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Cycling to work through cavernous limestone mines turned into a business park
- CalRobert 7y agoSource video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePQsnhayam4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePQsnhayam4 if you want to skip boingboing
- Fricken 7y agoI wonder if the stone is solid enough to develop for climbing. That would be cool.
- WorldMaker 7y agoLimestone can be on the "softer" side (part of why it formed natural caves so easily) so that might not be the greatest idea, at the very least for liability reasons. I heard Louisville, KY's "Mega Cavern" added climbing walls, but I believe they are the usual sort of indoor "adventure park" climbing walls.
- markstos 7y agoLouisville has an underground bike park and electric fat bike tours: https://louisvillemegacavern.com/attractions/electric-bike-tour https://louisvillemegacavern.com/attractions/electric-bike-t...
- WorldMaker 7y agoI've heard the zipline is a lot of fun. Keep hoping for a group outing excuse to visit the Mega Cavern. Usually if I'm by myself and thinking of heading that direction I'm more likely to wander the Zoo.
- mc32 7y agoLooks like a datacenter here would have more cred than that datacenter “in the catacombs of Paris” we read about couple of weeks ago. Article says it's mostly warehouses but given that temp, looks like it would work well for Datacenters. Do datacenters in general use geothermal energy for cooling?
- fredley 7y agoIn the video he mentions that one of the uses is for datacenters.
- Qworg 7y agoIn general, they use hydro, but it is all over the map. Some are geothermal powered.
- Patrick_Devine 7y agoIt would definitely be beneficial for AC, but electricity is still more expensive in Missouri than a place like Washington state or Montana. You might be better off in a colder climate with cheaper electricity. Given its central location in the middle of the country, you may have benefits for having low-ish average latency from both coasts, but I'm not sure how close the mine is to any long haul internet backbone.
- jessaustin 7y agoI suspect that to get to the coasts you'll route through either Chicago or Dallas... neither seems ideal.
- enticeing 7y agoBluebird Network has a datacenter in the Springfield Underground: https://bluebirdnetwork.com/data-center-services/ https://bluebirdnetwork.com/data-center-services/
- givehimagun 7y agoHow do they handle the exhaust from vehicles inside the mines? I've seen cases where they only allow electric vehicles with no exhaust inside facilities like this.
- Breza 7y agoJust like any large warehouse, they need an exhaust system to vent dangerous fumes.
- user5994461 7y agoFrom the bit of time I did working in warehouse software, all the indoors warehouses I've seen were exclusively using electric forklifts, specifically because gas/oil coulnd't be used because of the fumes.
- dredmorbius 7y agoLNG is also common.
- jessaustin 7y agoAround here they would use propane instead. OT: Recently the fire department called me because the carbon monoxide detector in one of my buildings alarmed. That was mysterious since in the summer the furnaces are not used. Eventually we discovered that the cleaning crew was using propane-driven buffers on the floor! We're not going to allow that anymore. It's a 6000 sq ft office that is mostly carpeted; they certainly don't need to use dangerous equipment that was designed for large buildings like sports stadiums.
- joezydeco 7y agoThat large open hole in the roof probably helps. See the video at 2:48.
- CloudCaveman 7y agoThey have exhaust fans in different parts of the underground that pull air from the entrances
- Breza 7y agoReminds me of the old limestone mine where federal employees still maintain a paper-based database system. Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2014/03/22/sinkhole-of-bureaucracy https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2014/03/22/sinkho...
- ptah 7y agoI wonder how much of this data got hacked and sold on dark web :) my guess is nil
- Aromasin 7y agoI wonder how much data can be processed compared to a modern "hackable" system? My guess is close to nil. How much of it gets lost? How much of the paper is duplicated for backups? How much time is spent looking through filling cabinets for relevant data? How is data transmitted - physically mailed, or faxed, or scanned and emailed, which is hackable anyway? There are costs to both practices.
- jacobush 7y agoHow much useful data hides forever "lost" in "big data".
- mulmen 7y agoI'm not sure I follow. Do you mean it's hard to find a single record out of many or that new insights can be discovered in aggregate? The former is simply not true, databases exist for this purpose. The latter seems obvious.
- jacobush 7y agoI mean, gathering all kinds of junk may make you loose sight of what you really are about. See for instance various self-criticism from within the three letter agencies, about how operational capabilities were lost in favour of hoovering up as much data as possible. Most of which is useless. When compiling and processing data is very painful, you make sure you compile and process the best data you can find. I'm not saying we should go back to clay tablets or anything. I'm just saying in any rapid technology transition, we risk loosing the good with the bad.
- nmeofthestate 7y agoMap here, giving you an idea of the size of the place: https://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/topic/25700-springfield-underground/ https://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/topic/25700-springfield-u...
- dmix 7y agoHe notes in the video there is no cellphone or radio but they do have internet coverage in most parts.
- TheRealPomax 7y agoMy only concern is the environmental cost of keeping all that air clean. And clean air itself, I suppose.
- gen3 7y agoI would imagine the energy used to push air in from the surface is significantly less then the impact that massive AC units have.
- dade_ 7y agoI think it was in Suarez's book 'Kill Decision' where they went to one of these facilities to try to hide from drones. Great book, but I didn't realize these facilities already existed.
- fitzroy 7y agoNot a business center, but if you ever get the chance to go to the The Wieliczka Salt Mine just outside of Krakow, Poland don't miss it — absolutely stunning (and easily accessible by local public transit). Supposedly, it was one of the Tolkien's inspirations for the mines in the Lord of the Rings. And because it's a salt mine, the air is very clean. They used to send asthma sufferers into the mines as a form of therapy.
- tim333 7y agoOoh fancy https://www.bezoekkrakau.nl/bezienswaardigheden-krakau/visit-the-wieliczka-salt-mine/ https://www.bezoekkrakau.nl/bezienswaardigheden-krakau/visit...
- pivo 7y agoI've been there, and if I remember correctly, what looks like glass on those chandaliers is actually salt crystals.
- dougmwne 7y agoIt's an experience for sure. We toured near closing time and ended up on our own tour with one of their historians. She was able to answer a lot of our engineering questions about the mine and their approach to preservation. A fun fact is that since the mine is made of salt, the rooms and passages twist and deform under pressure and humidity. The tour for the masses is light and saltysweet, but if you have the chance to visit try calling in advance to see if you can get a guide who can delve more deeply.
- madengr 7y agoThere is a salt mine in Kansas too, 600 feet underground. Neat tour. I seem to recall seeing a Cylon from the original Battlestar Galactica down there. https://www.underkansas.org/ https://www.underkansas.org/ Also a yearly midnight ride through limestone caverns, though I have not done that one yet.
- TACIXAT 7y agoThis is the direction I hope the Boring Company goes in. Since underground temperature is so well regulated, subterranean structures may have some good applications as climate change continues to progress.
- ape4 7y agoThe Springfield Underground - something The Simpsons didn't predict.
- quickthrower2 7y agoI was thinking this would be a great prop for a simpsons episode.
- quickthrower2 7y agoI wonder what protections they have for fire. Would it be too hard to escape? Maybe they rely on sprinklers.
- dead-insider 7y agoGod. When will chum bucket advertising go away? Why? Why put chum buckets anywhere? Why? All credibility is charred to a cinder by the chum bucket. I’m not reading any of this article because it tries to show me bikini tits and ass and vomit puddles that tell me I have a medical emergency. Sorry. Rot in hell, shitty news article. Fuck you.
- owenwil 7y agoThis seems like an incredibly good place for a data center, particularly given it already even comes with multiple fibre uplinks...and incredibly low temperatures.
- vonnieda 7y agoFun fact: Kansas City, MO is full of these caves. You can go play paintball and laser tag there: http://jaegers.com/ http://jaegers.com/
- cstrat 7y agoNo one has mentioned it here, but what is on the above ground side of these caverns? Is it national parkland or is it urban?
- jessaustin 7y agoIt's in town, but in a fairly open part of town: https://goo.gl/maps/aryzGANrp6Yjh35z8 https://goo.gl/maps/aryzGANrp6Yjh35z8
- js2 7y agoAn older article with some more details: https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/business/2015/03/16/springfield-underground-rare-vacancy/24834597/ https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/business/2015/03/16/s... It's about 5 million square feet, or 115 acres. An even larger facility is in Kansas City: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-02-04/welcome-to-subtropolis-the-business-complex-buried-under-kansas-city https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-02-04/welcome-t...