THE WISE MAN AND THE
FOOLISH MAN*
FOOLISH MAN*
The
wise man built upon a rock, the foolish built on sand.
wise man built upon a rock, the foolish built on sand.
The
bible’s lesson: on sand, the structure will not stand.*
bible’s lesson: on sand, the structure will not stand.*
Clay,
it’s weaker than the sand, and, it’s prone to collapse,
it’s weaker than the sand, and, it’s prone to collapse,
And
yet, at Muskrat Falls, clay planned as Churchill trap.**
yet, at Muskrat Falls, clay planned as Churchill trap.**
A
natural ridge with clay to impede the Churchill flow?
natural ridge with clay to impede the Churchill flow?
A
natural dam with quick clay – part collapsed decades ago!
natural dam with quick clay – part collapsed decades ago!
No
mention in the bible of the man that built on clay:
mention in the bible of the man that built on clay:
Such
building is foolhardy, maybe doesn’t need to say.
building is foolhardy, maybe doesn’t need to say.
The
planners! The politicos! Muskrat confidence spray,
planners! The politicos! Muskrat confidence spray,
That
engineered solutions will ensure the clay to stay.
engineered solutions will ensure the clay to stay.
Independent
engineers have questions on the build:
engineers have questions on the build:
Expertise
dismissed – their fears have not been stilled!
dismissed – their fears have not been stilled!
Dam
builders ignore the parable – ancient common sense.
builders ignore the parable – ancient common sense.
Their
dam wisdom braying: build – spare no expense.
dam wisdom braying: build – spare no expense.
Willful
ignorance fits the bill, perhaps they ought to pray?
ignorance fits the bill, perhaps they ought to pray?
And
those below the dam in Mud Lake and Goose Bay
those below the dam in Mud Lake and Goose Bay
Should
pray with extra fervour that lives won’t wash away.
pray with extra fervour that lives won’t wash away.
John
Tuach
Tuach
January
23, 2016
23, 2016
*
from Matthew 7:24-27:
from Matthew 7:24-27:
….. a wise man, which built his
house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds
blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a
rock.
house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds
blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a
rock.
…. a foolish man, which built
his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the
winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of
it.
his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the
winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of
it.
As kids, in the 1950s, we sang a song about that, with hand motions indicating the falling rain, in a church next door, operated by Gospel preachers. In the 1970s I bought the old abandoned church, it still stands. It had a concrete perimeter shallow depth foundation, now slightly tipped. The roof was sheet aluminum. The siding a eastern white pine. The structure was shipped in from Ontario,in sections maybe, and assembled on site. Vent holes in the concrete has preserved the wood floor extremely well. They seem to have followed the engineering principles of that song, and never build on sand nor mud.
Gil Bennett made comparisons of MF with the pyramids of Egypt.
The great pyramid was over 700 ft square and a variation of just 2 inches on the length, about 480 ft high, the biggest stones 80 ton, transported from 500 miles away by boat. Estimated 14,000 workers 10 years. The base was within 1/2 inch of being level over than nearly 800 by 800 ft base.
By muons (a small particle) from outer space, they have just confirmed another cavity within being about 100 ft long, but inaccessable.
I speculate the pyramids was a place of refuge, for the select few, in case of another Great Flood, as of Noah's day, and as our leaders had underground bunkers in case of nuclear war.
Wooden ships, 140 ft long, have been discovered buried in cavaties outside the pyramids, one was preserved and reassembled. The pyramids had ventilation shafts, and appears to me, drainage shafts to 100ft below the base. I bet the humidity at the upper chambers is much dryer than the lower pit.
It has stood for over 4000 years. An outer shell of limestome rock was largely later lost from an earthquake, and taken to build mosques elsewhere.
Engineers and architects still wonder how they constructed this without modern method. To split off the great slabs of stone, they used wooden wedges, then wet them to cause expansion which would split the rock.
How long will the "stabilized" North Spur last?
The foolish man built upon the sand………what describes a person building on mud?
I have been reminded of the childhood song since Cabot Martin focused on the risk of quick clay.
Keep composing John…love your pieces.
Winston Adams
The pyramds’ limestone outer surfaces were burnt to make quicklime which was used to make cement and mortar for building mosques and a gazillion other structures. Here the cement plant in Corner Brook continued the lime kiln process using good old Newfoundland limestone. It only works one way, so there is no chance the concrete at MF can be converted back to anything useful.
I wonder if The Bard can work minisplit and attic into a poem?
Is that you Bruno? But Bruno usually is not anonymous
Guess you could say the pyramid builders were really world class. At Muskrat they used water at the base of the form work that helped warp the boards that helped the form to collapse! Imagine Dunderdale and Ed Martin if they had sanctioned the pyramids …….if MF was world class engineering, they no doubt would claim the pyramids as cosmic class.
PF
Some Western views on cheap electrical energy. Mention of Romaine and Muskrat. Examples of traditional remote expensive hydro generation and long transmission lines.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/energy-electricity-cost-1.4428048
This is an excellent summary of the renewable revolution that is reducing cost and dooming large remote generation projects. It points to the disaster faced by rate/taxpayers paying for ill conceived take or pay regulatory decisions that will leave consumers paying for these bad decisions by government for years. Sadly for NL the MF scam will cost and cost for 57 years!
The last line sums up the sad tale,"But during that long transition, for Canadian taxpayers, adapting to low-cost power may be an expensive proposition."
Good idea for the bard but it was not I making the suggestion.
Winston the boats they found near the pyramids were used by the tradesmen in voyages to get copper for toolmaking. This corrects the myth that slaves built them. They were trusted and valued craftsmen. The boats were assembled for each journey then unassembled and stored when they returned!