In northeast India, a giant cliff leads up into a hidden world: Lothlórien Meghalaya. Nearly two kilometers high and buffeted by monsoon storm clouds, this is possibly the wettest place on earth. Once, twenty-five meters of rain fell here in a year, the world record. Living here poses an unusual problem, and it's not just keeping dry. Nearly all the rain falls during the summer monsoon. Rivers switch from gentle streams to raging torrents. They become wild and unpredictable, and almost impossible to cross. Harley and his niece, Juliana, are busy cultivating a cunning solution. [more inside]
posted by troll
on Nov 4, 2011 -
30 comments
Portraits by Richard Dumas; a page (one of many) of
actors and directors; a Brooklyn gang (photographed by Bruce Davidson)
in 1959; photographs by
Ernesto Bazan. Clive Limpkin.
Some Warhol Polaroids. Film set photographs and portraits by
Brigitte Lacombe. Photographs by:
Dennis Hopper [nsfw],
Weegee [nsfw],
Jeff Bridges,
Julia Calfee [nsfw],
Ed Templeton [nsfw],
Lauren Dukoff,
Robert Frank,
Sid Grossman and
Allen Ginsberg. A
Princeton Dance Weekend in 1960, an
American family vacation in 1950,
Los Angeles,
Coney Island,
et cetera. A diverse livejournal collection of photographs.
posted by xod
on Jul 29, 2010 -
14 comments
Historic Bridges of the U.S. This is the most complete database of historic bridges I've seen. The front page is blog style that seems to have an emphasis on preservation, and which links to a database that is actively being updated & expanded. You can search by
state or by
county, and look at each bridge's individual
page, including a wealth of stats, and a high-res
photo, when available.
[more inside]
posted by Devils Rancher
on Aug 17, 2009 -
31 comments
A glance will show / Why Phoebe Snow / Prefers this route / To Buffalo.
And Phoebe's right / No route is quite / As short as Road / of Anthracite.
In 1908 the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad began work on the
New Jersey Cut-Off to make its New York to Buffalo mainline (the Road of Anthracite
so liked by
Phoebe Snow) even shorter and faster. It was to have no grade crossings, and was to be as straight and level as possible — through hilly terrain. The 28-mile
Lackawanna Cut-Off, as it is now known, was built over three years, cost $11 million, and was an
engineering marvel of massive reinforced concrete bridges, enormous cuts, and the largest railroad embankment in the world. All of this has been
abandoned for years, though there are plans afoot to restore the Cut-Off for
commuter rail.
[more inside]
posted by parudox
on Dec 24, 2008 -
17 comments
Roads To Riches (or We've Got a Bridge in Brooklyn to Sell You--Seriously) -- Why investors are clamoring to take over America's highways, bridges, and airports—and why the public should be nervous.--
...a slew of Wall Street firms—Goldman, Morgan Stanley, the Carlyle Group, Citigroup, and many others—is piling into infrastructure ... Assets sold now could change hands many times over the next 50 years, with each new buyer feeling increasing pressure to make the deal work financially. It's hardly a stretch to imagine service suffering in such a scenario; already, the record in the U.S. has been spotty. ...
posted by amberglow
on Apr 29, 2007 -
107 comments
Le Viaduc de Millau on the
A75 between Clermont-Ferrand and Béziers in France is the world's tallest and most technologically advanced bridge. At 2,460m long and 343m tall, its multi-stayed spans are suspepended from seven
pylons. It is not only an engineering marvel, but
a work of art. It took 14 years of preparation, but the bridge was built in only 3 years.
This film shows how it was built.
Here is a live view from the webcam. Previous Metafilter discussion in August 2004 before the bridge opened in January 2005
here.
posted by three blind mice
on Sep 1, 2005 -
13 comments
Might as well jump. JUMP! An interesting article (nicked from
linkfilter) about suicide and the Golden Gate Bridge. Only 26 people are known to have survived the 220 ft drop into water 350ft deep. I have been across the bridge once and was "amused" by the fact that there is a free counselling phone as you get halfway across. Reading this article and realising the numbers involved, it suddenly seems less funny...
BTW, the jumper (who before he went a second time was one of the 26) protesting the Iraq War was discussed
here.
posted by jontyjago
on Oct 7, 2003 -
38 comments
Photos taken from the space shuttle have revealed what is believed to be a 1.75 million b.p.
human-made bridge from
India to Sri Lanka. Incredibly, legend
says the army of Vanaras (monkeys) built a
bridge across the ocean to enable
Rama (a Hindu Moses) to conquer Sri Lanka, possibly makeing it a 1.75 million year oral tradition. It is
proposed to be a land bridge again.
posted by stbalbach
on Oct 20, 2002 -
57 comments
California Governor Announced that there is a credible threat against the bridges of the state of California. Including the Golden Gate Bridge. The attacks are likely to take place between the second and ninth of November, during rush hour.
posted by yevge
on Nov 1, 2001 -
57 comments
Leonardo's Bridge became a reality, with the construction of the 100 meter bridge spanning the E-18 in the township of Ås, east of Oslo. The design of the bridge makes modern bridges seem old in comparison. It seems that
many of DaVinci's 500 year old ideas are coming to fruition.
posted by dancu
on Nov 1, 2001 -
10 comments
Bridge Builder, revamped I posted a link to this program months and months ago. Since then, the program has been revamped. It's now called
PONTIFEX, and it gives you more options for bridge building materials, as well as better 3-D graphics (including an option to view your bridges from the point of view of the train's engineer).
It's well worth another look.
posted by crunchland
on Oct 30, 2001 -
8 comments
Tired of fighting that suicidal urge to jump the fences into the roiling waters of the Golden Gate whenever you drive across The Bridge?
Well, now you have a choice! Amidst practically no fanfare, the Golden Gate Tunnel has opened, featuring the best in subaquatic transportainment™, and all the donuts you can eat! Remember, folks, Those who know, go below.
Gosh, I haven't been to SF for almost a decade. Things sure have changed. ;)
posted by brownpau
on Sep 3, 2001 -
13 comments
BRIDGE BUILDER :
It's fun for a girl and a boy! A downloadable demo of a pretty cool but geeky bridge building simulator. Each level, you're given the task of spanning a gap using limited materials. Your goal is to build a bridge not only strong enough to stand under its own weight, but to also support the weight of a train crossing over it.
There is no right way to build a bridge, but there is a lot of wrong ways.
System Requirements: 200 MHz or faster CPU, Windows 95/98/00/NT, Direct X version 6 or later, Keyboard recommended, OpenGL video card and drivers
posted by crunchland
on Mar 6, 2001 -
22 comments
