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Posted on 08/29/2005 2:47:45 AM PDT by NautiNurse
Dump dishwashing liquid on it, and they'll all drown (the soap breaks down their natural water-repellant)...
Man, I'll take the cold in Alaska any day over gators and snakes in my house. You can dress for the cold but I don't have a gator suit.
Yes. I heard on FoxNews at 9:30 that pumps had failed and they hoped to be back up and running by 3pm this afternoon. I've not been able to get another update.
My sources are the ABC affiliate out of Baton Rouge (link at beginning of thread) and MSNBC. I am switching between the two live feeds.
The city proper is indeed south of the lake. What most people associate with New Orleans---French Quarter, Superdome, etc.---is located south of the lake and north of the river.
Ants bond together to form a floating mat. Amazing.
No, they can't get out and about yet! It's still too dangerous.
Contractors building the Superdome also found that it required efforts and techniques that were a bit out of the ordinary, especially in the construction of its roof. For this building, the largest clear span steel structure in the world (as attested to by the new Guinness Book of World Records) is literally held together by its roof. In its flying - saucer-shaped design , the walls of the Superdome literally hang (for want of more descriptive term) from the roof, with the force vectors at foundation level pointing away from the center.
The uniqueness of the Superdome's roof, designed by Binkley Engineering Company of St. Louis (formerly Roof Structures, Incorporated) is its "lamella" configuration, which is nothing more than a series of overlapping triangles building out from a ring in the center. This gives stability against any downward forces. The Superdome's 75-ton, 124-foot-diameter (38 meters), gondola handing from the center of the roof, gives it a stability against upward forces as well.
. . .
The entire Superdome was designed with the intention of making everything in it capable of contributing to the stability of the structure. Its superstructure has four main column lines as the perimeter of the building to support the building and the seat bents and meeting room spaces. The columns supporting the tension ring are on 22-foot (6.6 meters) centers, arranged in a perfect circle. The columns for support of the seat bents cantilevering 65 feet (21 meters) are set in two separate rows that make up the "Squircle" pattern (the interior of the building is slightly elliptical in shape). An outer row of columns frames the convention room area.
Wind bracing is placed between the seat bent columns and Superdome columns, alternating between the three rows of columns and places where it doesn't interfere with the concourses or lobbies.
The roof had to be analyzed separately because of its unique construction. First of all at the building's perimeter, K bracing extends out from the Dome columns to provide additional wind bracing and also to accommodate the rain gutters surrounding the Superdome' s 2,200 foot (660 meters) perimeter. The upper arms of the K's support the 96 sections of the gutter, each 22 feet (6.6 meters) long by 10 feet (3.1 meters) by 4 feet (1.25 meters) deep.
Atop the 96 Superdome supporting columns rests the tension ring on 4-inch diameter (10 centimeters) rocker bearings. The bearings allow movement of the entire ring due to temperature contraction and expansion of about 3 inches (7.7 centimeters) in either direction from the column center ring.
The 9-foot (2.8 meters) ring consists of top and bottom chords and diagonals of 14 inch wide (36 centimeters) flanges.
Principal framing of the roof consists of 12 main rings at 30 degree intervals spanning from the 5-foot (1.5 meters) crown block to the tension ring. The ribs are connected by five concentric interior rings about 56 feet (17 meters) apart. Secondary trusses fill in and span from the intersection of main ribs and interior rings to the perimeter tension ring.
. . .
Topping the steel roof deck of the Superdome is an inch thick layer of polyurethane, and topping that is a thin layer of hypalon, which is a synthetic waterproof covering.
The hypalon is a Dupont product and technically the name for it is chlorosulfonated polyethylene. A good description of the material would be that it's "elastomeric," which means that it has the capability of elongating under a load and recovering quickly from release of that load, much like a carpet.
The hypalon covering, actually a liquid which has to be sprayed under pressure and then let dry because it is extremely sticky, was sprayed on the Superdome's roof under protection of special nylon bubbles (cocoons) which were erected to protect the spray from wind and the sun's ultra-violet rays as well. This entire roof covering procedure took 162 days. The cocoons were 110 feet (34 meters) wide by 200 feet (61 meters) long by 50 feet (16 meters) high. They were also used to apply the polyurethene.
I'm only offended that I wasn't offered any. ;-)
One of my most treasured memories is from that place.
>>Reporter in NO on the rooftops reports white caps in the flood zone<<
I'll ask again...How big is the flooded zone/ anyone??Anyone??
I was watching that Harrigan guy this a.m. on Fox & Friends - CRAZY....he does not need to be admitted int the Hotel..he needs to be admitted to Bellevue....
We had several cousins that refugeed up here to North Louisiana from the Port Vincent area. They're staying up at our camp on Lake D'Arbonne.
Whats the over/under on blaming Bush for the upcoming oilshortage?
And God help any living thing that comes into contact with the ball of ants.
I'll be, glad to know that. Can't believe I didn't
"I am amazed at the people who wade into chest high water through the streets."
That's very dangerous. Down here, flooding can cause the manhole covers to be pushed off. You could be walking one second and falling deep down the hole and way underwater the next second.
Thank you.
Do you know how your hometown is doing right now?
anyone have any info on the north shore- Mandeville or Slidell area? thanks
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