Free Republic

Most newer concrete beams that hold up Utah highway bridges are around 145 feet long. But the Utah Department of Transportation is about to place six that are 40 percent longer — 203 feet — to help widen Interstate 15 in Lehi. They are longer than the iconic Cinderella’s castle in Walt Disney World (189 feet) is high, or the leaning tower of Pisa (185 feet). They also will be the third-longest single-component beams in the United States, slightly shorter than two in Orlando, Fla., and Seattle, said Lee Wegner, with Forterra Structural Precast, the West Valley City company that...

The voice call lasted more than a minute and went off without a hitch, said Meir Moalem, CEO of the United Kingdom-based startup Sky and Space Global. ... During the testing, Sky and Space Global engineers also sent text messages, images and voice recordings via the company's three nanosatellites, dubbed the 3 Diamonds. The satellites, launched on June 23, circle the Earth in a sun-synchronous orbit at the altitude of 500 kilometers (310 miles). Eventually, Sky and Space Global envisions building a constellation of 200 nanosatellites that would provide seamless communication services to people living in tropical regions where no...

An oversized tractor-trailer hit a beam of an overpass under construction on Interstate 35 in Salado, causing several beams to fall onto the roadway, according to Texas Department of Transportation officials. One person was killed and three others were taken to Baylor Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple with injuries that were not life threatening, Bell County authorities said.

LOS ANGELES – An unmanned, inflatable spacecraft launched by a Las Vegas real estate mogul on Thursday beamed back the first images since it slipped into orbit and expanded itself. Genesis I sent back several photos taken by its dozen cameras showing sections of the craft, according to its builder Bigelow Aerospace. The company declined to publicly release the images. The experimental spacecraft rocketed into space Wednesday from Russia on a mission to test technology that could be used to build an inflatable commercial space station. Genesis I was healthy with functional onboard computers, solar panels, battery power and pressure...

£1m mosque beams pulled from auction in ownership row By Stephanie Condron (Filed: 04/04/2006) Christie's has cancelled the sale of five wooden beams from the 1,200-year-old mosque in Cordoba in Spain which were expected to fetch more than £1 million at auction today. Lawyers for one of the most important Islamic buildings in the West successfully blocked the sale of the 10th century beams amid arguments over who owns them. The sale, which was to be the highlight of the Islamic art manuscripts auction today, was to have seen each carved beam reach bids of up to £300,000. "I am...

BAMYAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, March 1, 2006 — The New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team recently delivered 1,200 roofing beams to the Tupchi Returnees Camp, approximately 15 kilometers from Bamyan City. This camp is home to approximately 120 families. The residents of this camp were all forced to leave Iran, often with only the possessions they could carry. Good land is in short supply in mountainous Bamyan, therefore the camp is situated on a narrow, rocky part of the Bamyan Valley floor. As it is not possible to build in the Bamyan winter, some recently arrived returnees live in tents in temperatures...