Fragile infrastructure (Page 2/3)
maryjane NOV 12, 06:42 AM
I have never actually seen real coal up close.
(but I'm old enough to remember buying coal oil)
Valkrie9 NOV 12, 07:41 AM


The type of furnace that was replaced in the late '60s, here in the GTA, converted to fuel oil, then, natural gas, lpg, propane.
The monsters in the basements of homes built in the '30s and before, the coal chutes still there, now plugged to keep the cold out, all cast iron and rivets.

1891 hot water boiler.

Back to the future, the new coal age, because it worked for centuries, still does.
The Cadillac of coal stoker boilers.


Ummm... will there be a power fail this winter ?
A month without power, could that be catastrophic ?
How will I heat my family's home without power ?

Prepping for off grid.
cvxjet NOV 12, 01:24 PM
Back in 2018, the Oroville dam (Largest earthen dam in the world) almost collapsed because the spill way started coming apart. I am actually fascinated with dams because I grew up going boat camping every summer. When NADEP Alameda closed I just missed getting a job working on Shasta dam.

What is really amazing is looking at how a number of dams HAVE collapsed; The St. Francis dam (Increased the size without actually addressing strengthening + ancient fault), The Teton dam in Idaho (Claim it was volcanic permeable base but they used glacial LOESS as the impermeable layer (Instead of clay) (The water broke thru the center of the dam, not under it).

What is equally amazing is the Vajont dam in Italy; Concrete dam that was over-topped by a 700 foot high wave from the collapse of the hillside INTO the reservoir. This dam is still there and (Basically) intact.

Teton dam:



[This message has been edited by cvxjet (edited 11-12-2022).]

rinselberg NOV 12, 02:08 PM
No worries here, in the areas that are served by PG&E. "Patti" has our "six"..!
ray b NOV 12, 02:39 PM
local water dept HAD a reserve fund to replace pipes

was about 400 million

local political hacks stole it
took a long time but they got it all
water dept was a Bi owned city miami and dade county bastard child of both/nether
and a great place to work AS AN INDEPENDANT CORP

then they traded the sea port for the air port
and some how the water dept was now only the county's and a dept so guess what
THE CUBANS STOLE ALL THE MONEY

btw the water meter is the line here
even tho the bits coming out of the meter supplied and placed by the dept
are the customers problem if leaking
my line did when tree roots pulled their connection to the meter loose
AND MY BILL WAS NOW $700
RWDPLZ NOV 12, 07:32 PM

quote
Originally posted by rinselberg:

No worries here, in the areas that are served by PG&E. "Patti" has our "six"..!




They committed the ULTIMATE sin of running a power company - Admitting running the lines underground is safer and improves reliability.
rinselberg NOV 13, 12:45 AM

quote
Originally posted by RWDPLZ:
They committed the ULTIMATE sin of running a power company - Admitting running the lines underground is safer and improves reliability.


I did not intend for my remark about PG&E and PG&E's current CEO Patti Poppe to be taken at face value, or taken as I literally worded it.

I am not asserting that RWDPLZ did take it at face value, or as I literally worded it —that I don't know.

I am glad that PG&E is doing this under-grounding. I don't know whether they're doing enough of it, or doing it as expeditiously as the circumstances warrant. It's not something I've gone out of my way to try to know about.

I just put that in because I thought it added some levity.

[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 11-13-2022).]

maryjane NOV 13, 11:37 AM

quote
Originally posted by cvxjet:

Back in 2018, the Oroville dam (Largest earthen dam in the world) almost collapsed because the spill way started coming apart. I am actually fascinated with dams because I grew up going boat camping every summer. When NADEP Alameda closed I just missed getting a job working on Shasta dam.

What is really amazing is looking at how a number of dams HAVE collapsed; The St. Francis dam (Increased the size without actually addressing strengthening + ancient fault), The Teton dam in Idaho (Claim it was volcanic permeable base but they used glacial LOESS as the impermeable layer (Instead of clay) (The water broke thru the center of the dam, not under it).

What is equally amazing is the Vajont dam in Italy; Concrete dam that was over-topped by a 700 foot high wave from the collapse of the hillside INTO the reservoir. This dam is still there and (Basically) intact.

Teton dam:







The part of the dam that extends down thru the river bed is called a keyway or grouted in cutoff trench. It anchors the earthen part of the dam (usually to bedrock)

When the US Bureau of Reclamation built West Texas' Twin Buttes Reservoir just West of San Angelo (1963) , they did not put in a keyway, as bedrock comes so close to surface there. It's the longest earthen fill dam in the US and the only one that holds back 2 separate rivers with a single dam. Less than a year after water impoundment began, a seep leak under the dam began, ground water levels began to rise within 2'of surface IN parts of San Angelo, pools of water started forming at the airport and after several failed attempts to remedy the situation, the USBR had to come back and drain a large portion of the lake in , do extensive work to pump in a concrete keyway but (there's always a but) the leak had gone on for so many years, that a swampy area had been established below the dam and federal law mandated a piping system be put in to keep the swampy land as a wetlands regardless of how much water was in the reservoir. When I left San Angelo in 2006, the new keyway was still holding but before that studies had revealed San Angelo was in serious risk of being flooded out if the 'seep' suddenly became a dam failure.

The following is a relatively short read:

https://www.conchovalleyhom...al-report-continues/
kslish NOV 15, 04:37 PM

quote
Originally posted by RWDPLZ:

The infrastructure for the whole country is hanging by a thread. The amounts people pay in their bills every month are MORE than enough to properly maintain it, but guess where that money goes instead? There's no incentive to maintain it, just to keep it barely functioning.



Reading this thread made me realize how "off the grid" I'm close to being. Well and septic, completely self-contained on my property. Literally the electricity line is the only hard linked public utility connection (Internet is cable, but could be T-mobile 5G, or Starlink, etc). Makes me wonder what the costs of solar would be...

I have been surprised at how aggressive Met-Ed has been at replacing power poles this year in the area. I'm sure they are on some kind of schedule but might be under a Public Utility Commission regulation/mandate as well.
Patrick NOV 15, 08:06 PM

quote
Originally posted by maryjane:

I have never actually seen real coal up close.



Now that surprises me!

Back about 1960, I can remember a friend's family had a coal fired boiler in the basement (which supplied hot water to the radiators upstairs). I can also remember how filthy the coal was. Just barely touch it and the black rubbed off.