Posted on 07/03/2021 6:16:22 AM PDT by NOBO2012
Buildings keep falling down in America. What the heck’s going on?
Is it bad science?
Champlain Towers South, for example, was erected in 1981. These buildings may face loads and other threats that designers did not anticipate, including those linked to climate change.
…what are you going to do with an area that never had high snow loads before, and suddenly, one winter, there’s a storm in the South like one you’d normally get in Boston? We design roofs based on historical records for snow, but those rare events aren’t so rare anymore. We have bigger hurricanes. We have longer heat waves. It’s a challenge for us, as structural engineers, to keep up with those changing demands. – Scientific American
Or maybe bad math? What if building engineers used the kind of modeling/statistics that Professor Neil Ferguson, who led the COVID-19 modeling team at Imperial College in London, used to develop the public policy of lockdown in Britain and America?
We now know the model was so highly flawed it never should have been relied upon for policy decisions to begin with.
As we learn more about the new coronavirus, it is imperative to continue to update the assumptions used in these models. - Heritage
Or maybe the failing infrastructure is partially the result of bad social engineering?
Workplace diversity and inclusion is a top priority.
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Please note: I’m aware that it’s considered both racist and sexist of me to even think there may be a connection between diversity hiring and reduced performance. But having done a corporate training rotation in HR as Employment Manager for a year way back in the early 80s, I know about such things. While I’m quite certain methods and measurements have changed, I’m likewise assured that human nature hasn’t. If your job performance is based on how well you meet diversity goals you will meet them, no matter how. If knowing that and saying it makes me a white supremacist, so be it: like racism itself the words no longer mean anything.
But back to the problem at hand, it’s so bad that Putin has declared “the age of American Dominance” to be over. Perhaps that’s because he sees how we are educating the youth of this country. And I’m not just talking about the cultural brainwashing of anti-Western, anti-American sentiment, I’m talking about the basic skills of reading, writing and, most importantly, arithmetic.
Case in point: when Raj was at therapy earlier this week his Physical Therapist (PT) – a young white male - came over while he was working with one of the Physical Therapy Assistants (PTA) – young white female - and asked him “are you good at math?” Because he is, Raj responded “yeah, pretty good,” thinking that he was going to get an interesting problem to solve. But the PT proceeded to explain: they had done a patient survey the day before and he was trying to figure out how to calculate the percent of people (7) out of the total (38) that responded positively to a question. Yes, you understood me correctly: he needed help calculating a percentage, despite having a cell phone in his pocket with a built in calculator 100 times more powerful than the first one I owned, and likewise having access to the Google machine that contains how-to resources on everything from baking a cake to building a backyard rocket. And still he wanted help performing a simple, basic life skill. No wonder they now have tips automatically calculated and printed for you right on the check now.
At this point I feel compelled to mention that getting your PT certification in Michigan requires not just a 4 year degree, but a 7 year degree. That’s right, 3 years post-graduate training. And PTAs are required to have a two year degree (that includes a course in statistics, I checked) and pass a state board certification test. Nor am I saying that all, or even most, PTs and PTAs can’t do simple percentages. In fact Raj and I have several nieces in the field all of whom I will guarantee could do that calculation blindfolded and tied up. Nor am I saying that Raj’s PT couldn’t have eventually figured it out on his own. I’m just surprised that, rather than do so, he just took the easy route and asked somebody he was pretty sure would know how – with no apparent sign of embarrassment whatsoever.
What I’m saying is that the gap between ‘education,’ skills, and the ability to think and solve problems is growing faster than the infamous “income inequality gap” and is far more worrisome. I wonder if there’s any statistical correlation between the Common Core Curriculum and the new-found dumbness of our younger citizens? Not that there’s anyone left around that would be able to calculate it if there was.
And not that it matters, what with the new standards of performance we’re developing.
Joey B does number bonds. Close enough for government work!
Posted from: MOTUS A.D.
That’s right — it doesn’t last forever.
The only question is what happens in the intervening time to extend its useful life and dismantle or demolish it before it fails catastrophically.
The “what happens in the intervening time” is one of the major factors in the different outcomes between a condo building in Florida that collapses 40 years after it was built and an Empire State Building in New York City that is still standing 90 years after it was constructed.
Yup-Car manufacturers have been doing it all along. It's called 'planned obsolescence’. You car and everything in it has a pre determined 'life span' to fail at a predicted number of miles or over a predicted term of use-even though the technology is available to make it last much longer!!
I'm referring to the natural deterioration of the physical world that occurs over time -- regardless of whether it remains functional.
I keep cars for a long time, for example. But no matter how well you maintain a vehicle, there's ultimately going to be a physical breakdown of the hardware -- usually body rust and deterioration of wiring -- that limits its life cycle even if all other functional aspects of it are fine.
Not to be ageist or nothin' like that, but it's probably a case of asking "an old person" because they tend to know how stuff like that works. That PT with advanced education could just as easily be a journalism or education major, with no arithmetic or math skills required to get a degree.
But they can text with their thumbs, so there's that....
I know-but there certainly is no reason that some very fundamental and simply manufactured items need to fail so soon or so often as they do.
The cost to replace or repair that stuff is built into projected profits.
That whole mentality seems evident across the board in the US .... because it’s rare to have infrastructure that lasts as long as the level technology will permit
I will explain to you all how a building gets built.
1) some dude comes up with a concept.
2) that concept goes to an architect to get concept drawings made.
3) these drawings to go an engineering firm to get designed and detailed.
4) these drawings and calculations are then sent to a PE (professional engineer)registered and licensed for that state, to be sealed (stamped).
Note: a PE makes his living with his stamp. the requirements are stringent. He verifies the calculations, connections, type of material and even the bolts and nuts. This is not some rubber stamp so to say. If the PE seals the drawings, they meet and or exceed the requirements of that state.
5) the original sealed drawings are filed with the engineering firm, with copies going to the state and municipal entity.
Up to this point, everything is well within specification and complies with state and local codes.
Now, it goes out for bid. Keep in mind this thing is going to be erected by the low bidder. Here is what happens next:
we dont need grade 5 bolts, we can use a-325.
32 bolt connection? we can get away with 24.
a-588 beams? we can use a-992 or a-36.
Anco nuts? we will just use a heavy hex nut with lock washer.
10 bag concrete mix? we can use 8 bag mix instead.
The inspector comes along, and suddenly has a brand new car. Or, the inspectors kid is now the construction crew foreman ( what a surprise )...
If I had to take an educated guess, this is exactly what happened to this building.
“... Empire State Building in New York City that is still standing 90 years after it was constructed. “
Next episode: Joey builds a condo.
So, in the same way food sellers put a “sell by” date on products, put a “demolish by” date on every edifice. Good?
I suppose that also applies to the pyramids, but a few thousand years is a pretty good record.
there’s probably a lot less corruption, greed and bribery in auto manufacturing than in the process required for erecting a building, certainly a non-natural factor in its deterioration.
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