My OperaSome History, April 17, 2001
Tuesday, November 30, 2010 3:33:04 PM
In a conversation last night with someone new to the neighborhood, it occurred to the editor that many people have not heard of the collapse of the Convention Center during construction. So the editor went to his old picture file, and found these:
The morning after, from 905 M Street:
And a bit later when the tower crane was put up to help with the deconstruction:
And what the still standing steel looked like about then:
That building on the right became Breakwells and then First Cup.
The editor found this referring to the mishap.
A few days later one of the steel workers was in Modern Liquors and said he'd seen such before. If the editor remembers correctly, it was something about the steel being put up first with some give so that when everything is hooked up the structure can be tightened into exact alignment. So there is a few day period between hookup and complete tightening. When it is not entirely tight, and there is a windstorm such that a resonant frequency (with more on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge) is hit, then problems can occur, even though they are rare. A short film on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge is here.
The morning after, from 905 M Street:
And a bit later when the tower crane was put up to help with the deconstruction:
And what the still standing steel looked like about then:
That building on the right became Breakwells and then First Cup.
The editor found this referring to the mishap.
A few days later one of the steel workers was in Modern Liquors and said he'd seen such before. If the editor remembers correctly, it was something about the steel being put up first with some give so that when everything is hooked up the structure can be tightened into exact alignment. So there is a few day period between hookup and complete tightening. When it is not entirely tight, and there is a windstorm such that a resonant frequency (with more on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge) is hit, then problems can occur, even though they are rare. A short film on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge is here.
