Rockets help build Chinese bridge higher than Empire State Building

http://deputy-dog.com/2008/11/rockets-help-build-bridge-higher-than.html

by robg • 18 years ago

61 19 18 years ago

deputy-dog.com

newsycaccount• 18 years ago

So if I lay a plank over the 300ft deep well on my property, it is "a bridge higher than a 30 story building"?

palish• 18 years ago

Yes.

alexandros3• 18 years ago

the article says the bridghe is that high -above- the ground. The depth below is not factored in, at least as I read it.

ComputerGuru• 18 years ago

the deck of the bridge has just recently been connected over the valley below and is so high above the ground that you could fit the empire state building underneath it, and still have 360ft spare.

No, they're referring to the distance from the lowest point in the valley... so, yes, the plank over the well would be on-par with this Chinese innovation.

eucalyptus• 18 years ago

That's really cool.

alexandros3• 18 years ago

This really goes to show that the chinese can and do innovate, contrary to the preconception.

electromagnetic• 18 years ago

I saw a documentary on the building of the bypass bridge near the Hoover dam. They used a helicopter to fly the cable over, had to wait for it to be dead calm as it was carrying near its max capacity and it still took like two hours for them to do it. I think they almost lost the chopper too.

Using a rocket is probably much more cost effective and probably more akin to how bridges used to be made. I mean look at the rope bridges the Mayan's made, some are way too wide for someone to easily throw a rope across, so they probably tied a guide rope to an arrow and fired it across.

You can probably transfer a heavier cable using a rocket than a helicopter, allowing the real work to commence earlier. I mean imagine how long it takes to drag increasingly thicker cables over a couple of kilometers of ravine.

wensing• 18 years ago

Yes, except that, as with the Beijing Olympics, I can't shake the knowledge that as they perform these marvelous feats, deep problems linger.

chaostheory• 18 years ago

as with the 3 gorges dam, I have a bad feeling about any shortcuts or cost cutting methods taken...

seems that even with the threat of the death penalty for company officials, it still doesn't stop shady practices

zcoelius• 18 years ago

This looks like digg. What is happening to this site?

breily• 18 years ago

This seems pretty innovative, but how do they stop the rockets when they get to the other side? Seems like a very dangerous method.

trickjarrett• 18 years ago

Giant catchers mitt ordered from ACME!

In all seriousness, the mountain takes care of that for them I suspect. It's probably burned all the fuel in flight and thus they just have to stand clear once it lands on the other side.

tlrobinson• 18 years ago

Tie the other end of the cable down, make sure it's the appropriate length?

sh1mmer• 18 years ago

I constantly find the Chinese inspiring. Their construction seem to span an interesting divide between high tech and low tech. Their high availability of cheap labor being one of the primary factors enabling construction which would be considered prohibitive in the western world.

Prrometheus• 18 years ago

Well, duh, they have Yao Ming.

halo• 18 years ago

This is a natural extension of an idea that dates back centuries. One old-fashioned way to build a suspension bridge is to use a bow-and-arrow to get an initial rope across. Once that's done, you can attach a stronger rope to the end of it and pull it across. This is the exact same solution in a more high-tech guise.

Rockets help build Chinese bridge higher than Empire State Building

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