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Billion Dollar Photo? Civil Engineer Opinion Wanted (Vanity)
Street Tracks Gold Shares ^ | Dec 9, 2005 | Travis McGee

Posted on 12/09/2005 10:49:04 AM PST by Travis McGee

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To: Mr. Lucky

That 48,000# was from was my mistaken 100# per bar estimate for EACH pallet, not the entire room.


41 posted on 12/09/2005 11:28:47 AM PST by Travis McGee
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To: dirtymac

I thought somebody said typical gold bars were more like 27 pounds. That would make the value about double what they need. That's the same ratio I got calculated a different way - about twice as much as they need.


42 posted on 12/09/2005 11:28:55 AM PST by gondramB ( We don't get no government loan and no one sends a check from home-we just do what what we wanna)
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To: Travis McGee

"I'm just guessing, but the ingots in the photos look longer than 7 inches long to me."

But, gee...they look shorter than 7 inches to me.... :)


43 posted on 12/09/2005 11:29:56 AM PST by gondramB ( We don't get no government loan and no one sends a check from home-we just do what what we wanna)
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To: r9etb
-- I mean, really: hand-lettered labels thumb-tacked to the wooden pallets?

And if you zoom in real close the labels say:

"Sh*t Load of Gold #423"
"Sh*t Load of Gold #424"
etc... :)
44 posted on 12/09/2005 11:29:56 AM PST by Daus
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To: Alberta's Child
My only question involves the pallets at the bottom of the stacks . . . How do they hold up the entire load above them without breaking?

It looks like the load is pretty much carried by the beams. And it would probably take more weight than this to compress the 4"x8" beams.

45 posted on 12/09/2005 11:30:56 AM PST by Aquinasfan (Isaiah 22:22, Rev 3:7, Mat 16:19)
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To: Travis McGee

Look at the pictures with the humans in it - those pallets are not the familiar size of pallet I'm used to seeing.


46 posted on 12/09/2005 11:31:30 AM PST by biggerten
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To: dirtymac
I don't care that it would crush the lower pallets. I just want a lot of trucks and forklifts.

"Woof woof!"

47 posted on 12/09/2005 11:32:59 AM PST by Travis McGee
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To: biggerten

And another thing, the wood grain looks pretty tight, probably oak.


48 posted on 12/09/2005 11:33:09 AM PST by biggerten
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To: gondramB

Let's look for some size reference. Paper labels maybe?


49 posted on 12/09/2005 11:33:50 AM PST by Travis McGee
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To: Mr. Lucky
Okay, 48,000 pounds is 768,000 ounces @ $522 per ounce equals $400,896,000...

Not a billion, but I'd take it in a pinch!

50 posted on 12/09/2005 11:33:52 AM PST by Bender2 (Even dirty old robots need love!)
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To: Travis McGee

For an accurate assessment, just dial: 1-800-007-BOND


51 posted on 12/09/2005 11:34:25 AM PST by Cobra64
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To: Travis McGee

"Let's look for some size reference. Paper labels maybe?"

Oh actually I agree with you about the length...I was trying to make a joke..apparently a bad joke.


52 posted on 12/09/2005 11:36:22 AM PST by gondramB ( We don't get no government loan and no one sends a check from home-we just do what what we wanna)
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To: Travis McGee
The full stack on the right shows that the bottom pallets' runners are not positioned over those below. The bending is not sufficient to the force above that should have sheared the first lower units...Camel's back.

The weight does not appear to add up to what is presented. If somehow the weight is true, no one should be allowed in that room...the domino effect is in play.

53 posted on 12/09/2005 11:36:54 AM PST by Deaf Smith (No, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn once.)
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To: Travis McGee

all that glitters is not gold


54 posted on 12/09/2005 11:37:39 AM PST by Baraonda (Demographic is destiny. Don't hire 3rd world illegal aliens nor support businesses that hire them.)
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To: Alberta's Child

I agree with you. From what I'm seeing, these pallets are only maybe 24" squares. It looks like the pallet supports are maybe 2 x 6's. Most everyday pallets are nominally 1 x 4's.


55 posted on 12/09/2005 11:39:28 AM PST by Sacajaweau (God Bless Our Troops!!)
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To: Travis McGee

1/3 of the entire weight is two tons ...

Those tops and bottoms are NOT plywood. take a good look ... they're 6 one-by-four(?) natural boards. Each board is taking 1/6 of two tons or 333 pounds ... approximately the weight of one Michael Moore.

I think it would hold.


56 posted on 12/09/2005 11:40:17 AM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: Travis McGee

I think 100 # is too much.

I visited a gold mine on Northern Luzon in my younger days. My wife and I just showed up in our bright red volkswagen and they gave us a royal tour. I guess they figured two young Americans showing up un announced in the remote location made up de facto important.

Any way, they took us to the vault and handed my wife an ingot. It was so heavy she nearly dropped it. Had it been 100 # I know she would have.

If you check Kitco, the bar they have is 400 oz or 25 pounds.

The pallets would definitely be ok with these size bars.

Check Kitco.com bullion


57 posted on 12/09/2005 11:40:31 AM PST by bert (K.E. ; N.P . Chicken spit causes flu....... Fox News)
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To: r9etb

I disagree.

I see an interior picture with taken with flash: note overhead fluorescent lighting.

Presuppose this is a vault with no other illumination, and the flash is bouncing off the gold in the foreground and hitting the gold immediately behind it.


58 posted on 12/09/2005 11:41:25 AM PST by George Smiley (This tagline deliberately targeted journalists.)
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To: dljordan

The small flash on a pocket camera will do that ... the foreground is slightly overexposed, the background slightly underexposed.


59 posted on 12/09/2005 11:41:52 AM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: bert

The bottom line: Special "things" need "special" pallets.


60 posted on 12/09/2005 11:43:06 AM PST by Sacajaweau (God Bless Our Troops!!)
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