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Animation of how bridges were built in Central Europe in the Middle Ages [video]

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Re: Animation of how bridges were built in Central Europe in the Middle Ages [video]

#181
post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've noticed that the latest trend on social networks is to have ultra-sped up mini-videos, I think because it's popular on Instagram or TikTok (or both?). It's as if our entire civilization had suddenly caught ADHD. Frankly maybe I'm old school but I found the Youtube version a lot more palatable, I could understand what was going on much butter, take a few seconds to understand the how the contraptions worked. When…

The case study of the ADHD trend in general population is Mission Impossible IV. It is filmed by shoulder cameras and the mounter is just playing piano on the console: there isn’t a shot longer than 4s in the entire movie, and the average of changing camera angle is 0,7s. All you can get is an impression of the main character on any given image, but you can’t rest and you can’t contemplate. This is especially comical…

I think this is an exaggeration. Short/Long takes are an artistic decision. We have recent movies that are a few long takes (sometime pretending to be a single take) 1917, Birdman, Russian Ark (true single take) all shot in recent years. Same with TV: True Detective has a famous long take scene, Mr. Robot, BCS.

Re: Animation of how bridges were built in Central Europe in the Middle Ages [video]

#182
at the 14th second, the video shows something like a hammer, https://youtu.be/nJgD6gyi0Wk?t=14

I don't understand it. the hammer seems to ram down wooden pillar at the same location.

I think for it to work, the hammer needs to move around the wooden rail .

Re: Animation of how bridges were built in Central Europe in the Middle Ages [video]

#183
post #172

It's interesting that this bridge is still around. It seems like most of that society's energy was concentrated on building this bridge, and physical infrastructure of that nature. Its best minds and hands were at work. Similarly, in San Francisco, many people live in 100 year old houses. It's not like we discovered better "must have" ways of building houses that made the old ones obsolete. I honestly think things li…

A weird example since a 1920s San Francisco house was really a local nadir of domestic architecture, slapdash work that was adequate in a time of abundant wool and heating fuels. Most 1920s SF houses aren't worth what it would cost to dismantle them, or at least they wouldn't be if there wasn't a land use and planning crisis in that city.

A modern house would have a tiny fraction of the energy demanded by 1920s SF tract housing, and 100% less interior mold.

Re: Animation of how bridges were built in Central Europe in the Middle Ages [video]

#184
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you think the 3-minute video was slow, the actual original took 45 years.

I know some of the bureaucracy and economics that go into infrastructure today, but I feel like the decision to commit to a 45 year bridge must've been a whole different consideration for them back then. But then again, they spent much labor and resources creating tombs like the Pyramids.

How about the cathedrals that are scattered across Europe? Some took centuries. People worked on them their whole lives knowing they’d never see the end result. Compared to that, a 45-year bridge seems quick and practical.

Re: Animation of how bridges were built in Central Europe in the Middle Ages [video]

#186

The one thing I don't understand is how the original posts were driven into the river bed. You have to deal with the current, deal with the fact that wood floats, deal with a long post, have to have a means of driving it down far enough, etc. I imagine that nowadays they'd use a pile driver on a huge barge with engines that can automatically compensate for the current, but I can't imagine what the equivalent was back…

Maybe the original posts didn't need to be that deep--just deep enough to be used as scaffolding for the wooden version of the pile driver to be set up.

They may have also taken advantage of fair weather and seasonal changes. During the dry season, the river would be lower and easier to work with.

Re: Animation of how bridges were built in Central Europe in the Middle Ages [video]

#187

The one thing I don't understand is how the original posts were driven into the river bed. You have to deal with the current, deal with the fact that wood floats, deal with a long post, have to have a means of driving it down far enough, etc. I imagine that nowadays they'd use a pile driver on a huge barge with engines that can automatically compensate for the current, but I can't imagine what the equivalent was back…

Good question. The video shows the first posts floating in air across the river and dropping magically in-place. These posts are then connected into a kind of scaffolding for the caisson [1]. A pile driver is built on top of the scaffolding that is used to drive the remaining posts that make up the caisson wall but they don't show what powers the pile driver (men?) nor how it is moved post to post along the scaffolding. A water wheel is used to lift the water out of the caisson.

The posts are small compared to modern piles so they will not be overly buoyant. Modern piles are core structural components that are used instead of a caisson so they are quite big.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caisson_(engineering)

Re: Animation of how bridges were built in Central Europe in the Middle Ages [video]

#188
post #59

Fun fact: Charles bridge (depicted in the video) was damaged during a flood in 1890. With the water level risen, broken down rafts were beating its arches and two of them fell apart, along with three pillars that were undermined by the water. During the reconstruction of the pillars, they decided to make them hollow (to cut on the weight) and you can actually go inside! It's not open to the public but there's a video…

Normally I do not pay attention to ads but was curious to know - what was that Santa selling! And I can't speak a word of Czech.

1:26' into the video - Is that guy praying? Read there are statues of Saints on the bridge.

Found an image of 1872 flood - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bridge#/media/File:FFr...

Re: Animation of how bridges were built in Central Europe in the Middle Ages [video]

#189
post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The human brain has actually been shrinking since about 40k years ago. There is some correlation between brain size and intelligence, but admittedly it isn't too strong.

How much of a change? Citation?

There is indeed a citation about this higher up in the thread.

Re: Animation of how bridges were built in Central Europe in the Middle Ages [video]

#190
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thats just... dude, 6000 years ago the knifes where sharper than what you find in your kitchen. What blunt knife? Similary, high IQ people today are given "blunt knifes" considering they are surrounded by 8 billion retards, see handling of covid, climate change, flat earthers etc. If anything, back then a high iq person would have motivation and belief in bringing discoveries to the table. Today, why would anyone inv…

Bronze knifes are bad. Malnutrition sucks. Life expectancy (if surving birth) was 30 years. But I am sure they would handle covid better ;)

Exhibit 1.

All the worlds information at its fingertips yet it still perpetuates a misunderstanding.

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