Manmade lava trees A couple months ago we showed you a “lava tree”, formed when Hawaiian lava hardens against the side of the water-rich trees on the island (tinyurl/oaduroq). Apparently those trees have a solid idea. For the last several months, a lava flow has been heading east from Kilauea’s ongoing Pu’u O’o eruption (tinyurl/qc6yehe), gradually moving towards inhabited areas. The lava movement has slowed over the past few days and is not currently heading directly towards any homes, but it remains a threat to infrastructure in the area (see the 2nd photo) including roads and power lines. The local energy utility is preparing several options for how to protect its infrastructure from lava, including spreading poles apart farther, and this design. The wrap around the pole is made of a wire screen and it contains a bunch of shattered rocks that are unlikely to melt much and could serve as insulation. It then sits on top of a deeply seated concrete support. The design is called “experimental”, but in principle, this could have a good shot at protecting a wooden pole rom a slowly advancing lava flow. Hopefully we won’t have to see if it works, but I’ll give points for creativity. -JBB Image credits: westhawaiitoday/news/volcano-update/pele-s-path-power-poles-buffered hawaiinewsnow/story/26668643/puna-lava-flow-breakouts-slow-fresh-lava-continues-moving-through-puu-oo-tube Have you been missing out on our posts lately? If so, it is due to changes in Facebooks filtering system. To find out how you can enjoy reading our posts more often click here: tinyurl/ll9wd7l.
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 22:45:00 +0000
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