[TowerTalk] Sinking Tower, A Question

[VR2BrettGraham]

N4ZR commented:

>When I lived in Hong Kong in the mid-1960's, the colony's pride and joy was
>the new Ocean Terminal, combining docking for cruise ships with a
>multi-story shopping deck that was mounted above the pier on separate
>columns footed in bedrock.  Imagine the engineers' surprise when they
>realized that the headroom on the pier was diminishing about 6 inches a
>year, as the shopping deck drove its way inexorably down into the bedrock
>(which turned out to be crumbly, decomposed granite).
>
>Not to say that we shouldn't try to anticipate problems and make
>appropriate allowances, but sometimes best efforts fall short.  I think
>Ford has the right idea -- measure what's happening, and if the base is
>indeed sinking, figure out how to spread the load more broadly.  That's
>what they did in HongKong -- put in additional columns.

Unfortunately, it worked - Ocean Terminal remains high & dry... well past the
time that a typical structure here is demolished & redeveloped as the property
market dictates what is built in the first place isn't built as it should 
have been.

New concern is our new airport.  For the moment, some arrivals may seem
like you landed in Macau, but before too long one will hope for flotation 
devices
to be fitted to the 747-400 that brought you here (mandatory if you fly CI 
- or is
that landing gear on top of the fuselage? ;^).

Between Mexico City & HK reclamation practices, one cannot be too careful
about the soil your tower base is sunk into.  Ocean Terminal, like much of
built-up HK, is on reclaimed land.  Bad news!

73, VR2BrettGraham


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