Hey Everybody!
Here is my update on the week 9 assignments.
250 word theory.
Disaster
has long been grist for Engineers. To meet that goal, they are going with the flow: designing flexible
structures in which any potential damage would be limited to specific elements.
Global
warming is most likely responsible, at least in part, for the rising frequency
and severity of extreme weather events — like floods, storms and droughts —
since warmer surface temperatures tend to produce more violent weather
patterns, scientists say. And the damage these events have caused is a sign
that the safety factors that engineers, architects and planners have previously
built into structures are becoming inadequate for the changing climate. The deadmen are one sign that the new eastern span of the
Bay Bridge, which includes the skyway and a unique suspension bridge, is meant
to last at least 150 years after its expected opening in 2013. This
time disaster was averted. “We wanted to make this
bridge flexible so that when the earthquake comes in, the flexibility of the
system is such that it basically rides the earthquake,” said its lead designer.
Dikes,
buildings and bridges are often built to withstand a “hundred-year storm” — an
event so epic that there is a 1 percent chance it will happen in a given year.
But what happens when 100-year storms are seen every 10 years, and 10-year
storms become regular events? How many structures will reach their limits? Failure
is what drives the field forward. “Success is success but that is all that it
is,” Dr. Petroski writes. It is failure that brings improvement.
References:
1. Engineering and the
Art of the Fail, page C27, New York edition, July 13, 2012, or http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/books/to-forgive-design-by-henry-petroski.html?_r=0
2. A Bridge Built to Sway
When the Earth Shakes, page D1, New York edition, February 7, 2012, or http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/07/science/to-survive-a-quake-new-bay-bridge-span-will-offer-least-resistance.html?pagewanted=all
3. New York edition, page WK3, February 13, 2011, or http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/weekinreview/13rosenthal.html
Fiji landscape video during sunset at Tavua valley
Images of various valleys and landscapes in Fiji
These images were taken from various locations in Fiji. The idea of how the valley should be designed was taken from these photos.
Cryengine3 Images
These images were designed based on the photos above.
Environment 1
Environement 2
