Lots of XP
Jun. 15th, 2004 04:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reldnahkramI've probably jumped a level or two as a bridge inspector, but I'm not keeping track.
I've spent the last two days, and likely the next two, inspecting bridges in Philly. They're called cursory inspections, and they're just to make sure nothing dangerous is dangling off the bridge, threatening cars on the road below, but it's still something. Most of the bridges have been and will be railroads spanning streets in various parts of Philly, mostly the north/northeast and south. However, the first two we (the other summer intern - from UDel) did were a bit different. They were pedestrian bridges. Over the Vine Street Expressway. I passed all my will saves, and evidently the vest of blinding also carries a bonus to Cha, nearly all the trucks were nice and didn't pass us in the right lane, instead changing lanes to the center or left. Anyway, we parked the van on the shoulder just past the westbound entrance from Broad St. We then walked along the 3 to 5 foot shoulder a block or two up to the first bridge, then another block to the second. Made a quick looksee to make sure everything was okay, then worked are way back to the van to fill out the sheets. Walking back was a bit more unnerving than walking out, something about seeing the oncoming cars, perhaps. Anyway, no problems there, then up to Spring Garden to check out the old Reading viaduct, then down to Passyunk at the Schuylkill Expwy to check out two freight bridges. Massive column spalling on one of those, but otherwise no other problems. Today was a bunch of bridges up in the northeast, completely uneventful.
Been playing around quite a bit with Linux, tried unsuccessfully to get Debian running on the laptop, and got it up and running on the box. The installer sucks hard. Am downloading slackware to play with on this machine. Ultimately, I'm looking for something I can really tweak heavily to learn how to do that, then roll my own for my own special needs (wireless comes to mind). Hey, why not?
Mm...they added Rachel Yamagata to SSW Friday night, should be a good show with Fountains of Wayne, but probably won't top Sunday. Let me know if you're interested in going, or if you might be interested and would want me to put together a sampler CD.
I've spent the last two days, and likely the next two, inspecting bridges in Philly. They're called cursory inspections, and they're just to make sure nothing dangerous is dangling off the bridge, threatening cars on the road below, but it's still something. Most of the bridges have been and will be railroads spanning streets in various parts of Philly, mostly the north/northeast and south. However, the first two we (the other summer intern - from UDel) did were a bit different. They were pedestrian bridges. Over the Vine Street Expressway. I passed all my will saves, and evidently the vest of blinding also carries a bonus to Cha, nearly all the trucks were nice and didn't pass us in the right lane, instead changing lanes to the center or left. Anyway, we parked the van on the shoulder just past the westbound entrance from Broad St. We then walked along the 3 to 5 foot shoulder a block or two up to the first bridge, then another block to the second. Made a quick looksee to make sure everything was okay, then worked are way back to the van to fill out the sheets. Walking back was a bit more unnerving than walking out, something about seeing the oncoming cars, perhaps. Anyway, no problems there, then up to Spring Garden to check out the old Reading viaduct, then down to Passyunk at the Schuylkill Expwy to check out two freight bridges. Massive column spalling on one of those, but otherwise no other problems. Today was a bunch of bridges up in the northeast, completely uneventful.
Been playing around quite a bit with Linux, tried unsuccessfully to get Debian running on the laptop, and got it up and running on the box. The installer sucks hard. Am downloading slackware to play with on this machine. Ultimately, I'm looking for something I can really tweak heavily to learn how to do that, then roll my own for my own special needs (wireless comes to mind). Hey, why not?
Mm...they added Rachel Yamagata to SSW Friday night, should be a good show with Fountains of Wayne, but probably won't top Sunday. Let me know if you're interested in going, or if you might be interested and would want me to put together a sampler CD.
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no subject
Date: 2004-06-15 10:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-06-16 12:03 am (UTC)Anyway, I'll start all the way back at the begining. Concrete is a mix of four things - cement, water, small aggregate, and large aggregate. Substitute sand for small aggregate and rocks (size may vary, but will remain constant for a mix) for large aggregate, and you'll be on the right page. Anyway, the stuff is mixed together, and then water and cement mix, hardening and becoming reasonably strong. Basically, concrete works because the cement holds the rocks and sand together. Thus when the cement part comes off, it's not good. Scaling is one way concrete goes bad, this is just when a thin layer of the surface comes off. It's mostly cement that comes off (maybe with a bit of small aggregate), but most of the large aggregate stays in place.
Spall is much worse. Often it is caused by water getting into the concrete and corroding the reinforcing steel inside the concrete. The corroded steel expands and cracks large chunks of the concrete and it falls off. This is bad, since not only does cement come off, but large aggregate comes off as well. Spalling is both a problem in and of itself and an indicator of additional problems, since it often is caused by corroded steel, which has been weakened.
no subject
Date: 2004-06-16 10:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-06-16 10:18 am (UTC)No, there's a lot of non-sightseeing work as well. This is really the first time in four weeks I've been out in the field much, the rest has been spent in the office doing other stuff. I think I'll be doing a lot of data management and number crunching, with the occasional sightseeing, er, inspection trip.