Putting aside the sexism of the presentation – an expected feature of pretty much anything from 1922 – this ad exaggerates the importance of engineering to a degree that makes me uncomfortable. I wish that our profession lived up to the standard being presented here.
That remarkable roof is part of the Smithfield Market in London, constructed in the 1860s. I’m reasonably sure that the green and dark blue elements are wrought iron, riveted together, the gray and red ornament is cast iron, and the light gray roof structure is wood. Whether or not the high-victorian style is to your …
Is the piece of pipe on the bottom a replacement for the one on the top? The 40ish-year-old plumbing in my apartment sink needed some work and that question occupied a surprisingly large amount of thought. The short answer is yes, with some effort. The long answer is that a lot of standards, maybe most, …
I’m off to the APTI Northeast Chapter meeting in Salem, Massachusetts. Based on a fast look at a map, the downtown is full of witch-themed businesses, but I want to instead discuss my trip there. I’m going to take the NYC subway (probably the 1 line, maybe the E line) from lower Manhattan to Penn …
Building a very large city on several large islands, a bunch of small ones, and a piece of the mainland means that you will build a lot of bridges. New York has bridges, including four former record-holders for the longest main span, one of which may well be the most-photographed bridge in the world. The …
