(Excerpt) "The weight of the bridge is currently supported by the single, nearly 1-mile long main cable. Workers successfully completed the highly complex process called load transfer, which shifted the bridge’s weight from the temporary supports to the main cable; the process took just under three months. The SAS, at 2,047 feet, is the world’s longest SAS and the signature element of the new East Span."During load transfer, the 200 suspender ropes (vertical cables connecting the single main cable to the road decks) by design pulled the main cable 16 feet down and 30 feet out. Also by design, the roadway lifted approximately 1.5 feet. It no longer bears on the temporary and removable steel supports below.
Source: 11.20.2012 press release, "BAY AREA NOW HOME TO WORLD’S LARGEST SELF-ANCHORED SUSPENSION SPAN"
West Approach
West Span
Yerba Buena Island Transition
Self-Anchored Suspension Span (SAS)
Skyway
Oakland Touchdown
Source: The San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge Seismic Safety Projects
(Excerpt) “… as we moved into the suburbs in the post WWII era, we placed our offices into [single-use] ‘office parks’ in our campaign to separate the activities of our daily lives and reconnect them through compulsory car trips.
Fortunately, there’s a lot of documentation on why employers [now] want (or should want) to locate in walkable mixed-use centers … For the sake of this post, the revelation is this: The new workforce no longer wants to be located in single-use office ‘parks’… they want to be located in dynamic mixed-use urban settings where they can mix and mingle, have multiple destinations to eat lunch or have dinner, live nearby, and have the *choice* to access everything through a pleasant walk and maybe a convenient transit trip.”
Source: “Better! Cities & Towns Online" blog post by Geoff Dyer, August 2012
(Excerpt) "'During midlife, there's a confluence of events that can create depression and a sense of despair and loss,' said psychologist Douglas LaBier ... Researchers have found that stress peaks in the middle of life – but so does confidence, sense of purpose and judgment."
Source: Sacramento Bee, by Anita Creamer, 7.1.2012
(Excerpt) "That boomers would drive up numbers of those simultaneously dealing with aging and addiction has been predicted for some time. One obvious reason is that there are so many of them ... The younger people are when they take their first drink or their first toke, the more likely they are to become addicted adults ... due to brain development not being complete until about age 25 ... [baby boomers] are far more likely than previous generations to be struggling with dual addictions to alcohol and prescription or illicit drugs."
Source: Sun Sentinel, by Diane C. Lade, 7.1.2012
The Right Kind of Density (Excerpt) "Imagine great public spaces where opportunities to sustain public life become numerous. Then focus on great sidewalks, an integral part of great streets, which in turn are the major constituent of public space. As the most intimate of public spaces inhabited by individuals, sidewalks are where we have our most visceral experiences of the city. TOD represents not only an opportunity to put density near transit, but possibly as importantly, to remake the public realm creating a city of great streets and great sidewalks. Yet, many ... have repeatedly been thwarted in ... attempts to build in such a manner due to existing zoning regulations, bureaucratic inertia, and well-organized groups of NIMBYs masquerading as environmentalists. Why? ... While many of the NIMBYs can never be won over, others are merely worried that the scale of new development will overwhelm them and diminish the quality of the public realm ... 'High-Density' development too often appears monolithic, insular and just plain in-human. Separated from its context so completely, it often appears to have dropped from the sky."
Source: Kaid Benfield's Blog, with quotes from Neal Payton
(Excerpt) "Cal Poly grad students, clockwise from top, David Eng, Allen Lu, Cindy Ma and Anais Mallinge, enjoy their transformed parking space ... [on 9.16.2011].
The park is part of a worldwide annual event called PARK(ing) Day, meant to challenge people to rethink the way streets and parking are used in urban settings."
Source: The Tribune, 9.17.2011, page B1
(Excerpt) "Homes in more walkable neighborhoods are worth more than similar homes in less-walkable neighborhoods, according to an analysis from CEOs for Cities. The report, prepared by Joseph Cortwright, is called Walking the Walk: How Walkability Raises Housing Values in U.S. Cities. Cortwright analyzed data from 94,000 real estate transactions in 15 major markets, using data provided by ZipRealty.
According to Cortwright’s findings, houses with above-average levels of walkability command a premium of about $4,000 to $34,000 over houses with just average levels of walkability in the typical metropolitan areas studied. Just a one-point increase in walkability increased value from $700 to $3,000, depending on the market. Gains were larger in denser, urban areas such as Chicago and San Francisco and smaller in less dense markets such as Tucson and Fresno.
In 13 of the 15 markets, higher levels of walkability were directly linked to high home values...
Walk Score measures the number of typical consumer destinations within walking distance of a house, with scores ranging from 0 (car dependent) to 100 (most walkable). By the Walk Score measure, walkability is a direct function of how many destinations are located within a short distance. The Walk Score algorithm then assigns a 'walk score' from 0 to 100. Walk scores above 70 indicate neighborhoods where one can get by without a car."
Source: California Real Estate, October 2011, page 8.
(Excerpt) "... China [is] embarking on one of the most colossal infrastructure projects this world has seen ... Its economic engine is the northern cities, specifically Beijing, which is a relatively arid region ... Beijing, wracked by drought for decades, continued building, at no consumer expense, large engineering projects to fix the problem of dwindling water supplies. The city’s two largest reservoirs have gone dry. Now, two-thirds of the city’s water demand is met with groundwater, which has lead to massive agricultural impacts as farmers’ wells have dried up and their lands dry, crack, and subside. The Chinese government, recognizing the economic implications of this water crisis, have begun construction of ... [another freshwater redistribution] project which will bring trillions of gallons of water from southern rivers to the thirsty north. The project entails the construction of thousands of miles of pipelines and canals ...
China, unlike the US, is unencumbered by NEPA, water rights and democratic processes in general. Such a pipeline here in the US would therefore surely have little chance of being realized [currently] ... consider three things. First, in the US, there are 55,000 miles of crude oil pipelines. If the commodity to be transported is valuable enough, the transportation infrastructure will be built ... Second ... water [is predicted] to be the next oil and the result will be the construction of water pipelines, the volume of which will exceed that of oil pipelines. Third, consider that the seven states who receive water from the Colorado River comprised 19% of total US GDP in 2010; California, the 8th largest economy in the world, alone comprised a whopping 13% of total US GDP in 2010.
... [the existing Colorado River freshwater redistribution project] was doomed from the start: the Colorado River Compact of 1922 was based on six years of flow data, which, as it turns out, were years of unusually high flow."
Source: http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/09/06/western-water-woes-is-big-infrastructure-the-way-to-go/http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/09/06/western-water-woes-is-big-infrastructure-the-way-to-go/
(Excerpt - a media release) "... The nation's largest Bromeliad Grower just got bigger. Kent's Bromeliad Nursery recently completed an acquisition of new greenhouse space. With the acquisition of more greenhouses, it now boasts more than 1,000,000 square feet of production area in Vista and San Marcos, CA.The new facilities allow Kent's to keep up with the growth and expansion the nursery continues to experience. 'Sales of Bromeliads continue to increase,' said Michael Kent, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. 'These new facilities allow us to grow more product and better meet the increasing demands of the marketplace.'Bromeliads are tropical plants indigenous to the rain forests of South America and used primarily indoors where they thrive thanks to genetic engineering performed by growers like Kent's. Requiring little or no attention to maintain their beautiful appearance, Bromeliads are available in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes. They are popular due to their easy care and long-lasting blooms, which may provide color for 16 weeks or more.Another reason for their popularity is that they help freshen the air. A study by NASA's Environmental Research Laboratory identified that indoor house plants, in general, filter health-threatening gases from the air and that Bromeliads and Orchids are some of the best 'Clean Air' plants available [emphasis added].Kent's Bromeliad Nursery was founded in 1976. It is under the ownership and management of brothers Jeffery, Larry and Michael Kent. The Kent wholesale nursery is the largest Bromeliad grower in the United States, supplying plants to mass markets and interior plantscapers throughout the country. Kent's grows more than 100 varieties, meeting the increasing demand for indoor floral decorating for every season or event. Kent's uses the most advanced growing techniques, growing seedlings in an ideal environment under highly controlled conditions. The ideal climates, combined with the long-lasting potting mix and filtered water, yield strong, healthy plants ideal for indoor planting."Source: Kent's Bromeliad Nursery
(Excerpt) "A fractal is a complex shape which, when viewed in finer and finer detail, shows itself to be constructed of ever smaller parts, similar to the original."Source: Math/Chaos Theroy by suite 101
(Excerpt) "... in a review of the application of the mathematics of fractals to the geometry of natural systems ... the application of the term 'fractal' by scientists to such systems is often unjustified ... in most cases the order of magnitude spanning required for mathematical fractality was not achieved, and that the use of the term 'fractal' in these contexts has at most a heuristic value. The authors suggest there is at present no experimental evidence that the geometry of nature is fractal [emphasis added]."Source: ScienceWeek
Partial Timeline of California High-Speed Rail (HSR):
Critics call the plan a 'train to nowhere'DATED: 12.2.10(Excerpt) “As high-speed rail officials … consider … the initial 65-mile route from the farmlands of Borden through Fresno to Corcoran, critics are already panning the proposal as the ‘train to nowhere' ...The California High-Speed Rail Authority is … to pick a route and enter a funding agreement with the Federal Railroad Administration by the end of the year [2010].… rail authority engineers recommended the route in response to a Federal Railroad Administration directive that federal funding must go toward a stretch of track in the Central Valley.”Source: Daisy Nguyen, AP. The Tribune, 12.2.10, page A4.
State gets $624M for high-speed railDATED: 12.10.10(Excerpt) “The [federal] Department of Transportation announced it was redirecting $1.2 billion in high-speed rail money …California is getting the largest share … [$624 million towards an estimated total $43 billion] system that eventually would extend 800 miles, linking Sacramento and San Francisco to Los Angeles and San Diego …Van Ark [Roelf van Ark, CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority] said the latest funding should help further construction from the Central Valley to another urban center.”
Source: Daisy Nguyen, AP. The Tribune, 12.10.10, page A4.
First portion of high-speed rail extended to BakersfieldDATED: 12.21.10(Excerpt) “[The California High-Speed Rail Authority] … agreed … to nearly double the length of the first segment of California’s … high-speed rail line …[The California HSR Authority board] voted unanimously to spend an additional $616 million in federal funding to extend the segment [south] to Bakersfield.”
Source: Paisley Dodds, AP. The Tribune, 12.21.10, page A5.
Speed rail comes under scrutinyDATED: 1.9.11(Excerpt) “[Currently] about 170 miles of dedicated high-speed tracks would carry passengers between Merced and Bakersfield at speeds up to 220 mph across some of the world’s most fertile farmland.That worries not only farmers whose land is likely in the path of the tracks, but also growers who have property on either side of the route …Between Fresno and Bakersfield -- where the first … section of track is supposed to be built starting in 2012 -- one primary route is being considered by the rail authority … alongside the Burlington Northern Santa Fe [BNSF*] railroad tracks. Exceptions include a sweeping arc to take the tracks east of Hanford and several options to bypass Corcoran, Allensworth, Wasco, Shafter.... Between Fresno and Merced [two route options are being evaluated]. One parallels the Union Pacific railroad tracks through the cities of Chowchilla and Madera … while the other tends to run alongside the Burlington Northern Santa Fe [BNSF*] tracks a few miles to the east.”
Source: Tim Sheehan, The Fresno Bee. The Tribune, 1.9.11, page B1.
Valley cities worried by rail station plansDATED: 1.19.11(Excerpt) “[California State Assembly Member Jim Beall Jr., D-San Jose, a strong high-speed rail proponent] wants Central Valley cities with … [HSR Stations] to develop environmentally friendly master plans for areas around the stations -- at their own cost …The goal … [Beall] said, is to help [Central] Valley municipalities spur development around high-speed rail stations -- not stick them with unfunded mandates …[HSR] stations are planned in Fresno, Merced, and Bakersfield -- among other cities -- as well as a proposed [HSR] station in Hanford. … Beall said he wants … [Central Valley] cities or local authorities … to create infrastructure financing districts around [HSR] stations to help finance transit projects …'It’s about having the high-speed rail stations become driving forces for development," Beall said. 'Creating identities around the [HSR] stations. That’s the intention … '. “
Source: John Ellis, The Fresno Bee. The Tribune, 1.19.11, page B2.
"It is important to realize that this is not a "suicide mission." The astronauts would go to Mars with the intention of staying for the rest of their lives, as trailblazers of a permanent human Mars colony.... abandoning the need to send the fuel and supplies for the return journey would cut costs dramatically, arguably by about 80 percent..."Source: To Boldly Go: A One-Way Human Mission to Mars, The Journal of Cosmology, October-November, 2010.
"You would send a little bit older folks, around 60 or something like that," Mr. Schulze-Makuch said, bringing to mind the aging heroes who saved the day in the movie "Space Cowboys."Source: The Washington Times
"Initially, colonists may be preferred who are beyond their reproductive age, because their life expectancy is likely to be 20 years or less, and secondly, the first settlers will endure some radiation damage to their reproductive organs, both during the trip to Mars and on the Martian surface...The advantages of a one-way human mission are many-fold including a dramatic reduction of costs ... and that no [post-mission] rehabilitation program is needed ... [for colonists] remaining on the low-gravity surface of Mars ...".Source: To Boldly Go: A One-Way Human Mission to Mars, The Journal of Cosmology, October-November, 2010.
Source: CIMSS Satellite Blog "... showed a persistent Tule fog event across much of the Central Valley of California on 05 January 2011 ... snow-covered Sierra Nevada Range can be seen to the east of the Central Valley [San Francisco Bay Area Region seen to the northwest]."(Excerpt) "Fog is water vapor that has condensed onto microscopic particles in the air and formed a cloud at ground level. When much of Earth’s heat is radiated out to space, usually on clear, windless nights, it cools the moist, dense and heavier layer of air near the valley’s floor. When air temperature decreases, humidity levels increase and the valley begins to take on a grayish tint. When the air has reached its dew point temperature, the relative humidity is at 100 percent. Water droplets become visible to the naked eye. At that point, tule fog can rapidly develop.During periods of tranquil weather ... the San Joaquin Valley tule fog can last for days on end as it settles between the Sierra Nevada [Mountains] to the east and the coastal range to the west under a strong temperature inversion layer.The air above the inversion layer is drier, warmer and hence lighter. Like a cover over a bed, this further serves to trap the cold, dense and heavier air within the valley.... [During winter], the sun is low in the southern sky and much of its light is reflected back out to space off the top of the fog layer.Very small amounts of sunlight penetrate the fog and warm the valley floor. Afternoon high temperatures may only reach the high 30s with little temperature change through the night."
