Free Republic
Browse · Search
Smoky Backroom
Topics · Post Article

To: meatloaf
OH, my!

Do you mean they will actually build the bridges in Singapore, for example and just haul it over for installation?

Isn't that just amazing!

I am positively in awe. Of course, that will save billions in labor costs.

Just one small detail, however. Where will they find the plane big enough to fly it into place?

Merely curious, Mr. Meatloaf. */:^ )

158 posted on 07/18/2003 8:20:00 PM PDT by Lion in Winter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 143 | View Replies ]


To: Lion in Winter
Not even close. Remember he said, and I'm paraphrasing, "You can't build it now." It has nothing to with outsourcing. It's due to more restrictive requirements and the potential for lawsuits.

As an example, today I called an HVAC shop to look at my mother's fifty year old central air unit. It worked fine last year. The guy on the other end of the phone starts talking about not being able to repair it if it has lost freon again. The unit uses R500 gas which I lucked out and found a full tank at much less than the going price of $1,000 per a few years ago. So gas is not a problem. THE EPA IS.

The guy was going on and on about a leak. Hey, find the leak and fix it. The unit doesn't have the crappy aluminum thinwall stuff. The coils in the beast are heavy copper. The compressor is a standalone design run by a separate electric motor via a belt. No "unit" design where the compressor and motor are packaged together so the death of a motor means you get to buy the whole thing.

Turns out the 220V motor that forces the air across the coils outside had died. No biggie, other than a 1/3 hp 220V motor isn't exactly a stock item around here. While the tech was there, I asked him about the life expectancy of new units. The response, If you're really, really lucky, 25 years. Normally it's 15 years or less. The beast at my mother's will probably do another fifty years.

But I digress, the engineer was talking about what was required to get a bridge design accepted today as compared to decade ago.
175 posted on 07/18/2003 8:48:44 PM PDT by meatloaf
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 158 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Smoky Backroom
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson