Questions tagged [infrastructure]
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Why were so Many Older Bridges Built so Low to the Water?
Why were so many pre-1970 bridges built so low to the water that they do not even allow a single-level stand-up boat (serving as water buses or small fishing/research vessels) to pass underneath ...
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How are subsea HVDC cables laid without cutting internet cables
Apparently subsea HVDC cables are actually buried around 2m below the sea bed using some kind of plough-like device. How can that be done without cutting internet cables?
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What is the cause of this cracking pattern in a simply supported beam?
Background
On May 5th 2022, a bridge was struck in Brantford, Ontario, Canada by a commercial vehicle. This vehicle struck a reinforced concrete protection beam placed on the on-coming side for the ...
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Why Not Refine Crude Oil At Source
It seems like refining of oil is often done far away from where the oil was initially captured and contained from the upstream source. Why?
This is not an engineering question is it?
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Effectiveness of LiDAR in manhole structures?
I'm an intern at an electrical utility and I've been tasked with doing a proposal/cost analysis to evaluate whether or not starting a pilot with a company specializing in robotic inspections is worth ...
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Why have they stopped having curbs on streets? [closed]
Growing up, roads always used to have a clearly separated sidewalk with a height difference.
All new streets I see have no such curbs/height differences. Instead, it's just one "blur" of ...
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Why are some public benches made with arm rests that waste so much space?
While watching a YouTube video today, I noticed this public/park bench somewhere in the USA:
It looks strange to me the way the arm rests on each side are so far into the bench, wasting a rather ...
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Why is there such a strong focus on 5G in context of remote surgery
Almost every time I see an article or advertisement on 5G, a reference is made to remote surgery. The point that is being made is that 5G has lower latency and remote surgery would be more practical ...
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Are gas distribution networks tree-like?
I was wondering, if it is justified to say, that gas distribution network graphs (primarily in Europe) are typically tree-like. By gas distribution networks I mean municipal and regional distribution ...
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Why culmination points in tunnels?
The shortest connection between two portals would be a tunnel with constant gradient. Why do long tunnels instead rise from both portals to a culmination point, introducing unnecessary steep gradients?...
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How many Technical Rescue: Collapse Units are there in the US? [closed]
In a story about today's Miami bridge collapse, I saw this photo:
In the upper left, there is a white box truck which seems to say "MIAMI DADE FIRE RESCUE / TECHNICAL RESCUE / COLLAPSE UNIT," even ...
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Why don't public transport networks have more routes to each terminal?
When using public transport, we often need to change routes in the middle of the journey. These changes have costs – I can think of the following, but there may be more.
If we're reading, working, ...
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Is there a way to reduce leaks and infrastructure damage when turning water on and off at the scale of city?
Cape Town, South Africa is experiencing an extremely serious drought, with estimates putting April 21, 2018 as the day that the city will be forced to shut off all municipal water supplies and begin ...
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Oil refinery pipeline direct to gas stations
I know major oil pipelines do exists either underground or under the seabed. However, these usually move crude/unrefined oil from refinery to refinery. Yet we don't have refined petroleum or gas ...
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How is the energy production of solar and wind compared with the prospect of nuclear fusion? [closed]
I am trying to find reliable information and comparisons about the energy production of renewable energy technologies, specifically, how solar and wind alternatives compare to nuclear fusion.
Why is ...
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How can one reliably prevent pedestrian access to a parking garage, but allow vehicular access? [closed]
Consider a typical private parking garage for a condominium or apartment building.
There is currently a typical garage gate that opens and closes (slowly) to allow vehicles to pass safely through the ...
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How does a cable-laying ship retrieve a partly-laid cable?
I was reading an article in the press this week about a project to lay an undersea cable across the Tasman Sea. The ship had had to return to port for repairs and return to complete the job later.
...
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Electricity generation via piezoelectric roads, stairways, is it plausible?
I've been wondering if roads and stairways laced with piezoelectric generators be a viable method in clean energy generation?
I'm currently unfamiliar with all engineering aspects of ...
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At what cold ambient air temperature will power lines fail?
I'm wondering just how cold it would have to be before electric power can no longer flow through overhead power lines. I know power lines generate a certain amount of heat just as a side effect from ...
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Why do we pave roads instead of making them from removable parts?
If roads were made of removable parts, we'd probably have fiber cable internet everywhere by now I'd say.
It'd be so much easier to install e.g. new electricity and water infrastructure and to ...
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Why do water mains break in the winter?
It may just be my perception, but it seems like water main breaks (at least in Pittsburgh PA) are more common in the winter during the cold weather. It may just that they are more news worthy in the ...
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