What's that Infrastructure? (Ep. 1 - Transportation Infrastructure)
Вставка
- Опубліковано 21 сер 2024
- Yes, he can get nerdier! Submit your photos of interesting infrastructure here: practical.engin...
Let me know what you think of this new series - What's that Infrastructure? - where we divulge and discover the man made world around us. Answers below (don't cheat!).
1. Tactile Paving (en.wikipedia.o...)
2. Breakaway Sign Post (safety.fhwa.dot...)
3. Bridge Protective Assembly (ftp.dot.state.... PDF WARNING!)
Thanks for watching, and let me know what you think!
Watch this video and the entire Practical Engineering catalog ad-free on Nebula: go.nebula.tv/p...
Patreon: / practicalengineering
Website: practical.engin...
Music: Elexive - Valley Santa ( • Elexive - Valley Santa... )
I am currently a student studying civil engineering and I wanted to thank you for the work and effort you put into your videos. I find all of your work very interesting and informative, while at the same time keeping it simple enough that I can show some of my non-engineering friends and they can understand and enjoy it. Your videos help me gain more interest in the field and keep motivated in my studies. Thanks for all your work!
+MAGReload Thanks. This is really encouraging to hear!
As a blind person, I highly appreciate you bringing awareness to the tactile paving.
I didn't know that about the sign anchors before. In fact there have been a few number of high speed impacts around my area and I have questioned several things, such as the 7-10 months taken to restore the damaged post, to the amount of the fine incurred by the fault driver, both seemed excessive. But given this new knowledge I now understand that the anchors are highly engineered devices. The fact that there wasn't deaths incurred by the impacts is a good testament to that. So, indeed the cost is high and the time to repair seems appropriate.
I'm a civil engineer and I didn't know about tactile paving. Nice.
I'm a mechanical and every time I pass by an interesting construction project I get a little jealous of you guys (not so much when I pass by the super boring ones though). :)
This is a fascinating channel.
Infrastructure goes way farther into the home than many realise as well. Being in construction all my life from design build on, and working with civil agencies, there are so many subjects you could do with this Chanel.
The Idea of this series is great. We go through our lives not noticing so many marvelous things. I asked a friend once does he sometimes just stop for a second and try to digest the surroundings down to the smallest detail. He just looked at me strange. I love to do it. It is just amazing when you think about it. Even the simplest things Like a road intersection. When you think about all the layers, systems and all the work put in to create that. From the plants making raw materials, to the work crews assembling it. Rulemakers deciding how to organize the flow, Than there are vehicles that are driving it, the fuel they use, the drills and science used to make the fuel and you can go on and on and on. I find it the world around extremely fascinating.
Thorinbur totally agree! this channel is great
An unexamined life is not worth living... :]
if you don't try to understand things around you, so what's the fun?
Thank you for all that you do. Keep up the great work!
Thanks!
Love the new series. Great idea.
I can't wait to see more episodes, This is the kind of stuff I like to learn.
The Utah state capitol sits on isolation bearings. These were retrofitted in the last decade. Lots of them! I was told in school, before the install, that It's similar to a ball bearing that has a concave column below and above it. The building just sits in place during the earthquake, the ground shifts. The building basically rolls above the ground like a person standing on a bunch of marbles. My wife is an engineer and got to see one of the bearings in person! I was so mad she didn't tell me about it because I could have gone on the private tour. These are under the building so I'll probably never see one. However, I'm not sure if they ultimately decided with this method. I think the final method used was an elastometric base isolator.
Very cool. I'm not a structural engineer, but I'm fascinated with how they manage earthquakes on buildings. Lots of neat ideas that don't seem like they would work at scale.
I just started watching this channel a couple months ago and I love the explanation videos, but I like this idea even more! I am always fascinated by differences in infrastructure when I travel as it can change the look and feel of everyday places (roads, sidewalks, building codes, signage, etc etc) as well as how infrastructure embodies that famous design saying about when it's done right, no one will notice at all. I will definitely be on the lookout for puzzling infrastructure to submit and new episodes in this series. Thanks!
if you make infrastructure cool, I don't even think we can imagine the number of lives saved, keep up the good work.
Small tidbit about the tactile pads on the handicap ramps. The grid formed by the truncated domes is supposed to align with the direction of travel for a road crossing (based on the current ADA standards). I guess the intent is that the visually impaired can feel the grid and then walk in the proper direction when crossing a road. The issue is that that for many handicap ramps, especially the ones at street corners, aligning the grid can potentially involve cutting multiple pads in order to conform to a radius, leaving lots of waste material. Some contractors claim that cutting the pads can also allow water to get underneath, reducing the lifespan of the ramp with freeze/thaw cycles. It's a lot easier to just use a whole pad and place it at whatever angle looks best at a given corner. I've seen very few handicap ramps with pads that were intentionally cut to conform to this standard, and I don't think any sane visually impaired person would trust the alignment of the grid to dictate the direction in which to cross a road (my job involves handicap ramp installations).
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
In Finland we don't directly protect bridges, but there's a simple mechanical warning method. If the bridge hight is 3 meters, there might be a 3 meter high "gate" that you have to pass before the bridge. There would be something hanging from a strings or chains. So when you are too high, it makes loud noice hitting against your vehicle, but not seriously damaging your vehicle. No electronics whatsoever.
Greatings! I'm a manufacturing engineer in the northeast and we make those tactile pavers. Another interesting thing about the pavers is that they are in large part made with PLC's (a topic that does not get much love). I studied engineering and did not learn about this device until my first job. I can only imagine how many other people don't know about this industrial tool. If it doesn't fit into your topic of infrastructure, it would surely fit well somewhere else on your channel as the topic itself is not presented in any way for a mass audience elsewhere on the internet.
I wish I still had a bunch of the pictures from when I worked at the MBTA for an internship a while back. They wouldn't let me show a lot of the stuff, but some of the equipment used to keep trains running is really interesting, and obvious. I found section breaks and train switches to be the most interesting. All the pictures I took of them got lost when my cat knocked my phone onto the floor.
Actually, on the same note, in Boston, on the Green line, there is a section of rail just ahead of Park street, where the train wheels squeal loudly going around the corner. You can always tell when people have lived in the city for a while by how they respond. The squealing actually comes from the fact that the radius the train turns on is about half the standard for train cars of that length, and the noise is the flange of the wheel coming into contact with the head of the rail. Since I worked there, they have actually changed the wheel geometry slightly to allow a little bit of extra clearance. It does not solve the problem, but it makes it considerably quieter. A quick YT search should bring up a ton of videos without that nightmare-fuel sound in it.
For the breakaway segment; I've noticed that this applies to all sort of sign post material. Big 6x8 timbers are either kerfed deeply or have holes bored through to serve as the weak point for breakaway. I've seen Illinois DOT lay a beam on the sidewalk of a bridge deck and lash it with cables to a damaged beam below, this wasn't a short term measure either.
We need the bridge protection here in Boston! Every year moving trucks ram the overpasses/tunnels on Storrow Dr., no matter how many signs are up specifically saying moving trucks are too tall. Just found your channel and am so happy I did!
Oh man this series is gunna be so cool!
I can already tell this is going to be a fascinating series... :D
YES YES YES. Love this new idea for videos. Keep them up, I can't wait for more!
This is awesome. I've always had an interest in all the things I drive past. For instance: Why do they make roads that look like highways in neighborhoods? Things of that nature. Please keep posting!
Really excited about this series.
Telcom, water, sewage, road design, power distribution...
Please?
Another fascinating video!
It's a bit impractical for me to take a picture of it, but my city recently installed a diverging diamond interchange, which isn't too terrible common in the US yet. That could make for an interesting video topic. Our local media and government did a HORRIBLE job of trying to explain it before it was constructed. Everyone thought it would be a death sentence to attempt to navigate it.
I didn't know any of these, but the second one reminded me of these red water hydrants placed on the streets for firemen to use. They are made easy to break for the exact same life saving reason than that sign post in the video.
I just wanted to say how much I deeply enjoy your videos. They kindle my love for engineering.
In Durham, NC we there's a bridge known as "11 foot 8" as it is an 11 foot 8 inch bridge which is under height compared to normal bridges. so it peels the top off many trucks/trailers/RVs that pass under it. As such, they put up an I beam to help protect the bridge, and lights that flash when your vehicle is too tall
Quite a few others have mentioned this. The website for the bridge is very interesting.
Really cool. I knew that about the sidewalks, but the other two were new to me. Thanks for sharing, and this should be a great series!
The 11Foot8 Bridge in North Carolina has a crash beam. It's not exactly the same; it's a steel I-Beam mounted before the bridge so that it absorbs impact instead of the railroad trusses. If you watch enough of the videos of the bridge, you'll see it's greatly needed.
That is a great idea to let the viewers participate in your channel! I'll watch out for things now
Fantastic start to what I'm hoping will be a fantastic series.
In Hungary large steel gates are built at some distance before bridges that get hit often (or doesn't comply the height requirement for the road category). Some have big hinged plates hanging from them, so the driver can hear when he hits it.
I loved the Light Curtain device used for overhead warnings in New Zealand. Wish we had those here in Indiana. 👍🏻
I'd like more of this series, please.
Not sure if there are any near me, but a lot of intersections in my area have a square cut out where the first car is expected to stop on a red light, I have no proof but what I've always heard is is because they cut out the square, lifted it out of the ground, and installed a magnetic sensor underneath before replacing the slab, and they use these sensors to inform the computerized traffic management system; the effect of that is most visible around 2AM when you can watch an intersection stay green in one direction indefinitely, until it sees somebody waiting to go the other direction, and then it changes almost immediately before changing back to the statistically more common direction. We also have intersection cameras so I can't really know without putting some effort in. If I remember I'll try to get a picture while I'm biking this weekend.
Tell you what I think? Alright I shall. You sir are fantastic! You make us engineers look good! Thank you.
Street crossings in my country have sound identification, for red or green, for the bind people. On top of the speaker is a strip of metal, that signals where the they might have to wait for the sound to change to green again, if the crossing is long.
The signs are interesting in that it's not just that they break, but they're designed to break in specific places, usually as close to the ground as possible. Wooden sign posts here in Michigan have strategic cross holes drilled in them about six inches off the ground to make that point the weakest part of the post.
There's a piece of infrastructure I want to shoot but I'm not sure how to do it safely, the in-road scales that let transponder-equipped trucks bypass weigh stations. There are also PVC pipes that stick up off the side of bridges over rivers and canals near where I grew up with red caps, I suspect that they're for filling fire tankers from the surface water since there's no hydrants out in the country.
I can't speak specifically for sign posts, but on utility poles that's not actually the job of that hole, or at least not entirely. That's so they can add creosote to the base of the pole to keep it from rotting. Usually there is a little plastic plug that screws in to keep garbage from getting it.
I appreciate your videos, as I notice a lot of our infrastructure in my daily societal interactions, but have nobody to ask what they are.
I can see these infrastructure episodes being very popular. Keep them coming!
That's really interesting! I'm excited that you're planning to make a series out of this! I will keep on the lookout for interesting infrastructure around me.
We have plenty of bridges with bridge strike protection in Auckland. You can see it on many of the bridges on our southern motorway as the engineers of old thought it would be best to save some money and provide minimal clearance.
I'm so excited for this! I'll definitely keep my eyes open now
I already love this series.
The bridges and tunnels in The Netherlands are not protected.
There are special structures installed beforde the bridge/tunnel.
These warn the drivers that their vehicle is TOO HIGH to pass the bridge or tunnel.
And one tunnel (IJtunnel) will close it's tunnel-tube when a TOO HIGH vehicle entered the tunnel, by closing the crossing-gates. And the traffic-lights present will turn red.
Simon Patten, Chair of the Wharton School of Business, called Public Infrastructure the “Fourth Factor of Production”
By keeping rent-yielding infrastructure in the public domain, Public Investment would reduce the economy’s overall price structure, lower the cost of doing business & increase international competitiveness.
At the freeway on- amp at my town there are these poles that stick up between the on and off ramp. It used to be a metal pole but every time you drove past it was bent over because somebody had hit it. Eventually the city started thinking and replaced it with a pole that can be easily pushed over, then springs back into place.
I already love this series!
Thank you, and keep it up!
I am very excited to see how this continues
Another Texas thing is the U turns at every freeway exit. They recently redesigned a bridge in Southwest Denton with them, and I can't name a single freeway exit outside of a major city without them.
Really good series.
I literally live minutes away from the locations of some of these images here in Austin! can't wait for more of this series!
Very interesting, will definitely be looking out for things to send in.
The black Ferrari shown in the video happened not far from my Dads house, we were in the garage doing some stuff and could here it racing up and down a few streets over when it hit the pole. Quite a loud impact.
This is really neat. I like the user participation aspect.
there are some funky bits of traffic engineering in our town. will try to take some pictures!
Video quality keeps getting better! Keep it up, love the channel. News series is cool too.
I love watching all your videos! Those were 3 awesome quick facts!
Looking forward to more episodes of this series Grady. It's got great potential.
Called tactile warning plates. Available cast in place or surface applied. Helps if you know if the concrete is existing or will be new when you order them.
VERY interesting! Can't wait to see how this series develops, keep up the good work!
Great stuff. Can't wait for this series to continue
Tactile paving is the civil engineer's answer to the question, "how do you make a sidewalk impossible to shovel?"
I think i've seen some of those on bridges in washington. Gotta love the famous 11 foot 8 bridge, it has a prety beefy bar infront of it to protect it
Awesome idea for a series - I'm going to keep my eyes open around my home city for interesting infrastructure.
We have poles before bridges that look like goal posts 5-10 meters before bridges/tunnels. They are the same height as the bridge/tunnel.
I figured they are to warn the driver if they are too high by hitting them.
You should do something on BMPs like tree box filters and the like!
Also, silt fence. As a kid, I always wondered what it was and could never get a straight answer from anyone until 20 years later when I got a job in the industry.
Awww man, I wanted to know what these blue pipe things were along the side of the road, but I can't remember where they were.
Basically, they were blue pipes that looked like they contained some sort of fluid. They were on a dirt brim/mound sort of thing, and they wer abour 30 feet away from a road. They were spaced out about 200 feet from each other, and there were about 3-4 of them. They were about 1ft in diameter, and they were guarded by some sturdy looking fences. I have no idea what they were, and I don't see them very often.
Do you live in a cold place? Maybe they were for water and they didn't want to dig into the ground? In the Ukraine they have their pipes above ground for freezing reasons I think.
Don't you want those to be underground though? As far as I know the ground is a lot warmer than the air, so it doesn't freeze
They are very common in places that have a high ground water level, especially if heavy construction is going on. They are very prominent in Berlin, Germany and as of lately in Stuttgart, Germany as well (the latter because of the big S21 underground train station project). They are used to pump ground water away from construction sites and back into the ground some place far off. The German term for this is "Grundwassermanagement", ground water management.
Thats pretty cool :o thanks!
I was in Berlin about a year ago, and we could not figure or find out what all those pipes were for. Now I know. So are they temporary until the construction project is complete?
People often think, that i'm weird, because i always look at things like this and wonder what purpose they have, while most people would simply walk by not even noticing.
Great channel Grady ! I run a construction company out of cleveland, ohio. We do concrete much of the year and your videos have sure gave me some knowledge . Appreciate very much and looking forward to more vids !
This looks like such a cool series. I can't wait for the next episode!
Love your videos man. So much insight on the engineering all around us.
really excited for this series!
cadence of presentation reminds me of smarter every day. very cool. keep building that culture of education
Im excited for this series
sounds like a cool series- looking forward to the cat guest episode!
that's cool! Maybe you could have a look at the manhole covers, their various designs and constraints are way more interesting than asking why they are round.
Great Video! Definitely deserves more views and likes. I will share with my friends!
I honestly always thought the bumpy surfaces were for traction, and was always perplexed when they're actually very slick
I SMERT
What a great idea! This is so interesting and engaging simultaneously. I can't wait to go out and collect some pictures to share. I hope we get some cool international stuff!
I was wondering about the signs just yesterday! Thought about what damage could happen if driven into and if there are measures to protect against it. Didn't know they have a literal standard for mounting them like that.
You have sick engineering drawing skills. I Love it
in my country, there are rods of thick iron hanged in front of bridge, so if you don't read signs, this will stop you before you hit the bridge itself.
Gr8 videos, it's helping me as the civil engineer student
I'll keep my eyes open, and my camera ready. i enjoy your videos.
This is awesome!! Make more of these! I've always wanted to know about all this stuff
Sydney. Subway (on-ground trains mostly). I use it everyday and I was curious what those interesting mechanisms are in the middle of a station rail road section is. Once I just asked one of the employees about it. He was super happy to explain. Now When I see it I feel very smart, because probably 99% of my fellow passangers don't know what it's for.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_stop
So, yes. I like this idea. Super cool.
This is going to be a great series. Thank you!
I really enjoyed this video considering I have yet find an entry position in my field. Thank you for the real life examples!
This is going to be a great series!
Cool video! I enjoy the concept behind this series. You make me proud to be a future civil!
If you ever feel bad of yourself, just remember that there are an *ACTUAL* people who disliked this video.
me too my friend
media.giphy.com/media/Ajai0fa72EMWQ/giphy.gif
For no reason lol
@@MR-ub6sq well, it was supposed to be a reply. i don't know if you noticed but I posted it 5 years ago. back then youtube did not put the username on comment reply like right now
Great work as always! Would have been nice if the mechanism of breakaway sign posts was explained in as much detail as the bridge protective assembly. Keep it up!
I learn a few things today here. Thanks for sharing !
I´ve never noticed the bridge protection but in Austria we have metal plates hanging from beams a few hundred meters before bridges or tunnels and if you hit those you know you can´t fit through the bridge or tunnel.
Awesome, plan on sharing a photo soon
Wow, I love this new series. Thanks for everything :D
This is in the Netherlands goo.gl/maps/LqbEWXiXjmG2
It's at the last exit before a tunnel. I suppose if you hit these wireframes if you're too tall. Your vehicle will not be damaged; and neither will the tunnel if you stop when you notice the hit. They might even trigger warning lights (most likely).
I'm gonna really like this series :)
pretty sure the infamous 11'8" bridge (now 11'8+8") in durham, nc, has a bridge protective assembly. that underpass has eaten so many moving vans…
I love infrastructure too, thanks for the series!