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eyeletts the wrong word … i meant these perforations…
i have seen it written that the Spire is designed to be self-cleaning. How so?
And what exactly are the eyelets for? To radiate light? To allow wind to blow through rather than wobbling it?
kinda like christmas eve, cant wait for tomorrow to see it!
think i’ll check into the Oval tomorrow night for a pint and a good look close-up.
the bits in the second pic that are covered by radley engineering lettering – i presume the beacons lie underneath – or are they gaps ?
Very wobbly by all accounts
Chinese levitating train
January 02 2003
Shanghai – China’s futuristic magnetic-levitation, high-speed train has been opened to thrill-seekers willing to splash out about 150 yuan for seven minutes.A day after German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji enjoyed the maiden voyage of the world’s first commercial magnetic-levitation train, hundreds of Chinese lined up to board the first ride open to the public. The pilot run represented the first-ever application of new “maglev” technology, in which the train literally floats above the track as it is pushed along by magnets.
In order to satisfy curiosity, authorities in Shanghai have decided to open the train to the public at weekends for the next few weeks. Starting from the Longyang metro station near the Pudong financial district, the train whisked along 30km of magnetic track to the Pudong international airport in just over seven minutes.
Most of the people milling around the station were just waiting for a glimpse of the cutting-edge piece of German engineering, designed and built by industrial conglomerates Siemens and ThyssenKrupp.
“A-hundred-and-fifty yuan is much too expensive,” said one bystander. “I live around here and for about 30 yuan I could take a taxi to the airport.”
“As a whole it’s really good. It’s very fast,” said one young passenger as the train cruised the suspended monorail at speeds of more than 400km/h. Hurtling on its magnetic cushion instead of a traditional undercarriage, the train touched a top speed of 431km/h. It hummed loudly and rocked back and forth.
“It’s not very stable,” said a young woman whose company had made an excursion of the event, “but it’s very exciting.”
A maglev engineer aboard the train said many technical adjustments, for example to the control system and the propulsion, still needed to be carried out.
After the inaugural ride, Zhu announced the building of a second maglev line from Shanghai to the eastern city of Hangzhou. Although a contract has yet to be signed, that track would run about 180km, and likely be integrated with the Shanghai maglev airport link. Until then, German and Chinese engineers will continue to tweak the commercially untested technology. They will complete the second track that will allow a second train, and eventually a third, to operate by early 2004.
Getting very far off topic here lads, but lets just say there are two generalised opinions, 1) those of closed circle professionals, who generally do not publish outside their own field – e.g. this website is aimed at architects, designers and those with interests about reading in depth about issues from informed people. and 2) the general populace, who by their very nature do not have the search time, consciousness or sometimes, education, to find informed comments or contribute to debates about such matters.
These two sets of people may not overlap and may not communicate … it does not mean one or the other is wrong, stupid, overeducated, or that horrible phrase, unwashed, but what will happen is that over time the monument will either endear itself to the populace or revile them to the point of it being removed.
erm… yep fjp. did my 4 years sniffing glue allright … ahh, happy memories, someday i shall return to it.
now fjp, the trick is to get the Spire all in one shot from a very close vantage point.
I suggest standing on increasing numbers of milk crates to taking pictures at different fjp elevations until you are at least at eye level with the top of the Spire and then stitching them together in photoshop when you get home.
Shots taken from Westmoreland or D’Olier Street will instantly be dismissed as the works of amateurs 😉if anyone wass knocking around the Ballymount Road (where the top picture is taken) for the last 3 or 4 weeks you will have seen 20-odd LUAS trams with 4 or 5 burly men protecting them 24 hours a day. I figure they must have run out of space in teh Red Cow depot for them, and Alstrom wouldn’t hold them for them until 2004. So if you fancy a look at 20 stationary trams call up to Sylan Drive anytime in the next few months.
I’m hoping they take those nasty red railings down too. when the service does go live.
on a similar note, will the Spire have a red flashing light on top, to ensure the odd low flying helicopter does not puncture itself on it?
Does the South Dublin County include the ‘new’ suburbs of Tallaght, Clondalkin and Lucan? e.g. The Priory and (pre Square) Tallaght Village, the mill and area surrounding the Round Tower in Clondalkin, the vanishing Green Belt of Lucan etc?
as cranes go it’s lovely. any crane-o-philes might also be tempted by a rather large erection beside The Square in Tallaght.
Forgive me if this question has been asked previously but when is the completion date on the Spire?
Nah, If Matt Talbot was still around he would be rallying around the troops – every wino in Dublin chained to the spike.
Aside: Vlad Tepes, and his Son, Vlad Dracul could have used this kind of technology in Sighisoara and the surrounding Tranalvania Alps. Those old wooden impaling rods were awful messy yokes for sinking into the mud.
Saint Simeon the Stylite faces greatest challenge yet.
http://www.geocities.com/worldcivf2000/simeonthestylite/SaintSimeontheStylite.html for those who weren’y at mass on Sunday 😉
