• The Great Walls of America: Some idiot designs a tornado barrier
    91 replies, posted
i support this so i can finally live in ba sing se
he just wants to LARP game of thrones
[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;44171005]A one hundred mile long, thousand-foot tall wall made out of glass doesn't sound ridiculous to you?[/QUOTE] The idea of a wall to break up wind pattern's isn't ridiculous, but the price tag is. Midwest is getting raped by tornadoes, they kill thousands of people and cause insane amounts of damage. If something were designed that was that large and beautiful, especially if it was functional, would be a wonder of the modern world.
If Americans didn't build their houses out of paper then this wouldn't be a problem.
[QUOTE=katbug;44170949]I don't see what's so ridiculous about this idea. [editline]8th March 2014[/editline] and also calling it before it happens: The newly discovered wikipedia meterologists are going to swoop in and pretend they're experts on weather due to copy-paste.[/QUOTE] So if it [B]would[/B] block tornadoes, that would have no effect on other weather? Come on.
[QUOTE=katbug;44171403]The idea of a wall to break up wind pattern's isn't ridiculous, but the price tag is. Midwest is getting raped by tornadoes, they kill thousands of people and cause insane amounts of damage. If something were designed that was that large and beautiful, especially if it was functional, would be a wonder of the modern world.[/QUOTE] As somebody who lives in an area regularly hammered by tornadoes, I'm totally on the ball about how frightening and dangerous they are. This is a ridiculous solution, however. The key to minimizing deaths and damage from tornadoes is tornado-resistant engineering in homes and businesses. Lower building profiles, and extend additional stories down instead of up. Building down is somewhat more expensive, but it is extremely practical, and one of the best and simplest solutions to tornadoes. The highest numbers of deaths from these storm systems occur in areas with light housing on non-permanent foundations, meaning no basements or storm shelters. People have nowhere to go, short of evacuating the city (which they often don't have time to do), and so they don't have much other choice but to squat in the bathtub and hope the tornado misses them. It is so much more practical to build subterranean structures than some massive goofy wall. Even if it isn't economically feasible to "sink" [I]every[/I] building, simply having accesible community shelters for neighborhoods, shopping centers, and businesses to help weather the big storms would be considerably more realistic and cost-effective than a hundred mile long, thousand foot tall glass structure.
So like this? [img_thumb]http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130703034943/pacificrim/images/1/1b/Kaiju_Wall_Under_Construction.jpg[/img_thumb]
[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;44171005]A one hundred mile long, thousand-foot tall wall made out of glass doesn't sound ridiculous to you?[/QUOTE] That's...irrelevant? As long as it works, that's all that matters. I don't know if this would work though, but I'm not sure what a tornado would do when it comes upon a wall so damn high.
[QUOTE=Scotty.;44171510]If Americans didn't build their houses out of paper then this wouldn't be a problem.[/QUOTE] Not really, that just makes it more expensive to replace the buildings after they're destroyed, and more likely to kill someone on the way down.
[QUOTE=be;44171572]That's...irrelevant? As long as it works, that's all that matters. I don't know if this would work though, but I'm not sure what a tornado would do when it comes upon a wall so damn high.[/QUOTE] Even if it works, it's a ridiculous and inefficient solution that would require one of the most extreme feats of engineering in human history to pull off. Or, we could just start making more intelligently designed infrastructures, with storm-resistant buildings and community storm shelters.
Artist concept: [t]http://images.eurogamer.net/2013/articles//a/1/5/5/9/1/7/3/city0.png[/t]
[QUOTE=Rika-chan;44170419]Gotta keep the titans out somehow[/QUOTE] yeah doubles as kaiju counter measure
The thing that makes a tornado extend thousands of feet up. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/wsQkZad.jpg[/IMG] I can't help but feel this wall would be nothing more than a minor inconvenience. Even if it did cause an active tornado to dissipate, it would just reform once the storm passed the wall.
[quote]Rather than create an eyesore, the walls could be "attractively" designed, says Prof Tao. He cites the Comcast skyscraper in Philadelphia - also about 300m high, and built with a reinforced glass exterior. "Our tornado wall could even be built of glass too. It could be a beautiful landmark," he told BBC News.[/quote] [B]Premium materials.[/B] [t]http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/51f6afd9eab8ea7547000000-1200/steve-jobs-was-saying-things-like-incredibly-great-back-in-1985.jpg[/t]
I wanted to stay dry on the walk to work in the event of rain, so I built a massive tunnel system from my home to my office. My friends are such suckers for just using [I]umbrellas.[/I]
-snip- ninja'd
[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;44170553]The only method to prevent tonradoes from doing mass destruction is to design buildings into hills. [img]http://www.simondale.net/images/front.jpg[/img] Having a building like this setup where most of the living quarters are on the lower level, and any upper levels are fortified under dirt would protect against tornadoes to a certain degree.[/QUOTE] Isn't it not even to a certain degree, more like 99%? There's nothing for any strong winds to grip onto here. Houses are large sails by comparison.
[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;44171713]I wanted to stay dry on the walk to work in the event of rain, so I built a massive tunnel system from my home to my office. My friends are such suckers for just using [I]umbrellas.[/I][/QUOTE] If rain was able to kill you and destroy homes then yes this would be a logical thing to do [editline]8th March 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=OvB;44171643]The thing that makes a tornado extend thousands of feet up. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/wsQkZad.jpg[/IMG] I can't help but feel this wall would be nothing more than a minor inconvenience. Even if it did cause an active tornado to dissipate, it would just reform once the storm passed the wall.[/QUOTE] Looks to me like the wall would make it so that the wind would be unable to meet with wind going the opposite way, am I wrong? It seems like I am because of how high these winds are, but maybe the wall would have a big effect regardless?
[QUOTE=be;44171771]Looks to me like the wall would make it so that the wind would be unable to meet with wind going the opposite way, am I wrong?[/QUOTE] That action would take place ~9000 feet above the wall. The wall would do very little to stop the actual mesocyclone from forming elsewhere and moving across it.
I go to the university this guy is from and have heard his name once in a blue moon from people who had him as an instructor for a course or just in general. Let's just say that, from what i've heard, i have no idea how this guy is still employed here.
If anything all it would stop is the surface level winds from getting sucked into the updraft. But all that would do is slow a formation of a mesocyclone if I understand it right. Unless the storm is forming near the wall it won't stop anything. If the mesocyclone is already formed and the tornado already active, it's not going to do much. Wall would basically be useless and might even be more of a hassle than tornadoes. To save lives it would have to be in or near a city, which means you have a massive shadow and no wind. Or if you're on the side where wind is hitting the wall, it might even encourage updrafts. I imagine the wind would be crazy near it. It would also probably make low altitude air traffic a hassle and mess up animal migration. If it's made of glass it might act as a lens and focus sunlight causing possible fire hazard to people living near it. Glass would break and need repairing/cleaning. /uneducated speculation.
[QUOTE=Viva;44171888]I go to the university this guy is from and have heard his name once in a blue moon from people who had him as an instructor for a course or just in general. Let's just say that, from what i've heard, i have no idea how this guy is still employed here.[/QUOTE] Tenure! Although I can't find anything on google as to whether or not he actually has tenure. [editline]8th March 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=OvB;44171897]If anything all it would stop is the surface level winds from getting sucked into the updraft. But all that would do is slow a formation of a mesocyclone if I understand it right. Unless the storm is forming near the wall it won't stop anything. If the mesocyclone is already formed and the tornado already active, it's not going to do much. Wall would basically be useless and might even be more of a hassle than tornadoes. To save lives it would have to be in or near a city, which means you have a massive shadow and no wind. Or if you're on the side where wind is hitting the wall, it might even encourage updrafts. I imagine the wind would be crazy near it. It would also probably make low altitude air traffic a hassle and mess up animal migration. If it's made of glass it might act as a lens and focus sunlight causing possible hard and fire hazard to people living near it. Glass would break and need repairing/cleaning. /uneducated speculation.[/QUOTE] I wonder how much water would condense on its surface.
Or, and here's a radical idea, [I]stop living in fucking tornado alley[/I]. Seriously, every year we hear about 'x millions of dollars in property damage', so why the hell do they keep going back to do it again?
[QUOTE=Irespawnoften;44172008]Or, and here's a radical idea, [I]stop living in fucking tornado alley[/I]. Seriously, every year we hear about 'x millions of dollars in property damage', so why the hell do they keep going back to do it again?[/QUOTE] [IMG_thumb]http://i.imgur.com/Aczlvc6.jpg[/IMG_thumb] Because we can't all fit in the desert of Nevada or the Rocky Mountains.
The idea of it being made from glass makes me imagine the tornado ripping through it and now not only do you have a tornado fucking up the street but a tornado with millions of glass shards flying everywhere.
[QUOTE=OvB;44172023][IMG_thumb]http://i.imgur.com/Aczlvc6.jpg[/IMG_thumb] Because we can't all fit in the desert of Nevada or the Rocky Mountains.[/QUOTE] Well shit. I knew we got a lot of tornados here, but I didn't think we had that many. Shit, I've never even seen a tornado. Lets get building bunkers then.
[QUOTE=Kazumi;44171249][img]http://i.imgur.com/FlODO8y.jpg[/img] ???[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=shian;44171567]So like this? [img_thumb]http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130703034943/pacificrim/images/1/1b/Kaiju_Wall_Under_Construction.jpg[/img_thumb][/QUOTE] [QUOTE=CrimsonChin;44171624]Artist concept: [t]http://images.eurogamer.net/2013/articles//a/1/5/5/9/1/7/3/city0.png[/t][/QUOTE] Sensationalist Headlines: Post your favorite big walls from fiction edition.
no matter how inefficient it would be, you gotta admit it'd look cool as shit
If they did manage to start building it, wouldn't the scaffolding or whatever they are using to build it be blown away by a tornado before they got a chance to finish it?
[QUOTE=Ithon;44170387]More realistic to shoot bombs into tornados. And that idea is crazy.[/QUOTE] Sharknado was such a realistic and awesome movie. Best way to stop tornadoes ever. :V
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