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Giant Concrete Arrows Across the American Landscape
- HCIdivision17 13y agoIs there any plausible reason such arrows would be broken up on purpose? In my mind, I would want more things like this to exist; large physical failsafe markers seem like a great idea.
- Sanddancer 13y agoThese arrows, probably not so much, as they are pretty much all in the middle of nowhere. However, general concrete recycling is useful because breaking up existing, unused concrete for works projects tends to be cheaper than, and is more environmentally friendly than, quarrying.
- HCIdivision17 13y agoAh, I did not know that. Thanks!
- javert 13y agoI don't get it. Doesn't concrete crack and break in a messy way? How could it be re-used?
- 286c8cb04bda 13y ago> How could it be re-used? To somewhat over-simplify, concrete is made from three things: Cement, large aggregate (big rocks), and small aggregate (little rocks). Broken up concrete works pretty well as large aggregate.
- javert 13y agoAwesome, thanks!
- mynameishere 13y agoEven modern pilots (without GPS) use rivers and highways. Why couldn't 1920s pilots use railroads?
- adaml_623 13y agoBut planes and pilots can take short cuts over mountains and terrain that railroads have to go around. Navigating these shorter routes might have been harder but would definitely be worth it in fuel and time savings
- jonah 13y agoAlso night time and all the roads looking the same after a while.
- Sanddancer 13y agoThe arrows and beacons were designed for night usage, where it's a lot harder to see railroad tracks. The arrows themselves seem to be much more the supplemental part of the system, to give a general idea where the next beacon's going to be.
- ChuckMcM 13y agoModern joke "What do you mean by IFR" it means "I follow Roads"
- jonah 13y agoWe had a tower with light in my town. We're right on the Pacific coast to the tower was inland and behind a hill so it couldn't be mistaken for a lighthouse by passing ships. The tower and shed are still there and are used for communication antennas.
- trafficlight 13y agoAll of the navigation beacons in Montana are still functioning. http://mthistoryrevealed.blogspot.com/2013/03/guiding-lights.html http://mthistoryrevealed.blogspot.com/2013/03/guiding-lights...
- jlgreco 13y ago> behind a hill so it couldn't be mistaken for a lighthouse by passing ships. I wonder why they didn't just put it on ship maps as an additional lighthouse.
- jedc 13y agoLighthouses are regularly used for navigation, so they need to have almost guaranteed up-time. Don't think that would always be the case for these particular kinds of lights.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- jaredandrews 13y ago> since navigation charts of the day were fugazi... OT but Fugazi is the name of one of my favorite bands. In interviews I had read that the word meant "a fucked up situation" but until now I had never seen it actually used that way. Interesting choice of words, interesting article too!
- jack-r-abbit 13y agoI also enjoy some Fugazi. I never knew what the name meant. After seeing it used in this article I had to look it up.
- toddmorey 13y agoI heard it used that way from growing up on Military posts. It just means any fucked up situation. I'm not sure it's known, but I was told it was made popular by troops in Vietnam. The most interesting theory I've seen is that it may derive from fougasse (“land mine”). All of that said, it makes one of the best band names ever.
- swalkergibson 13y agoMy understanding is that it is an acronym. Fucked Up, Got Ambushed, Zipped In.
- anxrn 13y agoA Google Maps collection of these. https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?source=gplus-ogsb&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=213732418950957933334.0004e1e9dedbfbfa2281f&dg=feature https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?source=gplus-ogsb&ie=UTF8&oe...
- dionidium 13y agoAny particular reason most of the locations on that map are in the West?
- phreanix 13y agoI wonder what semi permanent structures we are building now that future generations will be looking at in 80+ years and wondering about our archaic technology.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- dclusin 13y agoThe waste water storage tanks at the Fukushima nuclear plant will probably still be around and contaminated 80 years from now. Although I suspect that isn't exactly what you had in mind.
- sitkack 13y agoJust fill them with grain and have the birds eat it all. Problem gone.
- pessimizer 13y agoIf the problem was "How can I spread radiation throughout the environment?"
- madaxe 13y agoRelease a large number of cats to catch and eat the birds. Solved once and for all. ONCE AND FOR ALL.
- thinkalone 13y agoPossibly a lot of traffic structures, since vehicles and transportation may be largely computer-controlled by then, which would re-shape any related infrastructure that has "just made sense" to us in recent history
- kalleboo 13y agoGas stations?
- kghose 13y agoIf we had the government make concrete arrows like that today, they would be cracked into rubble in three years because the contractor cut as many corners as they could. (Sorry, My cynical, the past was so much better moment for today)
- patdennis 13y agoYeah! The g'ubment can't build anything right! Uses GPS system to get home
- stephengillie 13y agoSo they'd be round?
- reneherse 13y agoBut if the arrows only point east to west, how did the pilots make the return trip? ;)
- gdw2 13y agoThis one's pointing East... ? https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?source=gplus-ogsb&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=213732418950957933334.0004e1e9dedbfbfa2281f&ll=40.704617,-112.253657&spn=0.000836,0.002064&t=h&z=20&vpsrc=6&iwloc=0004e1e9e47c301dc9749&dg=feature https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?source=gplus-ogsb&ie=UTF8&oe...
- shabble 13y agoSee also: Satellite imaging test patterns[1] [1] http://www.clui.org/newsletter/winter-2013/photo-calibration-targets http://www.clui.org/newsletter/winter-2013/photo-calibration...
- callmeed 13y agoThis is so cool. I'm taking my kids on a road trip around the west soon. Does anyone know of other cool, historical things like this we could hunt for?
- lostlogin 13y agoThe link at the end to concrete recycling is fascinating - having demolished 100 ton of concrete and steel in the back yard in the last year, it sounds great to have a largely mess free system.
- duskwuff 13y agoUnfortunately, it's a student design concept, not an actual product. (This means there are likely to be major functional flaws in the design, as feasibility is generally not a consideration in these design competitions.)