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Conversely the fact that it was such a late change means it was poorly engineered. engineering as a discipline means understanding your problem space and creati

by somat 4y ago

Conversely the fact that it was such a late change means it was poorly engineered. engineering as a discipline means understanding your problem space and creating a well formed solution to it, if you have last minute changes that means you did not understand your problem space well enough. Perfectly understandable in this case, that construction technique was really cutting edge, and the change has been born out by the real acid test of engineering, it has stood for this long.

sacrosancty 4y ago
TFA suggests Bartholdi may have made the changes after Eiffel left the project to fit more with his own artistic vision. That's not poor engineering, just maybe change of leadership and direction of the project.
- somat 4y ago
  That is extremely poor engineering, an inherent problem with good engineering is that any change tends to provoke a need to reevaluate much of the design. this is expensive and slow. So the design change gets pushed without the rest of the engineering processes that should have accompanied it and now you have critical sections that are poorly engineered. In the software world we call this "technical dept"
NickRandom 4y ago
Your comment is not inaccurate. According to the almighty wikipedia, during a 1986 survey of the statue.. [1] Careful study had revealed that the right arm had been improperly attached to the main structure. It was swaying more and more when strong winds blew and there was a significant risk of structural failure. In addition, the head had been installed 2 feet (0.61 m) off center, and one of the rays was wearing a hole in the right arm when the statue moved in the wind. The armature structure was badly corroded, and about two percent of the exterior plates needed to be replaced.[138] Although problems with the armature had been recognized as early as 1936, when cast iron replacements for some of the bars had been installed, much of the corrosion had been hidden by layers of paint applied over the years.[139] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty (Renovation and rededication 1982–2000)
- miniwark 4y ago
  There is also the Black Tom explosion by German spy in 1917 how have badly damaged the right arm because of the earthquake it had created. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Tom_explosion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Tom_explosion

by somat 4y ago

sacrosancty 4y ago

TFA suggests Bartholdi may have made the changes after Eiffel left the project to fit more with his own artistic vision. That's not poor engineering, just maybe change of leadership and direction of the project.

somat 4y ago
That is extremely poor engineering, an inherent problem with good engineering is that any change tends to provoke a need to reevaluate much of the design. this is expensive and slow. So the design change gets pushed without the rest of the engineering processes that should have accompanied it and now you have critical sections that are poorly engineered. In the software world we call this "technical dept"

NickRandom 4y ago

Your comment is not inaccurate. According to the almighty wikipedia, during a 1986 survey of the statue.. [1] Careful study had revealed that the right arm had been improperly attached to the main structure. It was swaying more and more when strong winds blew and there was a significant risk of structural failure. In addition, the head had been installed 2 feet (0.61 m) off center, and one of the rays was wearing a hole in the right arm when the statue moved in the wind. The armature structure was badly corroded, and about two percent of the exterior plates needed to be replaced.[138] Although problems with the armature had been recognized as early as 1936, when cast iron replacements for some of the bars had been installed, much of the corrosion had been hidden by layers of paint applied over the years.[139] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty (Renovation and rededication 1982–2000)

miniwark 4y ago
There is also the Black Tom explosion by German spy in 1917 how have badly damaged the right arm because of the earthquake it had created. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Tom_explosion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Tom_explosion