It has been a two month hiatus, during which I have gone absolutely bananas and have had more things going on in my own life than I could keep up with, but hey, I am not about to ignore our impending DOOM.
"A massive power failure blacked out Brazil's two largest cities and other parts of Latin America's biggest nation for more than two hours late Tuesday, leaving millions of people in the dark after a huge hydroelectric dam suddenly went offline.
Paraguay was also affected when the Itaipu dam straddling the two nations' border stopped producing 17,000 megawatts of power, resulting in outages in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and at least several other big Brazilian cities, Brazilian Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao said.
The cause of the failure had not been determined, but Lobao said strong storms uprooted trees near the Itaipu dam just before it went offline and could be to blame. Rio was the hardest hit city, he said."
Link to Yahoo News
Showing posts with label crumbling infrastructure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crumbling infrastructure. Show all posts
Rapid icemelt practically destroys small Alaskan town.
"Temperatures in some parts of Alaska soared into the 70s this week, causing a rapid "melt-out" of ice and snow along the Yukon River and unprecedented flooding that nearly wiped out the small community of Eagle.
...Borg says the Yukon rose 30 feet over its normal level when 4- to 7-foot-thick ice pans surged downstream, choking the river and bulldozing islands and shorelines. The devastation stretches for miles up and down the river, where trees have been sheared off and muddy banks scooped away like chocolate ice cream."
Crumbling infrastructure, no jobs, no money... looking good, USA.
"The American Society of Civil Engineers issued an infrastructure report card Wednesday giving a bleak cumulative ranking of D.
"We've been talking about this for many many years," Patrick Natale, the group's executive director, told CNN.
...Roads got a D-, with Americans spending more than $4.2 billion a year stuck in traffic. "Poor conditions cost motorists $67 billion a year in repairs and operating costs. One-third of America's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition and 45 percent of major urban highways are congested," the engineers' report said.
Drinking water, D-. "America's drinking water systems face an annual shortfall of at least $11 billion to replace aging facilities," the report said. "Leaking pipes lose an estimated seven billion gallons of clean drinking water a day."
Inland waterways, D-. "The average age of all federally owned or operated locks is nearly 60 years, well past their planned design life of 50 years. The cost to replace the present system of locks is estimated at more than $125 billion."
Wastewater systems, D-. "Aging systems discharge billions of gallons of untreated wastewater into U.S. surface waters each year."
Levees, D-. Many levees are locally owned and maintained, but they are aging and their "reliability" is not known. "With an increase in development behind these levees, the risk to public health and safety from failure has increased."
Solid waste got the highest grade at C+ because of success in recycling. "More than a third was recycled or recovered, presenting a 7 percent increase since 2000."
Bridges get a C. One in four of the country's bridges "are either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete." The report cites progress in reducing such structures in rural areas but the problem is increasing in urban areas.
Rail gets a C-, with the report noting that a "freight train is three times as fuel efficient as a truck, and traveling by passenger rail uses 20 percent less energy per mile than traveling by car."
A C-minus was also given to public parks and recreation, with parks, beaches and other facilities generating jobs, income, and cleaner air and water.
The national power grid received a D+. "Progress has been made in grid reinforcement since 2005 and substantial investment in generation, transmission and distribution is expected over the next two decades."
The other categories -- aviation, dams, hazardous waste, schools and transit -- each received a D."
LINK
Aha! Yup.
"Lake forms in downtown Montreal after 118-year-old pipe bursts.
The water main, which dates back to 1891, broke early Friday morning, sending a fountain of water shooting into the air.
...City trucks moved snow into the area to build a dam to prevent the water from spreading farther, including into the nearby Ville-Marie Tunnel.
"What we are looking at is a dam made of snow," said Jacques-Alain Lavallée, who speaks for the borough of Ville-Marie.
"What we are looking at is a dam made of snow," said Jacques-Alain Lavallée, who speaks for the borough of Ville-Marie.
...Forcillo said the recent rash of water main breaks in Montreal should be a reminder to the federal government of the pressing need to help municipalities repair aging infrastructure." LINK
And the infrastructure? Is crumbling.
"Typically built to last 50 years, the average U.S. bridge is 43 years old and approaching the age for replacement, according to the report released Monday.
At least $140 billion is needed to make major repairs or upgrades to one of every four U.S. bridges, transportation officials from states across the country said in a report released Monday.
State officials said bridge repairs are just one element of a pressing need for more federal funding to improve the country's deteriorating transportation infrastructure.
"We need federal intervention, and federal intervention at a big level," Gov. Ed Rendell said after details were released of the report by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials." LINK
State officials said bridge repairs are just one element of a pressing need for more federal funding to improve the country's deteriorating transportation infrastructure.
"We need federal intervention, and federal intervention at a big level," Gov. Ed Rendell said after details were released of the report by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials." LINK
Well, what the hell. Better to pay a toll than to have the bridges fall down, right?
"PROVIDENCE — The state’s highways and bridges need so much expensive work, and the state has so little money to pay for it, that officials are beginning to discuss drastic measures to raise money that include imposing tolls on such main highways as Route 95.
That, and measures such as leasing state bridges or highways to private companies to maintain and operate in return for the tolls they would collect, are on the table at Governor Carcieri’s Blue Ribbon Panel for Transportation Funding.
That, and measures such as leasing state bridges or highways to private companies to maintain and operate in return for the tolls they would collect, are on the table at Governor Carcieri’s Blue Ribbon Panel for Transportation Funding.
The state’s bridges and highways have deteriorated significantly, to the point that critical structures such as the highway bridges crossing the Pawtucket and Sakonnet rivers have been posted with weight limits. Roads are crumbling, and one in five state bridges is classified as “structurally deficient.”
Meanwhile, according to state Department of Transportation figures, transportation revenue will fall far short of what’s needed for repairs and maintenance.
The sums involved are enormous. The DOT says it needs to spend more than $600 million per year, while its present sources produce just over $300 million." LINK
Meanwhile, according to state Department of Transportation figures, transportation revenue will fall far short of what’s needed for repairs and maintenance.
The sums involved are enormous. The DOT says it needs to spend more than $600 million per year, while its present sources produce just over $300 million." LINK
Ack ack ack.
From the fabulous doom and gloomer, Jim Kunstler. And I have to say, the one thing I've really noticed this year is how often I have NOT been stuck behind someone towing a boat. It's weird.
"Every time I saw a car towing a motorboat this holiday weekend, I wondered what was going through the head of the towee. Did they have a sense that darkness was falling on their careers in motor sports? Did they have an inkling that an oil-and-gas crisis is upon us and just not give a shit? Or were they just going through the motions, following some implacable rote programming induced by, say, forty-odd years of TV addiction and a diet based on corn-syrup byproducts?
The holiday to me was a creepy hiatus from an ever more desperate reality overtaking the nation like a miasma. Meanwhile, the mainstream media's ongoing narrative has gotten stuck in the moronic groove of "drill drill drill." The belief of people like Larry Kudlow of CNBC and uber-mega-idiot John Stossel of ABC-News is that we could go back to $1.50 gasoline if only congress would open the offshore exploration areas and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This view is just plain erroneous. Nothing we get out of these regions will come close to offsetting the ongoing depletion of worldwide oil resources, or even arresting our own losses.
...But to get back to my prior point, things are hitting home anyway, and with force. The US economy is crumbling because the way we conduct the activities of daily life is insane relative to our circumstances. We've spent sixty years ramping up a suburban living arrangement that has suddenly entered a state of failure, and all its accessories and furnishings are failing in concert. The far-flung McHouse tracts are becoming both useless and worthless in the face of gasoline prices that will never be cheap again. The strip malls and office "parks" are following the residential real estate off a cliff. The retail tenants of all those places are hemorrhaging customers who have maxed out every last credit card. The lack of business is now leading to substantial layoffs. The airline industry is dying and will probably cease to exist in its familiar form in 24 months. The trucking industry is dying, threatening the entire just-in-time distribution system of things that even people with little money to spend still need, like food.
...These conditions will now get a lot worse, no matter whether the banks continue to conceal their problems. All of it leads to an inflection point that coincides with the November election. By then, I expect that quite a few banks will be toast, job layoffs will rise spectacularly, foreclosures and bankruptcies will be raging across the land, and homeowners north of the magnolia belt will be shattered by the cost of staying warm this winter.
That said, I will feel a little sorry for Mr. Obama if he gets to the White House. He'll have to find a gentle way to tell the truth to the people who elected him, people who will be suffering mightily, and who will be very sore about their losses. He'll have to tell them that the previous "release" of the American Dream software is obsolete, and the new version will require a whole lot more of them in the way of earnest effort, delayed gratification, and revised expectations.
...There's a whole lot we can do to greet the new circumstances awaiting us, but the one thing we can't afford to do is put all our efforts into keeping the current system running as is. Reality simply won't permit it. We would squander our dwindling remaining resources trying to keep it all going. The next president is going to have to lead us through the awful process of cutting our losses. So far, the debate has been about how to avoid that." LINK
"Every time I saw a car towing a motorboat this holiday weekend, I wondered what was going through the head of the towee. Did they have a sense that darkness was falling on their careers in motor sports? Did they have an inkling that an oil-and-gas crisis is upon us and just not give a shit? Or were they just going through the motions, following some implacable rote programming induced by, say, forty-odd years of TV addiction and a diet based on corn-syrup byproducts?
The holiday to me was a creepy hiatus from an ever more desperate reality overtaking the nation like a miasma. Meanwhile, the mainstream media's ongoing narrative has gotten stuck in the moronic groove of "drill drill drill." The belief of people like Larry Kudlow of CNBC and uber-mega-idiot John Stossel of ABC-News is that we could go back to $1.50 gasoline if only congress would open the offshore exploration areas and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This view is just plain erroneous. Nothing we get out of these regions will come close to offsetting the ongoing depletion of worldwide oil resources, or even arresting our own losses.
...But to get back to my prior point, things are hitting home anyway, and with force. The US economy is crumbling because the way we conduct the activities of daily life is insane relative to our circumstances. We've spent sixty years ramping up a suburban living arrangement that has suddenly entered a state of failure, and all its accessories and furnishings are failing in concert. The far-flung McHouse tracts are becoming both useless and worthless in the face of gasoline prices that will never be cheap again. The strip malls and office "parks" are following the residential real estate off a cliff. The retail tenants of all those places are hemorrhaging customers who have maxed out every last credit card. The lack of business is now leading to substantial layoffs. The airline industry is dying and will probably cease to exist in its familiar form in 24 months. The trucking industry is dying, threatening the entire just-in-time distribution system of things that even people with little money to spend still need, like food.
...These conditions will now get a lot worse, no matter whether the banks continue to conceal their problems. All of it leads to an inflection point that coincides with the November election. By then, I expect that quite a few banks will be toast, job layoffs will rise spectacularly, foreclosures and bankruptcies will be raging across the land, and homeowners north of the magnolia belt will be shattered by the cost of staying warm this winter.
That said, I will feel a little sorry for Mr. Obama if he gets to the White House. He'll have to find a gentle way to tell the truth to the people who elected him, people who will be suffering mightily, and who will be very sore about their losses. He'll have to tell them that the previous "release" of the American Dream software is obsolete, and the new version will require a whole lot more of them in the way of earnest effort, delayed gratification, and revised expectations.
...There's a whole lot we can do to greet the new circumstances awaiting us, but the one thing we can't afford to do is put all our efforts into keeping the current system running as is. Reality simply won't permit it. We would squander our dwindling remaining resources trying to keep it all going. The next president is going to have to lead us through the awful process of cutting our losses. So far, the debate has been about how to avoid that." LINK
More Rhode Island goodness...
"It's the talk of town. A massive sinkhole shocked this community of West Warwick Monday night, nearly swallowing up a minivan with a couple inside.
The ground gave way to a hot spot right on Main Street in the Phoenix Square area. Paul Spera was driving the car, when the ground suddenly opened up before his eyes.
West Warwick town officials say a water main break caused the chaotic scene. People around town say all the digging in the community sparked the sink hole.
Kent County Water is now on a mission to replace most of the existing water lines that are nearly a century old. " LINK
The ground gave way to a hot spot right on Main Street in the Phoenix Square area. Paul Spera was driving the car, when the ground suddenly opened up before his eyes.
West Warwick town officials say a water main break caused the chaotic scene. People around town say all the digging in the community sparked the sink hole.
Kent County Water is now on a mission to replace most of the existing water lines that are nearly a century old. " LINK
Crikey. This sounds surprising and really unpleasant!
"Officials in a remote Baffin Island community said Saturday conditions appear to have stabilized after a flash flood looked as though it might wash the community away from underneath.
Heavy rain and unusually warm 13-degree temperatures produced rapid snow melt in the surrounding mountains and hills and led to a flood last weekend.
So much water blasted down the Duvall that it carved a 10-metre channel through the permafrost, right down to bedrock. It damaged both of the town's bridges sufficiently that a majority of the community's 1,600 residents were cut off from the water reservoir, sewage lagoon and garbage dump.
Fears of subterranean erosion were then raised as large cracks and sinkholes began to appear between the town and the river.
"More large cracks (were) appearing, more sinkholes,'' said Mongeau. "We had a telephone pole that literally, before our eyes, dropped 15 feet into the ground.''
With more rain and warm temperatures forecast, Mongeau is unsure whether the current stability will last.
"At this point they're stable; tomorrow, who knows,'' he said.
So much water blasted down the Duvall that it carved a 10-metre channel through the permafrost, right down to bedrock. It damaged both of the town's bridges sufficiently that a majority of the community's 1,600 residents were cut off from the water reservoir, sewage lagoon and garbage dump.
Fears of subterranean erosion were then raised as large cracks and sinkholes began to appear between the town and the river.
"More large cracks (were) appearing, more sinkholes,'' said Mongeau. "We had a telephone pole that literally, before our eyes, dropped 15 feet into the ground.''
With more rain and warm temperatures forecast, Mongeau is unsure whether the current stability will last.
"At this point they're stable; tomorrow, who knows,'' he said.
Private geo-tech companies should be on site shortly to use ground-penetrating radar to find out exactly what's stirring beneath their feet. Science professionals already studying the situation are dumbstruck by what's happening.
Although Mongeau stresses his opinion is not scientific, he believes the root cause of this occurrence, and many other in the eastern Arctic, is global warming. He said ice patterns have been shifting and locals are noticing the arrival of new species to the area, like capeline -- a small fish used to catch cod.
"Fishermen have been fishing these waters for 40 years and they've never seen one,'' he said. "We're pulling them out in large numbers right now.'' LINK
Although Mongeau stresses his opinion is not scientific, he believes the root cause of this occurrence, and many other in the eastern Arctic, is global warming. He said ice patterns have been shifting and locals are noticing the arrival of new species to the area, like capeline -- a small fish used to catch cod.
"Fishermen have been fishing these waters for 40 years and they've never seen one,'' he said. "We're pulling them out in large numbers right now.'' LINK
Cedar Rapids, Iowa - levees broke, town is flooded, power is out. No freaking way.
It looks so sadly familiar...
"Rescuers had to use boats to reach many stranded residents in the city of 120,000, and people could be seen dragging suitcases up closed highway exit ramps to escape the water. It wasn't clear just how high the river had risen because a flood gauge was swept away by the swirling water.
..."We are seeing a historic hydrological event taking place with unprecedented river levels occurring," added Brian Pierce, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Davenport. "We're in uncharted territory — this is an event beyond what anybody could even imagine."
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said storm and water damage to infrastructure will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, as dozens of bridges have been damaged or destroyed. Nine rivers were at or near record levels, he said.
Cedar Rapids' power was out for most of downtown, complicating rescue efforts, city spokesman Dave Koch told NBC News.
The new evacuations follow a 150-foot breach in an earthen levee early Thursday.
A tornado in the western part of Iowa late Wednesday killed four Boy Scouts and injured dozens.
"This has been a remarkable onslaught of weather — everything from flooding, unbelievable rain and of course tornadoes — all descending at once," Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff told reporters near the scout camp.
"This is major flooding," weather service hydrologist Karl Sieczynski said of the Mississippi.
Meteorologist Bill Karins of NBC's WeatherPlus added: "We are in the middle of a historic flood event in the Upper Mississippi Valley. Most major Iowa rivers are cresting at all-time record levels and this water will soon raise the Mississippi River to its second highest levels in recorded history north of St. Louis.
"The Mississippi River predictions for Burlington, Iowa, call for the crest to be a one in 100-200 year flood, second only to the Great Flood of 1993, which was considered a 500-year flood event," he said. "On the consumer side, thousands upon thousands of acres of farmland will be flooded for weeks with incredible crop losses." " LINK
Crumbling infrastructure!!!
"Big-city mayors told Congress on Thursday that they are overwhelmed by the infrastructure needs of their regions and cannot maintain well-functioning water systems, roads and rail networks without more federal help...
The issue of the country's deteriorating transportation systems came under scrutiny last year with the collapse of a bridge in Minnesota that killed 13 people. Although experts believe that a poor design led to that collapse, the mayors sounded an alarm about decay throughout the system and its long-term effects on the U.S economy.
The American Society of Engineers estimates that bringing the nation's transportation and resources networks up to a properly functional level would require $1.6 trillion and five years of work. Still, the mayors say, even that wouldn't accommodate the new strains placed on roads in coming years." LINK
Now, this is the kind of headline that perks me right up.
Actual, real headline from the International Herald Tribune's Business section. I love it when investors can find the sunshine in a rainy day!
"China's crumbling infrastructure a good bet for investors
Hong Kong - China's crumbling roads and overcrowded railroads may be a nightmare for travelers, but the transport sector offers a good bet for investors seeking reliable and growing profits.
The well-publicized transport and power problems of China this winter brought to the fore Beijing's need to plough more money into energy and transport infrastructure.
Millions were left stranded on highways and at train stations as the worst snowstorms in 50 years crippled already creaking infrastructure."
LINK
"China's crumbling infrastructure a good bet for investors
Hong Kong - China's crumbling roads and overcrowded railroads may be a nightmare for travelers, but the transport sector offers a good bet for investors seeking reliable and growing profits.
The well-publicized transport and power problems of China this winter brought to the fore Beijing's need to plough more money into energy and transport infrastructure.
Millions were left stranded on highways and at train stations as the worst snowstorms in 50 years crippled already creaking infrastructure."
LINK
Excellent article on the recession. Crumbling infrastructure, anyone?
Man, the NYT has some great articles today. This writer beautifully sums up the FUBAR economy and what he (and I fervently agree) thinks would be a good start to fix our broken system and create jobs.
"Economic alarm bells have been ringing in the U.S. for some time. There was no sense of urgency as long as those in the lower ranks were sinking in the mortgage muck and the middle class was raiding the piggy bank otherwise known as home equity.
But now that the privileged few are threatened (Merrill Lynch took a $9.8 billion fourth-quarter hit, and the stock market has spent the first part of the year behaving like an Olympic diving champion), it’s suddenly time to take action.
I’d start with a broad program to rebuild the American infrastructure. This would have the dual benefit of putting large numbers of people to work and answering a crying need. The infrastructure is in sorry shape. New Orleans comes to mind, and the tragic bridge collapse in Minneapolis.
The country that gave us the Marshall Plan to rebuild postwar Europe ought to be able, 60 years later, to reconstitute its own sagging infrastructure.
There are also untold numbers of jobs and myriad societal benefits to be reaped from a sustained, good-faith effort to achieve energy self-sufficiency. Think Manhattan Project."
LINK
"Economic alarm bells have been ringing in the U.S. for some time. There was no sense of urgency as long as those in the lower ranks were sinking in the mortgage muck and the middle class was raiding the piggy bank otherwise known as home equity.
But now that the privileged few are threatened (Merrill Lynch took a $9.8 billion fourth-quarter hit, and the stock market has spent the first part of the year behaving like an Olympic diving champion), it’s suddenly time to take action.
I’d start with a broad program to rebuild the American infrastructure. This would have the dual benefit of putting large numbers of people to work and answering a crying need. The infrastructure is in sorry shape. New Orleans comes to mind, and the tragic bridge collapse in Minneapolis.
The country that gave us the Marshall Plan to rebuild postwar Europe ought to be able, 60 years later, to reconstitute its own sagging infrastructure.
There are also untold numbers of jobs and myriad societal benefits to be reaped from a sustained, good-faith effort to achieve energy self-sufficiency. Think Manhattan Project."
LINK
Saddam's dam is doomed, damn it!
"Disaster looms as 'Saddam dam' struggles to hold back the Tigris"
By Patrick Cockburn in Mosul
Published: 08 August 2007
As world attention focuses on the daily slaughter in Iraq, a devastating disaster is impending in the north of the country, where the wall of a dam holding back the Tigris river north of Mosul city is in danger of imminent collapse.
"It could go at any minute," says a senior aid worker who has knowledge of the struggle by US and Iraqi engineers to save the dam. "The potential for disaster is very great."
If the dam does fail, a wall of water will sweep into Mosul, Iraq's third largest city with a population of 1.7 million, 20 miles to the south. Experts say the flood waters could destroy 70 per cent of Mosul and inflict heavy damage 190 miles downstream along the Tigris."
Wait, what????? Rewind. "As world attention focuses on the daily slaughter in Iraq..."
World attention?
Not here in Uhmerhika, where we have better things to do with our time than think about some dusty heathens getting shot, bombed, or having their infrastructure fail! Geez, I reckon we might have to be tryin' to figger out how to fix those dad-burned bridges and such back here at home. Why, you might almost think that all our doggone taxes are going somewhere else, like, mebbee, for killin' heathens, for all the guvment keeps talkin' like it's far to pricey to fix up those levees'n'such. Uh'm just not sure, see. Mebbee I'll jest have me a Big Mac and put lil' Billy in front of one of those baby genius video shows.
""We found no association with language acquisition and TV watching -- even adult programming seemed to have no effect," Zimmerman tells WebMD. "But there was one quite large effect -- from baby videos like the Baby Einstein and Baby Genius products. These kids were 17% slower in language development than the kids who didn't watch such videos.""
LINK to story re: 'baby genius' videos decreasing vocabulary for every hour spent watching.
LINK to story re: the failing dam- this is serious, sad shit.
LINK to story re: how kids think everything (even carrots, milk) taste better in a McD wrapper
By Patrick Cockburn in Mosul
Published: 08 August 2007
As world attention focuses on the daily slaughter in Iraq, a devastating disaster is impending in the north of the country, where the wall of a dam holding back the Tigris river north of Mosul city is in danger of imminent collapse.
"It could go at any minute," says a senior aid worker who has knowledge of the struggle by US and Iraqi engineers to save the dam. "The potential for disaster is very great."
If the dam does fail, a wall of water will sweep into Mosul, Iraq's third largest city with a population of 1.7 million, 20 miles to the south. Experts say the flood waters could destroy 70 per cent of Mosul and inflict heavy damage 190 miles downstream along the Tigris."
Wait, what????? Rewind. "As world attention focuses on the daily slaughter in Iraq..."
World attention?
Not here in Uhmerhika, where we have better things to do with our time than think about some dusty heathens getting shot, bombed, or having their infrastructure fail! Geez, I reckon we might have to be tryin' to figger out how to fix those dad-burned bridges and such back here at home. Why, you might almost think that all our doggone taxes are going somewhere else, like, mebbee, for killin' heathens, for all the guvment keeps talkin' like it's far to pricey to fix up those levees'n'such. Uh'm just not sure, see. Mebbee I'll jest have me a Big Mac and put lil' Billy in front of one of those baby genius video shows.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
""We found no association with language acquisition and TV watching -- even adult programming seemed to have no effect," Zimmerman tells WebMD. "But there was one quite large effect -- from baby videos like the Baby Einstein and Baby Genius products. These kids were 17% slower in language development than the kids who didn't watch such videos.""
LINK to story re: 'baby genius' videos decreasing vocabulary for every hour spent watching.
LINK to story re: the failing dam- this is serious, sad shit.
LINK to story re: how kids think everything (even carrots, milk) taste better in a McD wrapper
Crumbling Infrastructure. Tragedy.
Once again, this is a tragedy that absolutely everybody saw coming.
"A 2001 study conducted by the Minnesota Department of Transportation found "several fatigue problems" in the bridge's approach spans and "poor fatigue details" on the main truss." LINK
"The American Society of Civil Engineers has warned of corroding bridges and other US infrastructure, saying in a 2003 report that 27 per cent of US bridges were structurally deficient or "functionally obsolete" due to outdated designs." LINK
Crumbling Infrastructure! Even crumblier and more deadly!
"GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala - A 330-foot-deep sinkhole killed two teenage siblings when it swallowed about a dozen homes early Friday and forced the evacuation of nearly 1,000 people in a crowded Guatemala City neighborhood.
The pit emitted foul odors, loud noises and tremors, shaking the surrounding ground. A rush of water could be heard from its depths.
Authorities have warned that the sounds coming from the sinkhole augured further possible collapses, and possibly the destruction of more homes. The dwellings around the crater have been evacuated, and police cordoned off a 500-yard security perimeter around the hole."LINK
The pit emitted foul odors, loud noises and tremors, shaking the surrounding ground. A rush of water could be heard from its depths.
Authorities have warned that the sounds coming from the sinkhole augured further possible collapses, and possibly the destruction of more homes. The dwellings around the crater have been evacuated, and police cordoned off a 500-yard security perimeter around the hole."LINK
Crumbling Infrastructure!!!
That is one of my all time favorite phrases. But all that aside, here in the US, as I may have mentioned, our civic infrastructure is crumbling, rusting, shifting, and generally causing trouble. Municipal water systems, for the most part installed early in the 20th century, at least in older cities and towns, are beginning to break down. As boring as that sounds, the impact can be quite dramatic. Sinkholes are swallowing cars hole, suspected in dissapearances of children, and generally messing up daily life.
"Local and state officials across the country say thousands of miles of century-old underground water and sewer lines are springing leaks, eroding and — in extreme cases — causing the ground above them to collapse. Though there is no master tally of sinkholes, there is consensus among civil engineers and water experts that things are getting worse.
The Environmental Protection Agency has projected that unless cities invest more to repair and replace their water and sewer systems, nearly half of the water system pipes in the United States will be in poor, very poor or “life elapsed” status by 2020. " LINK
Climate change > collapsing old buildings. Einsturzende altebauten?
Climate change in Norway weakening structures to the point of collapse. "Wetter weather and frequent temperature swings put more wear and tear on the bricks and mortar in old buildings, experts say. They suggest that climate change may have contributed to Sunday's collapse of an Oslo apartment house built in the late 1880s. "The collapse killed a young woman, an international aid worker, who was to be leaving Oslo soon to work on the West Bank. LINK
Hole opens up in Sao Paulo, Brazil, swallows cars, trucks, people.
Man, Brazil is just falling apart- literally. There was the dam break on Friday, after months of excessive rain, and over the weekend, this vast hole opened in the ground where excavation for a subway was going on. The hole swallowed cars and trucks, and there is a minivan carrying 7 that still has not been found. Ongoing rain is hampering the search. LINK
Water shut off to Brazilian cities after mining company dam bursts, polluting rivers, killing fish.
Jeeez. This is a lovely story. Those heavy rains in Brazil that killed over 50 last week have kept up, and now a dam has burst.
"RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil: The collapse of a dam at a mining company dumped an estimated 2 billion liters (530 million gallons) of mud, bauxite and aluminum sulfate into rivers that supply water for some 90,000 people, the government said Thursday.
In Muriae, a city of 85,000 some 200 miles (318 kilometers) northeast of Rio, the polluted water covered houses, killed fish and left a muddy mark 2 meters (7 feet) high on city the walls of city buildings."
LINK
"RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil: The collapse of a dam at a mining company dumped an estimated 2 billion liters (530 million gallons) of mud, bauxite and aluminum sulfate into rivers that supply water for some 90,000 people, the government said Thursday.
In Muriae, a city of 85,000 some 200 miles (318 kilometers) northeast of Rio, the polluted water covered houses, killed fish and left a muddy mark 2 meters (7 feet) high on city the walls of city buildings."
LINK
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