Open Source Mechanic blog

I don’t remember the broadmeadows estuary water level ever being quite so low so close to a high tide.  Notice the entire length of the pier is out of the water.  Today is partway between a spring tide and neap tide so I wouldn’t expect extremes.   The wind was strong out of the west but [...]

Here is a clearer before and after photo. Both were taken from exactly the same spot (with in a couple of feet), with exactly the same kid’s telescope/lens adapter.

Here is a movie I took on 4 August, 2009 at approximately 8:30 p.m., only 17 days before the railway collapsed:

See if you can guess which support is the bad one.

A railway viaduct very near my home collapsed into the broadmeadows estuary. We’re very fortunate that the train which crossed only seconds before the collapse made it across safely. The underlying piers the viaduct is built upon dates back to the mid 19th century. Yesterdays tides were approximately 15 feet high, which [...]

Update February 8, 2010

The problem came back two more times while I was in China but while I was shopping for and considering buying a replacement camera, some guys in the basement of Top City Electronics in the Zhonguancun district of Beijing fixed it for about $20, while I waited. I watched and saw [...]