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Object Blocking Giant Tunnel Borer Was an 8" Diameter Pipe
An anonymous reader writes "A few weeks ago we discussed news that a tunnel boring machine measuring 57.5 feet in diameter was halted underneath Seattle after running into a mysterious object. Project engineers have now figured out what the object is: an 8-inch-diameter pipe. In 2002, researchers for another project — the replacement of the Alaskan Way viaduct — drilled down into the ground to take water samples. They used the 115-ft-long pipe as a well casing. As it turns out, this well site was listed in the contract specifications given to all bidders for the tunnel's construction. In addition, the crew manning the machine noticed that it was chewing up pieces of metal, and they removed part of the pipe and kept going. Only later did they realize that significant damage had been done to the machine's cutting face. Officials aren't sure how long repairs will take, or how much they will cost."
... Big Bertha’s blockage did indeed hit the press, but the media chose to emphasize nonsensical speculation rather than serious discussion. Of course a boring machine like Bertha would not be stymied by a wooden boat, or a rock of any size, or pig iron from a ship’s boiler. Even mankind’s hardened metals, in use today, would eventually melt from the continuous friction, and give way. The decision to withhold this from the news was made at a high level, and in keeping with the ongoing cover-up over the alien presence. Some other excuse will be proffered, involving a failure in Bertha’s bore head, while the humming box encountered is quietly extracted or simply disappears. This attempt to gain traction on disclosure, enlightening mankind, failed, once again, due to the grip the cover-up over the alien presence has in the US.
http://www.zetatalk.com/ning/04ja2014.htm
Even recent stuff tends not to be recorded in a nice way, like a computerized 3d model that can be used to keep all the data in one place and plan excavations.
This incident is more than a little surprising given the proliferation of geospatial information systems, which Seattle has. Of course it doesn't matter if the data exists if you don't use it.
What is Geospatial Information?
Geospatial information is information describing the location and names of features beneath, on or above the earth's surface. At its simplest this can mean the basic topographical information found on a map, but also includes different location-related datasets combined into complex layers that show information such as land use and population density.
Geospatial information supports a wide range of business, government and community activities, and the use and re-use of this information has significant productivity-related benefits.
The terms "geospatial information", "spatial information" and "location-based information" are often used interchangeably.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell