Posted on Tuesday September 29th by The Infrastructurist | 131
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- A rash of mysterious water main breaks in LA has caused localized flooding and even a street cave in. City engineers are wondering if recent water restrictions are to blame. (NYT)
- States stand to lose $9 billion in federal funds when the current transportation bill expires… tomorrow. California has $800 million on the line. If the money isn’t restored, projects will have to be shut down. (WSJ)
- An op-ed in the NY Times calls for peace between cyclists and pedestrians, who today share a narrow walkway on the Brooklyn Bridge. Ban bikes on the walkway, but create new bike lanes on the roadway, says the author. “The liveability revolution has begun,” he declares. (NYT)
- Hydrogen cars–those things that will never exist in useful form–can now go faster than ever. Recently one went 300 mph in the desert. Very, very exciting stuff. (Inhabitat)
- What would the Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building, look like if it was plunked down in middle of Manhattan? Well, a big ugly too-tall building in the middle of Manhattan, actually. See above. (Ethan Bee via Kottke)
- So, um, how do wash the windows on a hideous skyscraper in the middle of the desert with lots of sandstorms and stuff? Brave guys with water canons do it, dangling from the side of the structure. Video after the jump. (Youtube via Gizmodo)
Warning: The soundtrack and pop-up caption are both a little grating.
September 29th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
What WAS that guy doing in the video? Seriously, I couldn’t see what he was talking about…
September 30th, 2009 at 4:23 am
Mmmmm. Job security.
September 30th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Maybe it’s just me, but I think the Burj Manhattan looks kind of neat… and I’m dearly tempted to quit my job and take on work as a window cleaner in Dubai.
October 1st, 2009 at 9:30 pm
It’s not that you can’t build a hydrogen car, it’s that:
(1) there is no natural source of hydrogen, so you have to manufacture it;
(2) as an intermediate fuel, it has terrible properties, because it’s a pain in the neck to store, refueling is hard, and it had a tendency to both escape and explode.
If hydrogen occurred naturally, (2) would be irrelevant; if it were a good intermediate fuel (the way electricity is), (1) would be irrelevant. As it is, hydrogen cars aren’t impossible, they’re just *pointless*.