What if...

Steoob

i was wondering today what would happen if a big rigger was goin about 30-50 mph down O Connell street, went out of control and hit into the spire... discuss..

i'd say a bus but they dont look lie they have enough mass to cause enough damage

jesus_thats_gre

**** all would happen to the Spire anyway.

Steoob

really? is it that strong that it would absorb about 4 tonnes going at 50mph?

o1s1n

Steoob wrote:

i was wondering today what would happen if a big rigger was goin about 30-50 mph down O Connell street, went out of control and hit into the spire... discuss..

i'd say a bus but they dont look lie they have enough mass to cause enough damage

........what do you plan on doing???

Timans

It would serve An Post for not delivering on Saturdays I tells thee!

The CPO would be ruiiined.

Steoob

o1s1n wrote:

........what do you plan on doing???

nothing its just a question haha i dont have the time to be planning big operations like this :P

andrew

the spire is fairly sturdy at the bottom i'd say. now gettin control of that crane thats there atm.... that'd be something to see

biko

so?...

Steoob

Steoob wrote:

i was wondering today what would happen if a big rigger was goin about 30-50 mph down O Connell street, went out of control and hit into the spire... discuss..

i'd say a bus but they dont look lie they have enough mass to cause enough damage

Nothing, bar maybe a minor dent. It would remain upright.

Think about it - the yoke was placed in the middle of a busy street! It's obviously designed for impacts like what you suggested.

Steoob

hmmm i dunno... ireland like...

Steoob

ya tbh i just cant imagine something with half the ground space as a truck stopping it... it would defy physics... seeing something like that would confuse me to no end... i reckon it would definatly tear chunks through it

Steoob

Steoob wrote:

ya tbh i just cant imagine something with half the ground space as a truck stopping it... it would defy physics... seeing something like that would confuse me to no end... i reckon it would definatly tear chunks through it

No, the load would be distributed down to the ground. The structure would vibrate, and perhaps might be dented as I said, but it would remain upright.

When you're designing structures, often you do it on a redundant basis - if one support is lost, the load would be distributed through to the other supports.

Alternatively, the golden pages has a fair few truck hiring agencies...

ctc_celtic

the crane thing got me thinking,
could a big crane bend the top of the spike downwards, we could get a catapult type thing going and use it for public punishment of criminal.
i'd pay to watch that.

enda1

I think they should have made it into a giant wind turbine. Good statement about striving for a green economy and all.

P.S. Spire would KO the truck!

Pigman II

I reckon the spire would hold firm. The cab of the truck would just crumple upon impact. The driver of course would be killed horribly.

Boston

4 tonnes at 50 miles and hour isn't alot. Thats more like a transit van hitting the spike.

Steoob

transits dont weigh 4 tonnes...

Boston

Steoob wrote:

transits dont weigh 4 tonnes...

Thats where you're wrong. Unloaded transits can go up to 2 tonnes, fully loaded they can easily push 4 tonnes (regularly put two tonne of gravel in the back of a transit. A fully loaded truck with trailer and you're talking more in the range of 40-60 tonne weight.

Steoob

well according to the ford website an unpacked XXL transit which is like a limo is only 2.5 tonnes and anyway i never siad that the ban had to have a 2 ton load...

ya trucks work out at around 25-30 tonnes so i was wrong there... so ya that just proves my arguement further... how could the spire absorb 30 tonnes at 50 miles an hour?

BigTommyBomb

Not sure about a Spire but if a truck drove into a large tree, the tree would certainly stand its ground.

Tha Gopher

Ive always thought it was a bad idea, what if it was bombed?

Boston

Steoob wrote:

well according to the ford website an unpacked XXL transit which is like a limo is only 2.5 tonnes

Boston wrote:

Unloaded transits can go up to 2 tonnes

Inability to read I see. Most transit vans are under the 2 tonne limit, as you go into a different road tax bracket if you're over that.

Tha Gopher

Tha Gopher wrote:

Ive always thought it was a bad idea, what if it was bombed?

What if Liberty Hall was bombed? What if Trinity was bombed? What if Dáil Éireann was bombed?

Besides, it has dampeners inside it which would probably compensate for that type of load. It already compensates for an 8 ton wind load.

Steoob

Boston wrote:

Inability to read I see. Most transit vans are under the 2 tonne limit, as you go into a different road tax bracket if you're over that.

i can read fine i was just saying that THIS http://www.seriouswheels.com/pics-2007/2007-Ford-Transit-XXL-Side-1024x768.jpg is nearly 2.5 tonnes so i didn't unrstand how a normal transit could be 2

Boston

Steoob wrote:

i can read fine i was just saying that THIS http://www.seriouswheels.com/pics-2007/2007-Ford-Transit-XXL-Side-1024x768.jpg is nearly 2.5 tonnes so i didn't unrstand how a normal transit could be 2

There's alot your can't understand.

Steoob

what the hell is your problem im tyring to have a serious conversation and you just come to rape my thread, **** off... this is not a bannable offence, this is totally provoked, im saying no more

Caliden

Think about it, there's possibly 2 metres at least of steel going into a concrete foundation for the spire. With it's height and location the wind loads would've been quite high so it would need a lot of reinforcement in the base.

Capt'n Midnight

Tha Gopher wrote:

Ive always thought it was a bad idea, what if it was bombed?

Someone blowing up a pillar in the middle of O'Connell street ? :rolleyes:

That's as unlikely as needing to get the army to blow it up again afterwards.


As for a heavy truck hitting the spire, I'm sure they have done all the necessary calculations and if there was a mistake or if they needed an extra safety factor they would simply ban the any trucks over the safe limit from diving down O'Connell street without a permit.

Miss Fluff

When are you planning on carrying out this experiment OP?

andrew

i always wonder'd what the danger of a plane or the garda chopper flying into it was... course the plane/heli would get owned, but it'd be pretty dangerous for the people below

Steoob

hmm mi suppose ye're all right... the pont about the tree was very good.. tho i dunno if a tree could stand up against a big rigger but it would sure put up a fight... hmmm my plans are ruined haha

Bottle_of_Smoke

I think there's barriers around it whcih could knock a fair bit of force out of the truck.

If it could be taken would to some serious damage to shops on Henry street

monkeyfudge

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote:

I think there's barriers around it whcih could knock a fair bit of force out of the truck.

That's correct. It's surrounded by bollards.

JC 2K3

"Loose Change 2: The truth behind the spire's collapse"

Stephen

A fully loaded articulated truck and trailer is about 40 tons. I'd like to see what kind of a dent that would put into the spire at 50mph

Of course, the chances of anything getting up to 50mph in Dublin traffic are pretty much zero.

JC 2K3

JC 2K3 wrote:

"Loose Change 2: The truth behind the spire's collapse"

IT WAS BERTIE ALL ALONG!

Feral Mutant

My science teacher told me a few years ago that the Spire has a large counter weight underneath it to help hold it in place. I think that would keep it upright if a truck hit it.

AlmightyCushion

Myth wrote:

Nothing, bar maybe a minor dent. It would remain upright.

Think about it - the yoke was placed in the middle of a busy street! It's obviously designed for impacts like what you suggested.

It wouldn't surprise me if it was made out of paper machet.

Lazare

Steoob wrote:

what the hell is your problem im tyring to have a serious conversation and you just come to rape my thread, **** off... this is not a bannable offence, this is totally provoked, im saying no more

LMFAO

What a silly thread.

Steoob

Lazare wrote:

LMFAO

What a silly thread.

well you know what i mean... a serious conversation as opposed to a flaming conversation

Sofaspud

Stephen wrote:

A fully loaded articulated truck and trailer is about 40 tons. I'd like to see what kind of a dent that would put into the spire at 50mph

Of course, it could be crashed in to by an African truck!

But then, of course, African trucks are non-migratory . . .

andrew

What if it was a laden european truck?

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

Steoob wrote:

really? is it that strong that it would absorb about 4 tonnes going at 50mph?

a fully loaded big rig is a lot more than 4 tonnes! id say this was taken into consideration when thay were boulding the spire, but maby not at that speed!

Steoob

ya we've already had a discussion about the weight of trucks... it didn't go too well please dont bring it up haha