Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

twistedsifter.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

261–270 of 278 posts

Re: Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

#261

Post by ChoGGi »

DrBazza wrote: post #59
geeky4qwerty wrote: post #26

This feels a bit like diet clickbait... "use fewer bricks than a straight wall"* *A straight wall of the approximal strength and length of a wavy wall, not just length. My counter would be that from a practical perspective the amount of space wasted by the wavy design seems to negate the usefulness of the design. Probably makes the lawn crew dizzy when mowing it too!

The 'space wasted' on an estate of many hundreds, if not, thousands of acres is minimal. Given that often the bricks used were made and fired on site, it definitely saved on resources and labour. There's a stately home close to me that has a very short run of one of these walls, and the remains of the old brick kiln up on the hill side. If you know what you're looking for, you can also still see the hollows in the gr…

> hundreds, if not, thousands of acres

Sections (640 acres)

Re: Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

#262

Post by summonerlf »

Daub wrote: post #233
nonethewiser wrote: post #64

I see this a lot in the rural US with wooden fences but had no idea why it was done, but I guess its for the same reason (stability). Apparently they've done it since the 1600s. https://www.louispage.com/blog/bid/11160/worm-fence-what-is-... Still, this seemed totally unecessary until I realized this mean they dont have to put any posts into the ground. No digging holes, which would be really nice when you're trying…

I used to make fences in Wales, with it famously rocky ground. The fences we made were effectively straight lines which were bound at each terminal point by big posts dug into the ground and braced with side struts. Installing one of these posts could take a full day.

Have you ever tried the wavy one? I'm curious to hear from a first hand experience

Re: Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

#263

Post by throwaway894345 »

deaddodo wrote: post #228
throwaway894345 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Kinda weird to summarize it without the crux of why. I agree, the headline did a very poor job of summarizing.

Yet, you did an even worse job expounding.

Nope. "Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall" is so misleading it may as well be a lie. Enjoy your day.

Re: Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

#264

Post by comfypotato »

benj111 wrote: post #258
NavinF wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd much rather have a Battlefield Wall on my property in the US than a Ribbon Wall or Crinkle Crankle Wall. The latter two sound ridiculous. I really like "Serpentine Wall", but it sounds a little too technical for everyday conversation with nontechnical people

This is a perfect summation of the differences between USians and British. You want a BATTLEFIELD wall. I want a Crinkle Crankle

This is because you lost the Revolution.

Re: Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

#265

Post by Dylan16807 »

londons_explore wrote: post #252
Dylan16807 wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A wavy wall with a wave amplitude of X has the same toppling resistance as a straight wall with buttresses on both sides of length x/2. Where did you get that number from, and how does it change as you vary the distance between buttresses?

Assuming one pair of butresses (ie to prevent the wall toppling in each direction) per sine wave cycle.

But the math depends so strongly on how often the buttresses are needed, and the length of the buttresses, so you can't assume those things. The goal is a wall of equivalent strength, after all. If equivalent strength needs slightly less distance, or slightly smaller buttresses, the result could be thrown completely off in either direction.

Re: Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

#266

Post by tomxor »

amelius wrote: post #205
geeky4qwerty wrote: post #26

This feels a bit like diet clickbait... "use fewer bricks than a straight wall"* *A straight wall of the approximal strength and length of a wavy wall, not just length. My counter would be that from a practical perspective the amount of space wasted by the wavy design seems to negate the usefulness of the design. Probably makes the lawn crew dizzy when mowing it too!

The solution for the space problem is obvious: just make the wall wave in the longitudinal direction instead of the transversal direction.

lol, a compression wall! sounds good, but is it?

Re: Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

#267

Post by sn9 »

helb wrote: post #247
sn9 wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wooden fences tend to be only a plank thick, so there's no savings like there are with brick walls where the savings come from getting to build a single layer thick.

Yeah exactly… I guess there might be some waviness/height/length ratio where the extra length and the absence of posts evens out.

John Cook actually goes into the math of that here: https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2019/11/19/crinkle-crankle-ca...

Re: Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

#268

Post by Daub »

summonerlf wrote: post #262
Daub wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to make fences in Wales, with it famously rocky ground. The fences we made were effectively straight lines which were bound at each terminal point by big posts dug into the ground and braced with side struts. Installing one of these posts could take a full day.

Have you ever tried the wavy one? I'm curious to hear from a first hand experience

Nope. Never tried the wavey one. I can't remember hearing of wavey walls/fences until a few years ago.

Talking about all this again brings back some memories. My hands freezing from digging in the rocky soil. My hands aching from swinging the club hammer I used to compress the stones around the oak post to form a foundation. Trying to start the chainsaw in cold weather. Taking the tools back to the toolshed in a squeeky-wheel wheelbarrow. All good memories. It's been forty years since I made a fence but I could do it tomorrow with no problem, and gladly.

Re: Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

#269

Post by chaostheory »

amelius wrote: post #203
chaostheory wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, tbf the article doesn’t even try to explain how wavy walls are stronger than straight ones, or how fewer bricks are needed.

It doesn't need to, a child understands this. The only thing the article needed to explain was how the title should be interpreted, and it did fine in this respect.

If any child supposedly understands this, why does HN consider this novel? The questions in this post also don’t support your comment.

There’s also no need to be impolite. If it’s such an easy concept that you actually already understand, maybe explain it in layman terms instead?

Re: Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

#270

Post by deaddodo »

throwaway894345 wrote: post #263
deaddodo wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yet, you did an even worse job expounding.

Nope. "Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall" is so misleading it may as well be a lie. Enjoy your day.

Yeah yeah, we got it. You're ignorant and stubborn.
Post reply on HN