Homework - Week 9

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