USS Iowa

[J-sews]

Isn't this an awesome picture?
I originally found it on the web some time ago, then forgot I had it. I most certainly would not want to be on the receiving end of that volley!

[Grant Lamontagne]

I'll bet that would leave a heck of a mark!

Def

[BIG-TARGET]

If you ever get to Camden NJ, visit the USS New Jersey Battleship/museum.   It is an Iowa Class battleship!!  SHE IS BIG!!!!!!

[J-sews]

Here's another pic that has absolutely nothing to do with multitools......a huge bucket wheel mining excavator crossing a road in Germany........I can't help it, I'm a sucker for ginormous equipment!  O0

[NutSAK]

That USS Iowa picture has been in my wallpaper rotation for a couple of years now.  I love the shockwave on the water.

I wonder how long it took them to build the dirt ramp over that road so the trencher could pass.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Mine equipment is pretty cool stuff.  A couple of years ago while I was in Ontario I was fortunate enough to see this monstrosity close up.  I'm not certain what they are exactly, but I know they were headed for the mines in Sudbury.  It was just outside of Sudbury that I saw this, as we were held up on the way to the airport in Toronto, about 400 miles away.  It took the trucks several days to make that 400 mile trip since they were only able to drive about 10mph.

They were so big that there were power crues in front and behind them taking down power lines, street and traffic lights, signs, and pretty well anything else that was near the road.

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

Pretty big stuff.  One of these days I might actually find out what it does!

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

You can see them a mile away... literally!

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

And up close... Traffic was stopped for a while for this thing to pass, and it went by so slowly that it gave lots of folks like me many opportunities to snap pictures!

Def

[J-sews]

......I'm not certain what they are exactly, but I know they were headed for the mines in Sudbury......

They look like the center stages of a Saturn V rocket!

Maybe the Sudbury mines are just a cover for some ultra-secret Canadian deep space program?   

[Grant Lamontagne]

Well, there is a lot of uranium in them thar hills.  The nickel mines are drying up but following the discovery of uranium the area has seen something of a resurgance.

In fact, I worked security at a uranium refinery in the area for a year.  I left because the winters were terrible.  Minus 40 degrees every day for four months... and that was in the afternoon, in the sun!  Of course I started work at 5 am... oh yeah, and 14 feet of snow that year too.  We had to keep shovelling the roof (hell with the driveway!) or else the house would cave in.  Actually lost the house and a shed in a snowbank.

Beautiful there in the summer though....

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

One of the coolest things about living right on the ocean is some of the cool stuff you see.  This morning for example I was driving along what is usually a nice quiet little cove with some popular beaches on the (not too popular on days like today when it's -25C!) when I just happened to catch this monstrosity being towed in.

I see these kinds of things often in the main harbour where I live, but very few are up te coast like this one.  It must be getting ready to store or something?  Although there are a couple of rigs in the harbour now- maybe there isn't room for this one?

I'm not sure, but it's pretty cool anyway!

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

And in keeping with the nautical theme, here's one of Canada's new subs cruising around in Halifax Harbour.  If you look closely you will see a bunch of people braver than I am standing on the aft deck. 

I snapped this one while crossing one of the bridges on my way home from work.

Def

[J-sews]

Speaking of big rigs, here are a few 2005 pics of the Thunderhorse deepwater drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Our company built some huge hydraulic stabilizer valves for the rig, which were scheduled to be installed later that summer. Hurricane Dennis had other ideas though, and almost sent her to the bottom. Having already invested nearly $1 billion into building the platform, BP Petroleum was highly motivated to rescue it!

They were just barely able to.

[bobofish]

I wonder if you could trim hedges with that honkin german saw thing.
Or maybe strip old shingles off your roof?

[J-sews]

I wonder if you could trim hedges with that honkin german saw thing.
Or maybe strip old shingles off your roof?

I wonder if it can be set at compound angles, for making mitre cuts on trim work?

[NutSAK]

How about this for a monster?

The Wartsila-Sulzer RTA96-C turbocharged two-stroke diesel engine. It is available in 6 through 14 cylinder versions, all are inline engines.  These engines were designed primarily for very large container ships.

Some facts on the 14 cylinder version:
   Total engine weight:    2300 tons  (The crankshaft alone weighs 300 tons.)
   Length:    89 feet
   Height:    44 feet
   Maximum power:    108,920 hp at 102 rpm
   Maximum torque:    5,608,312 lb/ft at 102rpm

Cylinder head:  (10-cylinder configuration)



crankshaft journals:



Crankcase:  (note the ladders leading down into the crankcase at each crankshaft "throw")



Completed 12-cylinder engine:

[Grant Lamontagne]

I think I had one of those in my old Volkswagen.

Def