Engineering Marvels - Library Report in ENGG100, good for structure base. Got 95%, highly recommend PDF

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Library Report in ENGG100, good for structure base. Got 95%, highly recommend to find your own topic as you WILL get caught for plagiarism....

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ENGINEERING MARVELS The Hongyagu Glass Bridge

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ENGG100 Library Technical Report

Introduction With the current advancement in technology, engineers can challenge the impossible, making their dreams a reality. As a team, engineers have given society a new sense of amazing experiences, showing them, anything can be achieved. A great example of this is the Hongyagu Glass Bridge, located in Henei, China. The bridge was built throughout 2016-2017 and opened 24 December 2017. The 488-metrelong bridge at Hongyagu Scenic Area in Hebei, is currently the world’s longest glass-floor bridge. While it is designed to hold 3,000 people, only 600 people can cross the transparent glass walkway at any one time, made of 1,077 panels of thick glass. [1]. Visitors are greeted with a death defying view of a 218m drop as they look right through the glass floor towards the ground between two cliffs in the Hongyagu Scenic Area.To raise the excitement levels even further, the bridge is designed to sway when tourists walk across it. China has composed other glass bridges, another being the Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge, both breaking multiple world records [6]. Although it doesn’t have a strong history yet, it was built to allow tourists to enjoy another masterpiece of China and view the landscapes it has to offer from a new perspective, where they get a feeling of freedom.

Technological Significance The main purpose of this bridge was to produce an iconic artwork that can “not only be seen but experienced” [2]. It is also to show the world what can be achieved and to let them know that with today’s technology so much can be achieved and people should not be limited because “they do not have the will to challenge the impossible” [2].

This bridge is a marvel because despite the climate of this mountainous region, being cold and windy, and the death-defying height of this bridge, along with the whole structure being built around glass, the engineers were still able to compose a functional bridge which provides an amazing experience to its visitors.

The bridge is also of major significance, because China can continuously build amazing infrastructure within a small-time frame, while places like Australia are struggling to make a motorway. It is also fascinating as China allows engineers from around the globe to make different infrastructure for them, as they need buildings for the large population. This mutual relationship has made China a more scenic place to visit, allowing them to expand their budgets on new engineers and grow the country overall.

Engineering challenges The main issue with infrastructure is finding a way to hold the building together, and to make a strong base that will keep the whole thing together. The first issue that the engineers faced, was finding the right materials to hold the bridge. The material had to be strong but also be flexible as the design in mind was that the bridge should sway in the slightly in the wind. Even though a material was found at the time, it was not suitable for the temperature, and was also to expensive and inefficient to build the bridge. The last factor was the material had to have the potential to keep glass together without applying to much pressure on it or else it will crack. Fortunately for the engineers this bridge was not made to travel for cars nor trucks, so they could make it narrower to make it aerodynamic, so the wind passes right through. The devised solution for this issue was to use multiple alloys of different metals, one specifically being iron [3]. This allowed the bridge to meet all of its architectural requirements, that is being flexible, made of glass and being able to deal with the weather, all while providing the tourists a safe 488m journey across the valley. This solution was only possible, due to the engineering company having the right materials to make the suspensions. The steel was made a little flexible to help with the sway in the wind and hold the whole bridge together.

The second concern for the bridge was safety. Safety is the priority in any situation, so engineers composed different situation with what can go wrong with the bridge and how to address those issues. Some of the issues that can go wrong included: 1. The climate can make the glass and the metal more fragile, which can produce small cracks in them. 2. In heavy winds the bridge may sway to much and completely snap. 3. The glass will not be able to hold the weight of the people on the bridge and crack. These safety issues had to be addressed, otherwise the bridge would not have been able to take tourists across. The first step taken was to produce 5cm thick tempered glass [4] that can withstand huge amounts of weight and would not shatter if broken. Despite this engineers decided to make 3 layers of this glass, so if the first one shatters, there are 2 more. The second issue was the weight distribution, as engineers already knew the bridge would attract a lot of attention they decided to only allow 600 people onto the bridge at once, even though the steel was extremely strong and could carry 3000 people. This also made it possible to easily evacuate the people as a crowd of 3000 can be hard to handle in an emergency. They also created shoe protection, a small cloth that covers tourists shoe, to prevent any heels on the glass, taking maximum precaution to avoid any mishaps.

Economic Implications The 2 engineering challenges were easily overcome, as the engineers were able to devise suitable plans to address the issues and make the product successful. This lead to a positive vision of the bridge, which lead to the attraction of tourists from across the globe. The idea of making the bridge sway in the wind was one that people wanted to experience, this meant an economic boom for China and the residents of Henei, as people came in to see the bridge. People were happy to pay for the experience including the cotton covering for the shoes, as well the parking and cafes around. This meant that not only was a good experience for tourists but became economically viable for the residents of Henei as more people were attracted to the scenery. Another economic advantage was that these engineers crafted a new expectation from society and other engineers, where people needed to start making more creative

infrastructure, which society will use and enjoy using, and riskier infrastructure that provides a whole new experience.

Conclusion With the overall effort put into creating such an amazing, the engineers from around the world can put on a stunning display for tourists. It is fascinating to see how China allows engineers to create what they want from different countries, which in return brings different regions in China a stronger economy with more tourists coming in to see the different attraction and scenery China now has to offer, as well as the overall experience. Although there are many other bigger and higher bridges, this one stands as a marvel, as it not is made of a glass floor, it is made between two mountains, in cold weather, and sways in the wind, which makes it stand out from other bridges. This also has become of significance as the world can see a mutual relationship between China and other engineers, expressing how engineers need to work as team to improve society, making it more liveable, and how together they are able to overcome a variety of challenges.

References [1] Z. Haiqiang, "Longest glass bridge has terrifying sway", CNN Travel, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/hongyagu-glass-bridge-hebeichina/index.html?gallery=0. [Accessed: 01- Apr- 2018]. [2]D. Williamson, "Spectacular glass bridge opens in China", BBC News, 2018. [Online]. Available: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-37127725. [Accessed: 01- Apr2018]. [3]A. News, "Demand was 10 times what officials predicted", NewsComAu, 2018. [Online]. Available: http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/chinas-recordbreakingbridge-shut-down-due-to-excessive-demand/newsstory/1d8500ec5e573ff4dcaebe56291bbd57. [Accessed: 01- Apr- 2018]. [4] K. Soo, "The glass-bottomed walkway in China that cracks under your feet", The Telegraph, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/china/articles/east-taiheng-glasswalkway-cracks/. [Accessed: 01- Apr- 2018]. [5] M.Wong Longest glass bridge has terrifying sway", CNN Travel, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/hongyagu-glass-bridge-hebei-china/index.html. [Accessed: 01- Apr- 2018]. [6]I. Block, "World's longest glass suspension bridge has an intentional wobble", Dezeen, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.dezeen.com/2018/01/19/world-longest-glassbottomed-suspension-bridge-china-hongyagu-hebei-sway/. [Accessed: 01- Apr- 2018]....