An Engineer Explains Why Trump’s Wall Is So Implausible
A New York-based structural engineer, estimated that a 1,900-mile concrete wall – seemingly Trump’s original plan – would require about 339 million cubic feet (12.5 million cubic yards) of concrete. That is three times more than the Hoover Dam, that would be greater in volume than all six pyramids of the Giza Necropolis, and such quantity of concrete could pave a one-lane road from New York to Los Angeles, going the long way around the Earth.
Fishermen, beach builders fight for underwater sand hills
Just a few miles off New Jersey’s coast is a series of underwater hills on the ocean floor, made of perfect-quality beach sand tens of thousands of years old. The value of these ancient sand hills to sea life, fishermen, scientists and beach-building engineers has set up a fight between those who would protect them and those who would mine them. And that battle is expected to intensify as rising sea levels are expected to magnify.
Pictures Show How Modern Life Is Altering the Natural World
Every part of modern life is touched by technology, and every part of technology requires something that once came from the ground: the silicon dioxide in your cell phone, the phosphorous to grow your food, the copper in the wires that brought this article to your eyes, and a thousand other examples. This is the imprint photographer Edward Burtynsky felt compelled to capture.
Sand Mining Project Targets Wetlands; Wisconsin
An investment company wants to build a sand mining and processing plant in 2 Wisconsin counties, that would eliminate about 17 acres of pristine forested wetland. Wetlands are valuable habits for fish and wildlife and control flooding. Approval of the project would mean the largest single loss of wetlands for a sand project in the region, since at least 2008.
Leave beach sand alone, Vancouver warns on Day 3 of salt shortage frenzy
As ice continues to plague parts of Metro Vancouver, some beach-goers were spotted scooping up sand from Kitsilano Beach. Stealing a pail of beach sand is not a solution to Vancouver’s road salt shortage – and it could result in a hefty fine.
Us Warned: “Hands Off Our Beaches!”
The US is looking at Bahamian sand as a resource to shore-up Florida’s eroding coastline.
The Jersey Shore’s “ghost tracks”
They are called the “ghost tracks” of Cape May County beach. And until a couple of years ago, no one had seen them in about 80 years.
Government’s ambitious 2030 land reclamation plan to cost HK$400 billion
The government’s grand long-term blueprint for Hong Kong, which envisions a 1,000-hectare man-made island in the middle of the sea, could cost over HK$400 billion, a concern group estimated.
Marina: Nation’s last coastal sand mine might be shut down by Coastal Commission
The US nation’s last remaining coastal sand mine may face closure. The California Coastal Commission has put Marina’s Lapis sand mine on notice after a nearly six-year investigation into multiple violations of the state’s Coastal Act.