Pipeline Fire near Houston, TX 6

[StressGuy]

This was quite the hot topic for those of us in the Houston area yesterday:

La Porte Pipeline Explosion

It ended up being a case of an out of control car from the adjacent Wal-Mart parking lot drove into the right-of-way, crashed through the enclosure fence, and broke the line.

It made for an impressive sight. ABC News Video Story

I'm sure the pipeline companies are going to reevaluate how they secure these valve stations near populated areas. While street view shows that the right-of-way was pretty well protected by bollards and heavy fencing from the adjacent Spencer Highway, there really wasn't anything similar along the shopping center parking lot side.



Edward L. Klein
Pipe Stress Engineer
Houston, Texas

"All the world is a Spring"

All opinions expressed here are my own and not my company's.

 

[Oops409]

waross, your speeding ticket would be based upon posted or unposted speed limit, and not any GPS input. Determined by your local police district.

The fatter the software gets, and the quicker the turn around for implementation to customers beta testers, the more it contains.

 

[3DDave]

Yup. Go with manual spark advance and adjusting the points every week. No fancy electronic ignition or fuel injection. Use shoe brakes running on the outside of the steel rimmed wood wheels. If it was good enough for the previous 500 years, it's still good today - no flats, no blowouts, just a solidly jarring ride.

I had a similar power-steering problem when the engine stalled on a Buick Electra 225. In the middle of a slow turn and boom, took all my weight to get the wheel to turn. Can't trust carbureted engines and hydraulic automatic transmissions.

Maybe just give me a firebox and a shovel. That way I can use wood or roll coal. Just gotta keep an eye on the water level.

Nevemind. I'll walk. Can't trust technology for anything, though my left sandal is getting a bit worn.

 

[bones206]

The speed limit on my street is 20 mph but someone spray painted the sign to turn the 2 into an 8. My car’s heads up display always shows 80 mph after I pass that sign. So I think it’s camera-based technology, at least for that particular feature.

Any kind of tech is going to have problems and bugs. There’s no reason why those can’t be smoothed out over time. Same as any engineered system.

 

[LittleInch]

My AAC cruise control is normally great, but it can be fooled by e.g. a car slowing down in front of you to take a sharp turn off the highway. I know and can see that the car will be off my lane before I get there / I know I can change lane if needed.

The AAC doesn't know that and just sees a car that I'm about to crash into and promptly brakes hard. I then need to rapidly tap the brake to disable the AAC and keep driving with only a momentary loss of speed. But it can take you by surprise and ditto the person behind who sees you slowing down hard for no apparent reason.

Also it can miss motor cyclist's if they are not in the middle of the lane in front of me. They move over to see further ahead or drive past the car in front and it sees open space and accelerates towards the motorbike.

So nothing so far is anywhere near good enough to deal with all possible combinations of circumstances and auto devices which take control of the car are are very sharp double edged sword. IMHO.

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[Oops409]

3DDave, at least your are consistent with your sky is falling tirades!

I had a 1964 Buick lose power assist steering a long time ago. Hydraulic steering loss was not near as bad in those days, because recip ball steering designed for manual or power assist, so gear ratios much more favorable and steering wheels huge!

Problem is manufacture's buried control electronics inside steering rack which is harsh environment, and prone to liquid and heat issues and failure without warnings! Hydraulic systems provide some warning typically.

FYI, I learned port fuel injection day one on a 1981 Datsun and loved it and still deal with carbs. Fuel injection is great, I prefer it. Fuel injection failures I have experienced, never put me in a life or death situation, and always provided a warning to someone who has maintained, rebuilt, and custom modified off road autos for well over 50 years. A period in which lots of great technology has been inserted!

 

[3DDave]

Oops,

While you look up the definition of "tirate" also check satire.

 

[Oops409]

3DDave,

No need for me to look up satire, as I meant "tirades", but I mis-spelled it. Oops!

 

[waross]

No need for me to look up satire, as I meant "tirades", but I mis-spelled it. Oops!

Spall-Check strikes again. Gotta love technology (at any speed)! grin

--------------------
Ohm's law
Not just a good idea;
It's the LAW!

 

[3DDave]

Accidents happen when the automation is turned off or ignored.

 

[waross]

Accidents happen when the automation is turned off or ignored.

Tesla? Uber?

--------------------
Ohm's law
Not just a good idea;
It's the LAW!

 

[Oops409]

Accidents happen when the automation is turned off or ignored

Courtesy of an ARM Processor............

 

[Diserian]

Trust the computer, the computer is your friend.

Or as the old adage goes: "To err is human, to really fuck things up you need a computer."

 

[Oops409]

Trust the computer, the computer is your friend.

Or as the old adage goes: "To err is human, to really fuck things up you need a computer."

and a single point failure networked cloud architecture..............

 

[dik]

Why the left? Do you find yourself walking around in circles?

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[dik]

Oops... chicken little only has to be right once!

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[waross]

Why the left? Do you find yourself walking around in circles?

I am wondering if this is walking mostly north and south.
In the case of the locomotive running north and south and turned around at each end so to be always running forward, do not the left-hand wheels and flanges wear slightly more than the right-hand wheels and flanges?


--------------------
Ohm's law
Not just a good idea;
It's the LAW!

 

[3DDave]

It's not as worn out as this lame discussion. In truth the sandals I have are fine, 25 years old, bought from a liberal shoe source.

"I also have to turn off a bunch of so called electronic safety features everytime I start my wife's car. Cannot permamently disable."

Sounds like someone who doesn't know how things work or how to spell. I can see where a distrust of what isn't understood leads to fear and anxiety of change.

 

[Oops409]

dik...... If Chicken little just
bought 10 years worth of toilet paper, he may want to check to see if he still has the receipt.

Late on Thursday, 45,000 striking dockworkers at US East and Gulf coast ports agreed to return to work after port operators sweetened their contract offer, ending a three-day strike.

 

[3DDave]

Just look at where the prepper suppliers advertise. The viewers of that programming are the ones with the toilet paper filling their coal-rolling trucks.

 

[LittleInch]

Gents,

This thread has gone rather off topic - and I'm as much to blame as anyone - but can we avoid the name calling please. I have no idea what this Chicken Little and sandal thing is all about (and don't want to know), but suspect it isn't a compliment.

There is somewhere a debate about whether any sort of technology could really have prevented this incident. It goes into the 1 x10^-6 or less risk here for me which is just basically something you can't legislate for. If the car being driven was only 2m to one side or the other of this valve stem it would have missed, and probably killed more people by running into the adjacent playground, house or main road. The damage is extensive, but deaths limited to only the unfortunate driver.

Automation and control in cars can provide huge benefits - think anti lock brakes, anti wheel spin, suspension control, air bags etc. It's when it starts to take control to do things or not allow certain things that the issues start to arise.

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.