Whale sculpture stops Dutch train crashing into water

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/02/all-cetaceans-go-whale-sculpture-stops-dutch-train-crashing-into-water

by gregoriol • 6 years ago

23 8 6 years ago

gregoriol• 6 years ago

I don't know how the builders of this sculpture did their strength calculations, but they were pretty good! For it to handle such a weight, and likely quite a good impact, it is an amazing feat of building.

ada1981• 6 years ago

Or maybe they were off by a couple orders of magnitude! Seems like a waste of material and engineering if it wasn’t supposed to support a train. But if an error a fortunate one.

kd913• 6 years ago

On the europe subreddit, there were discussions talking about how the sculpture was made of plastic.

Doxin• 6 years ago

Also mind that this is a light rail subway. If it were a regular train I imagine it might've gone a whole lot less auspiciously.

AnimalMuppet• 6 years ago

Plastic? That sculpture is plastic? And it still held up a train? Wow.

erikpukinskis• 6 years ago

Plastic, engineered properly, can be incredibly strong.

99% of plastic products are not engineered to any requirement beyond “this shape, that color”. So we’re not used to seeing proper engineeered plastic. But it’s a wonder material in skilled hands.

Rebelgecko• 6 years ago

Wow, what a great example of nominative determinism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_determinism)

waste_monk• 6 years ago

Perhaps the artist was an apellomancer.

Whale sculpture stops Dutch train crashing into water

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