Engineering and Technology
View allAll Photos Tagged Engineering,
Mingus Mill, on the North Carolina side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is a prime example of late 19th century engineering efficiency.
While nearly all mills have a millrace (seen here) channeling water from a stream to a mill-wheel, this mill channels the water into a penstock, which is a tall shaft of water maintained at a constant pressure to turn a turbine at the end of a pipe at the base of the shaft. The turbine is attached to the grinding stones; and, in this case, generates about 11hp at 400 rpm - pretty solid for its day!
The turbine is more efficient than a water wheel, which typically sits in water itself and has some back-pressure, and significant losses in the turn cycle.
The mill was an important hub in frontier life. Typically, families would bring their grains on Saturday for the miller to ground into flour. The miller would take a portion as payment (typically around 1/8) and might sell it to other users or customers who were conducting other bartering business in the nearby open spaces.
This mill, on the Mingus Creek, was built in 1886 and operated daily until 1930s when the NPS bought the land to make this Great Smoky Mountains NP. The NPS restored the mill to operational status in 1968, and it is used to demonstrate frontier life to visitors daily. While it is still fully functional, the grain milled here can not be sold for consumption because the resulting flour has been touched by so many tourists that it cannot be USDA approved.
Select Fine Art prints of this and other images can be purchased at bit.ly/ProPeak
The Falkirk Wheel is a unique boat lift in the world. It replaces a series of 11 locks linking the canals from Glasgow to Edinburgh. The Falkirk rotary lift has a diameter of 35 metres and lowers or raises ships to a height of 25 metres. A set of double doors allows the boat to enter on one side and to leave on the other side. The wheel turns the two caissons, each weighing 300 tonnes, while the gearing system keeps them perfectly horizontal.
This steam engine is a real vintage among vintages. Made by Fowler and Company in Leeds, England in 1880, it has been perfectly restored to its former glory. This is a close up of the engine that was pulling the trailer in my previous shot.
"Wheels within wheels..." Notice that flywheel turning.
This is Engineering on a Small Scale..........it was by my nephew Stephen who is suffering from Parkinson's disease................
I last photographed the Thames Barrier a little over a year ago, but became inspired to revisit the location after coming across an article about the 1953 North Sea Flood, which overwhelmed British sea defences in the Thames Estuary and led to the deaths of more than 300 people across several counties. It was remarkable to read that the gates protect not only the immediate East London borough against tidal surges, but also the infratructure, underground network and power supplies stretching beyond the O2 Arena, the Docklands and Tower Bridge and all the way to Westminster. In addition to this, the barrier now also needs to contend with the impact of climate change and rising sea levels.
With all of this in mind, my aim with this image was a darker, moodier and altogether more sinister alternative to my last take on the location, capturing the formidable size and scale of the barrier's piers at dusk, but also contrasting the peaceful flow of the Thames and the reassuring glow of the piers' evening lights with the foreboding tones of the evening sky.
The final image is a blend of a dozen exposures captured over two hours, starting with a 90-second exposure as the sun was setting and continuing into the evening, at which point the shutter speed had extended to 12 minutes. My intention all along had been to weight the emphasis on the later exposures, but I knew I would also be using the earlier and brighter exposures to enhance the lighting across the roof of the piers and the tones along the Thames. Having created Pen Tool selections in Photoshop for the barrier's piers, the sky and the river, I blended in portions of each of these exposures using a combination of Soft Light, Lighten, Luminosity, Linear Dodge, Colour Dodge and Screen blend modes. The goal at this stage was to bring out the reflective finish and dimensionality along the tip of the piers, to emphasise the glow of the lights inside the barrier, to produce a clean finish in the concrete at the base of each pier, and to brighten the water and darken the sky. After blending the exposures,
I applied a gentle radial blur to the sky and used Silver Efex Pro to lower its midtone structure and soften its texture, creating a subtle contrast between the piers and their surroundings. I then used Colour Efex Pro to add some minor tonal contrast adjustments, with a gentle Detail Extractor to bring out the gritty nuance in the piers. The final touches were a combination of a Gradient Map to emphasise the chilly evening tones and a Colour Lookup set to Bleach Bypass to desaturate the tip of the piers, which helped to bring out their metallic texture and to add some definition to their background.
The end result involved more planning and attention to detail at both the shooting and editing stages than my previous take, but it hopefully brings out the immense feat of engineering behind the barrier's design, as well as the rock-steady industrial strength of the barrier against a sometimes menacing force of nature, which was the aspect that inspired me to revisit the location in the first place.
You can also connect with me on Facebook, 500px, Google+ and Instagram.
This is in the back garden of the house we have lived in for about 40 years, and this is first time I have noticed the manufacturer's name on the manhole cover (unless I've seen it before and forgotten).
One of the most vivid memories I have from my primary school years was visiting the Dover Engineering Works with my school. It's not surprising that seeing molten iron poured from a ladle into a mould from close quarters would make a lasting impression on a child. I can still see clearly in my mind the wooden pattern they had made of our school's badge being pressed into the compacted black sandy material in the mould. The pattern was then removed and the top half of the mould filled with more compacted material was fitted. Small holes to allow the escape of burning gas were made in the material. When the molten iron was poured into the mould, sure enough, jets of flame appeared from these holes. When the mould was eventually stripped, there was the grey/silver replica of the wooden pattern.
When the company was established in 1830 it was on the outskirts of Dover in the parish of Charlton, with a supply of water from the adjacent River Dour. Charlton has since been absorbed by Dover, and the engineering works is of course gone - with the site now occupied by a supermarket.
The daffodils and blossom do their best to brighten a dull Saturday morning. Engineering on the Stour Valley Line sees GBRf's 66755 trundle through Coseley with 6G56 from Basford Hall Yard to Dudley Port.
Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge. Not happy with this one, but will have to do for now as I wanted a general shot of the department building and I did find the staircase interesting!
Carquinez Bridges, and yet another perspective of these structures. My go to spot at 4am.
Shot with the tack sharp Nikon 70-200 f/4. Thanks for looking.
genetic engineering
could create the perfect race
could create an unknown life-force
that could us exterminate
introducing worker clone
as our subordinated slave
his expertise proficiency
will surely dig our grave
it's so tempting
will biologists resist
when he becomes the creator
will he let us exist
bionic man is jumping
through the television set
he's about to materialise
and guess who's coming next
x ray spex - genetic engineering (germ free adolescents, 1978)
Yantram BPO provides you with highly reliable and affordable Civil Engineering Design services that meet International standards. We have skilled, professionals, experienced in Civil Engineering Design and CAD services. Our Civil Engineering Design and CAD professionals are highly conversant with the latest Engineering Design and CAD platforms.
Yeah i love my green lotus! What i tried to do in this picture was create the sort of picture you would see in a magazine, maybe with some text beside it endorsing lotus's engineering skills. I don't know, but i hope you enjoy!
Onsite Hydraulic Repair, 24/7 UK coverage. Each van is professionally kitted out with the appropriate tools for removal, manufacture and refitting of hydraulic hose assemblies accompanied by stock to ensure that 99% of jos are carried out there and then.
Looking east along the Golden Jubilee bridge, across the Hungerford bridge to the skyscrapers on the south bank of the River Thames in London, United Kingdom.
Camera: Minolta X-300S
Lens: Vivitar 28mm F2
Filter: Hoya Yellow (K2)
Film: Ilford Pan 400 (Expired 06/2013, shot at 250ISO)
Processing and Scanning: Gulabi Photo Lab, Glasgow
Post Processing: Photoscape X
UP 2666 and another Tier 4 ET44AH lead northbound UP Engineering Special PJCPR2 through Villa Grove after a heck of a rainstorm. Luckily, its late departure out of Jefferson City, MO allowed me to get a shot of it after work.
The engineering marvel of Ribbleshead Viaduct pales into insignificance as darkness falls on a clear summer night.
Union Pacific Engineering Special pulled by SD70Ace 1111, Powered By the People rolls through Des Plaines IL. on the New Line at Howard St.
Standing outside this century old barn, I looked up to see an aircraft flying overhead and thought of how far we'd come. The barn featured a unique swing beam construction that allowed a team of horses, hitched to a wagon, to turn around without having to back up. Horses apparently don't like to walk backwards so this made life easier for farmer and animal alike. When you compare that marvel of practical engineering to the complexity of the plane, it seems there are no limits to what we can accomplish.
The Rhine Valley has a lot of steep rocky cliffs rising straight up from the river. That hasn't stopped roads and railways being built along the valley, such as this spectacular Autobahn wrapped around a cliff at Pellenz. It contrasts strongly with the small building that I suspect is several hundred years older.
As seen at the Railway Museum in Utrecht, The Netherlands. These tools were used to build the first steam train in The Netherlands...
Study in Monochrome of the bridges crossing the river Forth in Scotland.
The New Queensferry crossing, the original road bridge, and the world heritage rail bridge.
I rarely see shots of the new Engineering Building at BYU in snowy conditions. I captured this picture for future reference.
To enjoy my other creative project, please visit my funny short stories website: 500ironicstories.com where you can read or listen to new stories each week. I have also curated the stories into three different selections:
Stories for Kids - 500ironicstories.com/stories-for-kids Love Stories - 500ironicstories.com/love-story
Moral Stories - 500ironicstories.com/moral-stories