Engineering – Page 11 – Geeky Girl Engineer

Blue Lagoon

Posted on May 14, 2014 by geek

Day 1 in Iceland. I think I got about 20 minutes sleep on the plane. We drove to the western edge of the Reykjanes Peninsula to see the lighthouses in Garður. Then it was on to Iceland’s most visited tourist attraction the Blue Lagoon. Some genius turned what was a pool formed by wastewater from a geothermal power plant into a rather expensive, somewhat posh hot pot to which all tourists flock. It is really cool though. The water color is this gorgeous, cloudy sky blue. Also, they give excellent massages while you lay on a float in the lagoon. When you’ve been on a plane for six hours with no sleep, walking around a wonderfully heated pool and then getting a massage is quite frankly, a great cure for your exhaustion. Walking around the lagoon is great exfoliation for your feet, and they have buckets of silica from the lagoon to rub on your face for a facial. From a geology standpoint, the pool is really neat because you can walk through micro heat spots, not to mention to entire heated by geothermal heat thing. In some areas the pool is warm and in some areas, the pool is hot. The lagoon was also a great place for me to play with my new GoPro camera, which can be used underwater.

The area around the lagoon is bizarrely pretty. It is dark craggily, sharp volcanic rock that is covered with this lush, soft in appearance, green plant. I am guess the green is actually lichen or a moss, but I need someone to educate me on what it actually it.

Power plant which caused the Blue Lagoon to form

Blue Lagoon

Bridge over Blue Lagoon

I’d be curious to know if this bridge is ever not slippery

Not often you see a lifeguard dressed like that

Rock edge of Blue Lagoon

Precipitate on rocks

Surrounding terrain

Lichen? Moss? It covers the volcanic rock

Concrete Crushing

Posted on May 5, 2014 by geek

Excavators with concrete crushers attachments are badass. They just chomp concrete like most of us chomp on walnuts. The claw closes around the concrete, then chomp, and then there is rebar and small bits of concrete.

There is an old railroad bridge being destroyed over Four Mile Run between Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia. Here is video I shot of an excavator destroying what is left of a pier from the bridge.

Shower is Finished

Posted on April 20, 2014 by geek

The frameless glass shower wall and door have been installed. I had the glass company place a floating robe hook on the shower wall next to the door, so I could easily grab a towel when I get out of the shower. Also, on the glass front, the new bathroom window has been installed.

All the shower plumbing fixtures have also been installed. Most of the fixtures come from Grohe’s Atrio line. There is an multifunction rain shower head placed in the ceiling and a handheld shower head on a adjustable bar. In the photo below, the valve on the far left is the thermostatic valve that adjust the temperature for both shower heads. Then on the right are the flow valves that turn the shower heads on, the top one for the overhead head and the lower one for the handheld head. Thermostatic valves are a really nice feature because you don’t have to constantly find the right temperature in between showers, and they ensure the same temperature water comes out of multiple heads. I have already used my new shower, and it is glorious! The area is wonderful, nice and spacious but not so big to be insane, and the the bench is a necessity for any woman who shaves her legs.

Shower fixtures

Shower glass wall and door

Shower glass wall robe hook

Shower glass wall and door

Shower glass wall and door in place

New window

Driving Pilings

Posted on March 27, 2014 by geek

There is a bridge that is being demolished near my office that is now my destination and entertainment on my daily lunchtime walks. I previously posted video of the demolition of a concrete column. The other day during my visit, a crane with a hanging vibratory hammer was driving steel sheet pilings into the riverbed to form a cofferdam. There was already a cofferdam around one of the bridge piers, which has now been demolished. I am assuming this new cofferdam will surround the next pier, so it can be removed. The before and after photos of the pilings being driven are below as well as video of it happening.

Driving pilings, before

Driving pilings, after

Excavator Destroys a Concrete Column

Posted on March 6, 2014 by geek

Excavator with concrete crusher twirling rebar

There is a bridge over Four Mile Run that connects Alexandria and Arlington, Virginia that is being destroyed. I love walking over near the site and watching the destruction take place. Today I took some video of (what I am fairly sure is) an excavator with a concrete crusher pound and crush the concrete of a former column. It then separated the rebar and twirled it like ribbon to consolidate it. So very cool to watch.

Very Model of a Modern Engineer-Scientist

Posted on February 12, 2014 by geek

This is one of those times, where I have a very silly conversation, and then I take it even farther than it really should go. I can’t exactly explain how it started, other than Biochem Belle from Twitter, noted she was waiting for the song Modern Major Scientist from Chemjobber. I chimed in with a few lines from “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General” only one of which did I manipulate for a scientist. I realized that about half the lines of the song would not have to be altered for a scientist as opposed to a military person. So here is where I take it too far, with apologies and great respect to Gilbert and Sullivan.

I am the very model of a modern Engineer-Scientist,
I’ve information vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I know the kingdoms taxonomy, and I quote the sci papers historical
From The Lancet to Ecology, in order categorical;
I’m very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical,
I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical,
About binomial theorem I’m teeming with a lot o’ news,
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse.
I’m very good at integral and differential calculus;
I know the scientific names of beings animalculous:
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Engineer-Scientist.
I know our engineering history, Imhotep and al-Jazari;
I understand acoustics, I know all types of VOCs,
I quote in equations all the laws thermodynamical,
In conics I can graph ellipses, hyperbolas, and parabolas;
I can tell undoubted amethyst from fluorite and lepidolite,
I know the croaking chorus of the Xenopus laevis!
Then I can name a chemical after I’ve seen its mass spectrum chromatograph,
And calculate its concentration with an internal standard added.
Then I can design a incinerator for hazardous waste destruction,
And tell you ev’ry detail of exposure risk reduction
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Engineer-Scientist.
In fact, when I know what is meant by leukotriene and histomine,
When I can tell at sight a purine from a pyrimidine,
When such units as furlong and stones I’m more wary at,
And when I know precisely what is meant by ANSI hard hat,
When I have learnt what progress has been made in modern technology,
When I know more of statistics, microbiology, and toxicology –
In short, when I’ve a smattering of hydrogeology –
You’ll say a better Engineer-Scientist has never sat a gee.
For my science knowledge, because I’m nerdy and geeky,
Is never enough and I must always satisfy my curiosity;
But still, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Engineer-Scientist.

About Those Rail Ties, WMATA

Posted on January 21, 2014 by geek

WMATA’s new rail ties ad

Dear WMATA,

I saw your new ad while I walking into the Metro the other day. That is, the new ad where you tell your riders that your installing new rail ties to give us a more comfortable rise. Considering the purpose that rail ties serve, I am hopeful this type of maintenance will also give us customers a safer ride, but I’m not going to quibble on that. First, I would like to thank you for at least not insulting your customers, making an incredibly sexist stereotype, or presenting a vague statistic with absolutely no context that really conveys nothing in this ad, like you did in a certain ad from this new series of ads. I would also like to commend you on doing actual maintenance on your rail system. As an engineer, I am more aware than many of how important and needed regular maintenance is, and from what I have heard in the news, you weren’t actually aware of this fact until several years ago.

However, I do have a question for you about these new rail ties that you admit that we, the customers, might not notice. Exactly how would you like to your customers to notice these fantastic new rail ties? I mean this in all seriousness. After I saw this poster, I made a point of looking at the rail ties while I was standing on the platform waiting for my train. Both my originating and destination stations on this particular day were underground, and what I noticed is that there were no rail ties underneath the track in front of the platform. The rails were held in place by metal bracing of some sort that was attached directly to the concrete beneath the tracks and did not tie the two tracks together. As my name Geeky Girl Engineer might suggest, I am in fact a geeky engineer, and thus I became intrigued by this metal bracing holding the tracks at the platform. Thus far my internet searches have not led me to information as to what these braces are called, but since the braces only hold one track, they don’t seem to actually be rail ties. However, I could be wrong, and if you would like to educate me on what they are called, I would be happy to learn about it (in all seriousness).

The other thing I noticed about the track in the station, is that it is really hard to notice the rail ties or braces. To begin with, the station is dark. Second, the area where the track is, is mainly different shades of black as it’s rather dirty. I wouldn’t expect it to be clean, but the darkness makes it difficult to see any level of detail. Also, the platform tile closest to the edge is rather textured, and this makes it uncomfortable to stand there for very long to examine the tracks. I realize the textured tile is a safety design to make people realize how close to the edge they are and to keep people from standing there while waiting for the train and thus potentially falling onto the track. I think this is a good safety, and I am certainly not arguing against it. I am just pointing out that between the textured tile and simply not wanting to get too close to the edge, conditions are not really conducive to a person examining or admiring your new rail ties.

As for the rail ties that are under track between stations, well, those are kind of hard to see also. The Metro, as you are of course aware, is underground a significant portion of the time. There is no way to view rail ties at all while the train is underground. There is no way to view anything outside the train while the train is in motion underground. Quite frankly, you should be aware of this. I also looked at the track while the train was in motion above ground. I was able to view the track and see that there are wood ties holding the track in place, but that honestly was about it. Again, the train was in motion making it difficult to really examine details of the ties. I couldn’t say whether the ties I viewed were new or old. I’m not actually sure how I would be able to tell the difference. I’m fairly sure that old ties would be dirtier and probably darker than new ties, but I am not sure to what degree. Presumably if I saw an old and a new one side by side, I could tell the difference, but except for that case, I am not sure how I would. Thus, it would be nice if your ad touting your new rail ties would have educated me on how to tell the difference.

Again, I commend you for your maintenance work. I thank you for not insulting me or stereotyping me. However, I think you might want to rethink your ad. For safety reasons, I think it would be best if you did not encourage your customers to examine your rail ties.

Your observant and educated customer,

Geeky Girl Engineer

Warning: Engineer Renovating Her Home

Posted on January 15, 2014 by geek

Sometimes I think I should come with a warning label: “Warning: Micromanaging, long-term planning, detail obsessed, anal retentive, constantly questioning engineer.” At the very least, when it comes to home maintenance and renovation, I should warn people of that. In truth, I think some of my personality traits that can probably be annoying at times, also make me a good engineer. Engineers have to think both short and long term. We have to look at both the big picture and all the tiny details. Sometimes, in my personal life, I am just not sure people are prepared to deal with those traits. I am not actually saying I would change myself if I could; I’m just saying sometimes people are unprepared to deal with someone like me.

I am currently planning for Phase 3 Home Renovation. I actually started planning for it during Phase 2. I changed the layout of the second floor of my house during Phase 2, and part of those changes were to prepare for Phase 3. One of my overall goals with my home renovation was to create a nice master bedroom closet and bathroom with a tub. The original closet was two reach-in closets that barely had enough space for two people, and the original master bathroom was tiny. It had two sinks on a small counter space, a small shower only stall, barely any storage space, and a toilet. I really wanted a nice whirlpool tub and more space. The master bedroom is next to the living room, where I had wanted to open the space up with the dining room and kitchen. Therefore, while planning for Phase 2 where I renovated the living room, dining room, kitchen, and family room, I drew, redrew, and kept redrawing the configuration of the second floor until I could have an open layout with the common rooms and also a nice master closet and bathroom that I wanted. In the final plan, I stole a six foot wide space the length of the living room from the living room and used that space to form a new master closet and a new water closet (for the toilet) that will connect to the new master bathroom. That new space was created during Phase 2. I also moved the doorway to the old master closet and bathroom to prepare for Phase 3. The door needed to be moved to fit the new bathroom configuration. I moved the doorway during Phase 2 because Phase 2 was when I was having all structural work done, and the doorway is in a structural wall. I created a 3 ft by 6 ft dead space behind the new master closet, between my master bathroom and living room that will become the water closet.

Thus, I planned the new master bathroom when I was planning Phase 2, even though the bathroom would not be constructed until Phase 3. Now I just need to get the details planned. The cabinetry will be constructed by a custom cabinetry company, so that is no issue. Much to my surprise, main problem I have found has been finding a bathtub. I really want one with both a whirlpool and air massage, i.e. one with both a water pump and air blower. Finding one with both is not that difficult for dimensions I have, but finding one with the pump and blower on the left side of the tub is. Evidently, everyone is supposed to configure their bathrooms to have them on the right side. [In case you are not familiar with these types of tubs, you have to have access to the pump and blower in case they need service.] I am dumbfounded quite frankly that everything is configured for things on the right. With the vast majority of tubs, I can’t simply rotate the tub 180° because the drain has to be in a location that the plumber can reach to hook it up to the piping. Rotating most tubs would cause the drain to be in a location that the plumber simply wouldn’t be able to reach. After much searching, I finally found a tub where the manufacturer custom makes all tubs and with several models, they can reconfigure it to put the pump on the left side. Now I need to know the access size that is required for their tubs because I am planning to have tall cabinet to the left of the tub platform. The bottom of the cabinet will essentially have a false side that will give access to the pump and blower. The cabinetry company said they can figure out how to do it; they just need the dimensions. Therefore today, I’m on the phone with the plumbing supply salesperson who is helping me find a tub. I’ve got it narrowed down to one brand, and I’m asking a bunch of questions. I’ve downloaded the specifications and other information from the manufacturer’s website, but I still can’t find the exact access size that is needed. The salesperson finally says he is just not sure, so he is going to conference call me with a guy from the manufacturer. It was perfect, and the manufacturer guy went through all the details I needed. He said once I am finally ready to order, it would be best to get a specifications drawing and mark it up to show exactly where my cabinet will be and how much access I am leaving, and they can move the pump and blower a bit to give the best access. Now I need to take their specs sheet and mark it up and send it to the cabinetry company so that they can do the same.

This is why I don’t use general contractors. I hire all the contractors: carpenters, plumbers, electricians, etc. I buy almost all the supplies, or at least the supplies that affect the design and aesthetic. I micromanage everything, and when I have used general contractors in the past, I generally drive them crazy. There is no point to me hiring a general contractor because I micromanage everything so much I am not getting my money’s worth from them since the point of having a general contractor is that they manage all the sub-contractors and details. Also, I do a lot of the work myself, so I don’t need a general contractor to manage me. I plan long term ahead to make sure everything will work. I try to plan for every single detail. I will if necessary demand that I speak to the actual person on the factory floor to get the detail I need to know that affects the next detail. I will repaint a wall three times until I get the color I want, but I’m not going to tear up tile, so I want the space planned out correctly from the beginning. I call the county’s building permit department and speak to the inspectors myself to make sure I know what code requires, and sometimes I demand that contractors do things that go beyond code when I don’t think code is enough. In most of my renovation work, I tear a room down to the studs and subfloor because in this house, I just don’t trust anything that was done beforehand. Sometimes it is just easier to start all over anyway. Yes, I should come with a warning sign.

Amtrak Viewliner Roomette

Posted on January 13, 2014 by geek

This past Christmas I took Amtrak to visit my family in Houston. I took the Crescent down to New Orleans, then after a short stay in New Orleans, I went on the Sunset Limited to Houston. Since the trip between DC and New Orleans is about 25 hours, I decided to get a room instead of just a coach seat. Yes, it is a long trip, but I love train rides. It gives me a chance to sit and read and just watch the world go by.

The train rooms are, in my humble opinion, marvelously designed. The designers managed to fit a whole lot of features in a tiny little space. The features also have to be designed for the constant movement on the train. During the day, the room as two comfortable seats with a fold-down table. At night, it can be transformed to give two comfortable beds. The room also has a toilet, sink, and small storage area. The room is tight, but it has almost everything you need, and there is a shower down the hall.

Both seats with fold down table between them

Right seat

Left seat with sink (in closed position) and toilet (also closed)

Fold down sink

Lower bunk created from the chairs pulled down.

Head of lower bunk

Upper bunk which can be lowered

Storage area

Let’s Talk Stats, WMATA

Posted on December 4, 2013 by geek

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has problems. Lots and lots of problems. They’ve had an ad campaign called “Metro Forward” for a while now trying to let people know how they are using the money that customers pay to improve the system and do much needed upgrades and renovations. The customers, including myself, want a reliable safe system, not a PR campaign though. Recently they have unveiled a few new ads that in most people’s opinions are sexist, stupid, and somewhat confusing. The ads consist of posters with either two men or two women talking. A few examples that I have been able to find:

Woman 1: “A Metrobus travels 8,260 miles between breakdowns. Didn’t know that, did you?” Woman 2: “Can we just talk about shoes?”

Man 1: “A Metrobus travels 8,260 miles between breakdowns. Didn’t know that, did you?” Man 2: “Can we just talk about sports?”

Man 1: “When we take Metrobus, do you think we’ll get to ride the new 32-foot Orion model, or the latest Xcelsior model?” Man 2: “Dude, it’s a bus.”

Woman 1: “I love the way the tamping process aligns and elevates the rails for Metro, don’t you?” Woman 2: “I have no idea what you just said.”

Man 1: “So Bobby, did you catch all those new rail fasteners on Metro today?” Man 2: “No Billy, not so much.”

So WMATA, I’d like to speak to you as a woman and as an engineer. First, the last two ads that I have listed, about the tamping process and rail fasteners, I don’t even understand these. I have a vague understanding what these mean, and if I bothered to spend time on the internet researching, I have no doubt I would understand it better. However the average customer is not going to know what this means, and quite frankly, nor should they be expected to know. Furthermore, these posters seem to insinuate that there is something wrong with them because they don’t know. If things work properly in engineering and technology, people never know how things work, and there is nothing wrong with that. It is only when people’s ignorance of how things work can mess up a system, that engineers really care that they are ignorant. [Example, people who pour grease down the drain and not understanding the problems in the wastewater pipes to which this can lead.]

As for the ad where Man 1 asks which type of bus they will be on, Man 1 is clearly a bus geek, and Man 2 clearly is not. I respect Man 1’s geekitude, even though I don’t share it about buses. Man 2 does not respect the geekitude. How are they friends?

Now, let’s address the ad that is causing the most trouble for you WMATA. The one about the average bus breakdown rate. Most women think this is sexist because Woman 2 just wants to talk about shoes. So let me be clear, it IS a sexist ad. However, in your defense, the male version makes Man 2 look shallow also, so I guess that’s a win-win at making both sexes look stupid. I mean I like shoes. Most women like shoes. I like sports, not as much as many men and women, but I can have a conversation about it. Here’s the thing though. Shoes are not my sole interest. I am I nerd, and I would love to talk about the breakdown rate of your buses. That’s what you say you want, to get people to talk about the system’s reliability. So let’s talk about it.

You claim that “a Metrobus travels 8,260 miles between breakdowns.” Is that the mean or the median? What is the standard deviation? Can you give me a plot of the data? Are the data normally distributed? What is the skewness and kurtosis of the data? I would be willing to bet that your bus breakdown data has some really nice skewness. I bet your new buses work rather nicely, and your old buses don’t. Hence, your new buses probably can go much longer than 8,260 miles between breakdowns, but your old buses probably can go much less. Is one or the other skewing the mean and by how much? How does this lovely statistic that you are presenting to us compare with other DC area buses like those of ART, CUE, DASH, etc.? How does it compare with the breakdown statistics of other large metropolitan bus systems like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, etc.? You are presenting a statistic in a vacuum, and it is almost meaningless.

To get past that breakdown statistic, what are your on-time statistics, you know those statistics your customers actually care about? Most WMATA riders really don’t care what kind of bus they are on. They just want a bus runs on time, and actually picks them up at their bus stop, instead of leaving them because either the bus is too full or for reasons the customer never finds out, the bus just doesn’t show or stop. [Yes, this has happened to me several times.]

Speaking as a customer, I don’t want a PR campaign at all. I most definitely don’t want a PR campaign that makes my fellow riders look like fools. I want a system that works. I want a transit authority that actually responds to customer complaints. I want a transit authority that does more than send a automatic form response when I submit a complaint about a driver running a red light. I want to know that things will actually change and improve, and right now WMATA, you just keep failing at that, and this PR campaign does nothing to improve things. In fact, it makes things worse.