October 26, 2005
Occupational hazard
"The steamship Bethelridge northbound through the canal on August 7, 1924, went ashore in Gatun lake, when the master, who was under the influence of liquor, took the wheel and, disregarding the advice of the pilot, steered the ship out of the channel and into shallow water. The damage to the ship was estimated as $621, including tug hire."
Busy; not interesting enough to blog about (yet). Use this opportunity as an open thread.
Posted by coyu at October 26, 2005 02:33 PMDid I ever tell you that when my brother was in the Navy, he was at the helm of his refueling ship when it went through the Suez Canal? This being a guy who never met a mailbox he didn't ding with his car. Anyway, he said it was nerve-wracking, as the clearance on either side of the ship was measured in a few feet at most, and of course, all the navigation was done on a computer screen. I can't admit to my little brother that I find this impossibly cool.
Posted by: Carrie at October 26, 2005 05:01 PMDo you remember when Conrad Hodson was going on about how the lock machinery and whatnot for the Panama Canal could not be built today?
Did that turn out to be true? I remember I was deeply skeptical.
Doug M.
Some of the gates to the locks are freaking ginormous, and might not be designed or fabricated the same way today. Or, if need be, purpose-built foundries would be used, though I suspect large enough facilities exist in east Asia.
Posted by: Carlos at October 27, 2005 07:41 PMChecking McCullough, the gates are actually designed like aircraft wings, a "skin" of steel plate over girders. So, no.
Posted by: Carlos at October 28, 2005 12:02 AM