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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsStructural Engineer: The WALL is busted!
Fascinating read analyzing the flaws in Trumps wall(s). President-expert-on-everything-in-Chief hasnt addressed any engineering or environmental issues, and there are many, not to mention technology that will make the wall obsolete before it is finished. The WALL is busted!
Breaking News: Structural engineer Amy Patrick rips gigantic crater into Trumps wall.
Link to tweet
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,564 posts)JDC
(10,152 posts)Makes this feel a little less engineer-y to me. I gotta be honest.
Botany
(70,657 posts)The North American Jaguar
The Mexican Grey Wolf
The Desert Bighorn Sheep
Butterflies
and many other parts of the areas native ecology would be hammered by that stupid wall
radical noodle
(8,018 posts)Let's be fair. It does mess with a lot of stuff, and only a person knowledgeable about that kind of science would be able to detail it properly. Most folks don't even think of the ecological damage.
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)JDC
(10,152 posts)of a wall expert? This is just more feel-good that you are on the right side of the issue. Was there something in this post that was relevatory for you? Eco impact, check. Can build a ladder to get over it, check. It will cost more that estimated, check.
She forgot the incalculable costs associated with eminent domain land grabs. But we should probably wait for the Facebook post blowing crater sized holes in the wall from a real estate agent for that. But only if that agent repeats several times that they have sold property before. Because when folks need land sellin', they call them in. Maybe tomorrow.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)try to address social, legal and environmental issues in detail? It's a layman-level summary of structural issues, which do involve environmental concerns. Not everyone's as informed as you are.
shanny
(6,709 posts)you know, easy to understand terms w/o getting into the technical weeds that will just pass people by? (as engineers are known to do, at least in my experience)
JDC
(10,152 posts)shanny
(6,709 posts)And if you are concerned about her bona fides, why not look her up?
JDC
(10,152 posts)My point is that her engineering background has no relevance to what she is saying. Anyone could have said that and we would have all said "yes, that's right" Eco, Costs, ladder, etc etc. how about a general contractor? Maybe an front loader or grader operator? They understand flooding, cost overruns, environmental impact.
Which point changed your mind? Or does it just make us feel better because of the engineering background - "Now our wall argument has merit because an engineer says so." This just reinforces what we already think. Those points matter not to those opposed - most certainly not because she has a forensic structural background. Were we worried about the wall falling down?
I think you underestimate the general public who do realize that the impact would/could be significant on many, many levels not the least of which were cost/overruns and the eco-system of the border lands/waters. The folks who want the wall don't care. At all.
Sorry if I offended, it was not my intent.
ProfessorGAC
(65,427 posts)I had the same initial concerns, but went "general public" as others mentioned.
The one piece in her article that was not necessarily obvious is WHY the cost would grossly overrun.
And if this WAS written for the average person, then I think she did well.
Let's get a rebuttal from Trump's engineering team.
I'll just be over here, waiting.
well-played
sl8
(14,037 posts)Overall, I thought it was an interesting piece with plenty of good points, but the 'it messes with" stuck out like a sore thumb to me. I don't think I could have gotten away with that in a junior high paper. Then again, I'm old.
tanyev
(42,677 posts)If you just want it for show, and to funnel money to cronies, then $5.7 billion is a pretty good haul.
WePurrsevere
(24,259 posts)Someone shared it in the Twitter comments...
https://m.facebook.com/3002882/posts/10100902776405671/
Maeve
(42,312 posts)If I get any complaints, I will suggest they go to her FB page and explain why they know more about walls than she does.
BlueJac
(7,838 posts)no wall ever! TY
sl8
(14,037 posts). 3) The prototypes they came up with are nearly impossible to build or dont actually do the job. This article explains more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.engineering.com/amp/17599.html
[Which redirects to https://www.engineering.com/BIM/ArticleID/17599/Writing-on-the-Wall-Report-Suggests-Border-Project-Is-Off-Track-and-Over-Budget.aspx
Writing on the Wall: Report Suggests Border Project Is Off-Track and Over Budget]
And so on. The estimates provided for the cost are arrived at unreasonably. You can look for yourself at the two-year-old estimate that you see everyone citing. http://fronterasdesk.org/sites/default/files/field/docs/2016/07/Bernstein-%20The%20Trump%20Wall.pdf
...
Martin Eden
(12,887 posts)Dems need to be pointing this out.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)The Blue Flower
(5,451 posts)This is about doing the bidding of Putin and bringing the US government and its people to their knees.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)shanny
(6,709 posts)although he is no doubt enjoying it. This is a vanity project: "The Great Wall of Trump".
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)WH leaks say Trump is terrified of losing their support. Post-WH prison seems quite possible if they turn on him.
As for Putin "no doubt enjoying it," fur sure. My guess is his aides include even the most ridiculous stuff in his morning briefings to get his day off to a good start.
scarytomcat
(1,706 posts)slit of hand, misdirection to keep us off balance
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)riverbendviewgal
(4,255 posts)With friends, family and MSN. MSNBC, CNN. Print it and put on walls where people can see.
Yavin4
(35,455 posts)The wall is designed to make certain White people feel protected. That is its purpose.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)a bigoted neighbor from building a giant spite fence would you rather try by presenting accusations of bigotry to the city council or would it be helpful to point to text and/or intent of building codes it would violate?
I loved hearing Nancy Pelosi state right out that it was a moral issue, but that's hardly the only issue. It's not even the only important one. Happily, there are many. So many even a Republican-controlled congress with a wall-ranting electoral base wouldn't pass it.
Yavin4
(35,455 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)It's good to have right on our side in many ways. As we do.
UniteFightBack
(8,231 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Another article from the engineering.com website linked in this article. This is just technology available right now, not what's coming, but frankly the "invisible wall" is potentially a lot scarier than one we can climb over. We must get liberals and others devoted to the rights of the people in control of government.
Currently, there are more than 12,000 remote sensors buried along the border and three radar-enabled towers that can track people from up to 7 miles away. Both systems are linked with centralized cameras, so that any disturbances can be monitored by Border Patrol agents in a centralized location. Agents should be able to pick up on disturbances, monitor them for their level of threat, and only leave their locations to deal with actual attempted border-crossings. CBP also has a small fleet of Predator drones that enable the agency to photograph huge swathes of the border from the air.
Remote sensors are particularly useful in the Rio Grande Valley section of the border, where protected natural parks prevent border agents from clearing dense foliage around the border. Manuel Padilla Jr., the Border Patrol sector chief for the area, told the New York Times that more sensors are necessary to secure the area: In the absence of being able to get in there, we need to be able to see whats going on so we can catch drug trafficking and other activity before those who are doing it reach cities in the region.
As heavy-tech as the areas between crossings are, the invisible wall becomes even stronger at the areas around authorized crossings. At crossover points like the one in Hidalgo, Texas, automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) take photos of the license plates, cars and drivers of border-crossing cars, which are then run through a database that holds information about criminal records and immigration law violations. Even if the search doesnt trigger an alert, the information the ALPR collects is stored in the database, giving Border Patrol officials a complete record of who has crossed the border, and when.
But perhaps the most advanced use of border security technology may be used far away from the border: the use of biometric information at airports. U.S. Customs and Border Protections Biometric Air Exit program takes travelers' biometric information as they leave the United States by air. In 2004, CBP developed a program that uses fingerprints for biometric identification, and its currently developing and expanding a facial recognition program. These programs are implemented in partnership with airlines. And the Goodlatte-McCaul bill, which is currently making its way through Congress, would expand the use of biometric information even further, allowing CBP to take biometric information from everyone leaving the U.S.
At the 2016 Annual Border Security Expo in San Antonio, FLIR Systems sales rep Bryan Block jokingly told VICE, I'd tell Mr. Trump we can build him a walla radar wall, of 360-degree radar surveillance. Today, that invisible wall is looking less and less like a joke.
https://www.engineering.com/BIM/ArticleID/16775/Border-Walls-Get-Teched-Out.aspx?e_src=relart