot is taken from the top of the tower, about 360' above the water.



More typical shot that showcases the bridges size. It's two track wide, about 1 1/2 miles long.



You can see the use of tubular struts on the main vertical members.

[webenda]

[img]red1.jpg[/img]

Looks like the Forth Bridge.

Yep, the Firth of Fourth Bridge.

Would not it be more accurate to say, "It is the Forth Bridge crossing the Firth of Forth at Edinburgh, Inchgarvie and Fife, Scotland?"

I wonder how long it takes to paint the Forth Bridge?

[chuck]

I just love autocorrect.

Current bridge coating will last 25 years. It took ten years to remove the old red lead based coating and apply the new epoxy based coating, similar to what is used on offshore oil rigs. They finished the strip/re-coat in Dec 2011.

My first "exposure" to images of the bridge was back in 1962. I has a a subscription to a monthly publication called "Science Service" when I was 10 years old.

http://www.infomercantile.com/-/The_Science_Service_Science_Program

The "books" were about 60-70 pages in length and covered varied engineering and science subjects, e.g.



Cover photo is the GW before they added the lower deck in early 60's (my dad worked on the approaches and the Port of Authority bus station on the NY side.)

This was the first time I saw an image of the Firth of Forth RR bridge and a) it's only about 1/2 of the span, b) it's in B&W, c) silhouette doesn't show the unique tube struts that are integral to the bridge.



It wasn't until I got back into toy trains in the mid 90's and began seriously accumulating books on railroads that I ran across pictures of the bridge in greater detail and all it's RED glory.

[rogruth]

Chuck and others,
Youse guys or ya'll sure can find ways to make me feel old.
I don't really need any help with that but I was a freshman in college when Chuck was born.
Most of my life was spent playing tuba and teaching music. My music teaching methods do
not agree (?) with educational methods of today and I think I retired at the right time.
Physical problems eventually led to an end of playing.
So what do I have left? Sixty five years of loving my wife and kids and a lifetime of trains.

Just more thread drift.

[chuck]

Roger said

So what do I have left? Sixty five years of loving my wife and kids and a lifetime of trains.

That sounds pretty good to me . Congrats on the sixty five years, Deb and I are closing in on 40 years.

If I could have a magic genie wish, I would like to have the physical body I had back when I was thirty (mainly the eye sight) but ALL of the life experience that I have accumulated up to now.

[rogruth]

Roger said

So what do I have left? Sixty five years of loving my wife and kids and a lifetime of trains.

That sounds pretty good to me . Congrats on the sixty five years, Deb and I are closing in on 40 years.

If I could have a magic genie wish, I would like to have the physical body I had back when I was thirty (mainly the eye sight) but ALL of the life experience that I have accumulated up to now.

Of course. Me too. The exception is that my eyes were already in bad shape. But a lot better than now so I would go with that too.

[Roy]

Current bridge coating will last 25 years. It took ten years to remove the old red lead based coating and apply the new epoxy based coating, similar to what is used on offshore oil rigs. They finished the strip/re-coat in Dec 2011.

Interesting. I was just wondering why structures aren't built with carbon fiber composites, and I read that the epoxy in them is broken down by UV radiation in about three years. How do they get twenty five years out of epoxy-based bridge coatings?

[Roy]

I has a a subscription to a monthly publication called "Science Service" when I was 10 years old.

http://www.infomercantile.com/-/The_Science_Service_Science_Program

The "books" were about 60-70 pages in length and covered varied engineering and science subjects...

I did that, too. I remember the color photos in each volume came in the form of stamps, that you licked and installed yourself. And as a subscription premium, you got a model kit of the Apollo 11 command, service, and landing modules, with a small lunar base.

[chuck]

CLEAR epoxy resins will break down from UV exposure. If you top coat with an opaque urethane then the epoxy is protected. The bridge coating included glass flakes. The glass formulation may have included UV protection. Normal UV blockers often interfere with the cure process so it is an issue with coatings but they seem to have come up with a solution.

When I signed up you got a Revell Mercury Redstone kit.

[robert.]

Congratulations on the long marriage guys. If you had started a whazz it question with “ what last 65 years or more ?” Marriage would not have been my answer.
Every time I cross the GW I ask myself 2 questions. How much longer will this bridge last? What if this was hit on September 11?

[rogruth]

My marriage has only been 64 years, 4 months and 4 days.
But I have known her since 1952 and have been, and still am, in love with her for 65 + years.
We got married when I was 20 and she was 19. Most thought it would not last but it has.
This marriage also probably saved me in many ways. I was well on my way to being a drunk.
Just following in my familys footsteps. We had our first 2 kids before I finished college.
Today that wouldn't make any difference but in the 1950s it did. 2 more before 1963 was over.
My mother and father separated before I, an only child, was born. I was raised by maternal
grandparents and aunts. They were great to me but I did not want my kids to have a like
situation. I hope we can make it a few more years.
Sorry for the off topic. No, not really.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Here's my latest, Whatzit? but I'll call this one a Wha-dat?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Here's my latest, Whatzit? but I'll call this one a Wha-dat?

Top of your head prior to being shaved for your tonsure....

[chuck]

Robert wrote:

Every time I cross the GW I ask myself 2 questions. How much longer will this bridge last? What if this was hit on September 11?

The bridge is undergoing a major rehab right now including replacement of the suspender cables and replacement of the main cable sleeves (protective wrapping of the main cable bundles) and inspection and installation of a dehumidification system for the main cables and anchorages. The bridge just turned 85 and with the maintenance work it should make it to another 85.

Regarding attacking the bridge. Knocking out the decking would impede traffic but it is repairable. Main cables and the towers are enormous and very heavily built. They have to be just to hold themselves together. A suspension bridge consists of four main components, the towers, the anchorages, the main suspension cables, and finally the deck. The Tacoma Narrows collapse (Galloping Gertie) destroyed the deck while the rest of the bridge was still intact.

I'm often amused by the "apocalyptic" portrayals of suspension bridge destruction depicted in pop culture (TV, movies, graphic arts). I really enjoy the ones where the main suspension cables are somehow severed and the portions of the deck below the "intact" parts are still there. The "artists" have no idea how the bridge woks and probably aren't even aware that the main suspension cables are tens to hundreds of thousands of miles of strands of wire each of which is about a pencil lead's diameter.

One of the most disconcerting things about walking across the GW is feeling the bounce in the deck as every large heavy vehicle rolls by. The deflection is noticeable. You can't feel this when you are in a car of bus driving across the bridge for a variety if reasons. It just feels odd that something that massive moves around at all.