Original Timmy Chan's Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 It looked to be more than 1 mile in diameter to me, but let's go with that. That's .785 square miles covered, and if we had a 6-inch downpour as cited in the Category 2 hurricane scene, that's a runoff of 251.2 acre feet of water. Hopefully Original Timmy Chan is reading this and can give us his engineer's opinion on how to deal with that (if it's possible).What I'd like to see is a gigantic concrete-lined channel. Think Brays Bayou, but without all the trees and jogging trails. Lots of chain-link fences and guard rails along the edges. Hopefully the channel wouldn't be required to follow the curve of the dome...I much prefer straight lines (and 90-deg angles if possible) to anything with a curve. Maybe that's just the engineer in me. You asked how to deal with it "if it's possible." You should know that ANYTHING'S possible, with enough time and $$$. Actually I wouldn't think that the runoff would be too terribly bad. 250 acre-feet is really not a frightening volume of water...HCFCD has built many detention ponds that exceed that size. For example, the basins at Art Storey Park hold somewhere in the range of 3,400 ac-ft of water (or put another way, that's about 700,000 dump truck loads of dirt.)I think the cost of drainage would be relatively minor in the scheme of things for this project.Think of it this way...if you were going to go develop 0.785 square miles (500 ac) of raw land, you'd be required by HCFCD to store at least 275 ac-ft of runoff anyways (0.55 ac-ft/ac). That's just a standard minimum requirement by HCFCD...and developments exceed that minimum requirement pretty regularly due to various site conditions.In any event, I don't think you need to worry about drainage for this project. Don't think we'll see this in our lifetimes. Seems pretty silly to me...but maybe they made a better case for it in the TV show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Timmy Chan's Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 They suggested using giant blimps to support it while under construction. These blimps would be holding this structure up through at least one hurricane season. I wouldn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trae Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 The Simpson's are ahead of us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDeb Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Humidity wouldn't be an issue with a sealed structureEver been parking with a lady friend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
infinite_jim Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 (edited) I'd imagine that the modular panels would HAVE be a very sophisticated skin system which at a minimum would entail solutions for heat exchange, silica dehumidification, external rain water collection, filtering, and purging (yes, clean rain inside the dome). It would also have to "touch the earth lightly," meaning that it's structural basis might be in the form of a gigantic central umbrella or series of mushroom structures, or linear ribs spoking from the CBD and based on our existing infrastructural ROW's, or even a series of outer space based matrix trusses (of course they would need extensive stabilizers you know for those pesky solar winds). Missed this show but it sounds interesting. Edited June 9, 2009 by infinite_jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJVilla Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Interesting concept, but as many have stated and among many areas of concern, how do you select what areas to protect when the city is so spread out?Another discussion: http://www.huliq.com/1/81975/experts-say-h...elp-environment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 What's the temprature underneath that thing anyway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Interesting concept, but as many have stated and among many areas of concern, how do you select what areas to protect when the city is so spread out?Another discussion: http://www.huliq.com/1/81975/experts-say-h...elp-environmentI just see an article. Where's the discussion part? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 After watching this, some observations and questions:I think it's funny how they see Houston "in peril" as if this doens't happen, Houston will dissapear and become inhabitabel.How soon could this be built? Hurricane season is about 5 months, right? It takes over a year to two years to build a high-rise. Could a partially finished dome survive a hurricane that even partially hits Houston?If those people are so confident in the strength of their material, why aren't they jumping on it like a trampoline? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicey Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Ever been parking with a lady friend?Ah...yes, I forgot to account for 1 million people humping inside of a sealed structure. That should generate some steam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicey Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 After watching this, some observations and questions:I think it's funny how they see Houston "in peril" as if this doens't happen, Houston will dissapear and become inhabitabel.I for one believe that the earth is getting hotter (that's recordable on surface temp, up 1 degree centigrade in about the last 100 years)...so we are likely to see more and more storms on the Katrina level. I think a major concern is if something like Katrina hit Houston directly, the country would have a gasoline shortage fairly quickly. So again...why would this dome not be focused on protecting the port where all the oil comes in and the refinery sector where all the petrol products are made? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDeb Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Ah...yes, I forgot to account for 1 million people humping inside of a sealed structure.They don't have to be getting it on, they just have to be breathing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20thStDad Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 I think a major concern is if something like Katrina hit Houston directly, the country would have a gasoline shortage fairly quickly. So again...why would this dome not be focused on protecting the port where all the oil comes in and the refinery sector where all the petrol products are made?REALLY bad idea. It is dangerous (and stinky) enough when the wind is too calm around there. Ambient levels of lots of pollutants would be much higher than they are now if it were a closed system (even if force-ventilated, I don't think it would approache the dispersion you get from wind and open atmosphere). That much combustion and those amounts of chemicals/crudes/refined petroleum kept in a bubble with people is a recipe for disaster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatesdisastr Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 they just talked about the dome on channel 2 news.come on, its not like its realistic enough to really cover on the city news. seems rediculous to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJVilla Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 they just talked about the dome on channel 2 news.come on, its not like its realistic enough to really cover on the city news. seems rediculous to meI was at Cedar Creek (damn packed) and saw this is. Needless to say that I didn't hear anything, and even though drunk, I thougth it was weird that they covered like actual news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20thStDad Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 I changed my mind, a dome is a great idea. Crank up the damn a/c! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLWM8609 Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 How about individual domes over single family homes? That would be all "Jetsoney." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb320 Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Gated and domed planned communities. Now that's the ticket. And, don't let that gate stand open and let that good cool air out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatesdisastr Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 for those that didnt see the program Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalparadise Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 I'm in for the dome, provided there are real plans for video screens and lighting on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxman Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 (edited) I for one believe that the earth is getting hotter (that's recordable on surface temp, up 1 degree centigrade in about the last 100 years)...so we are likely to see more and more storms on the Katrina level. I think a major concern is if something like Katrina hit Houston directly, the country would have a gasoline shortage fairly quickly. So again...why would this dome not be focused on protecting the port where all the oil comes in and the refinery sector where all the petrol products are made?WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG...OMG, WRONG!!!!!!!!!!! Jesus, now I need a drink. Edited June 15, 2009 by wxman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citykid09 Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 So again...why would this dome not be focused on protecting the port where all the oil comes in and the refinery sector where all the petrol products are made?That sounds like a good entrepreneurial idea! I think it could work, but it would have to be modified specifically for refining. I personally don't like the idea a dome over downtown Houston. It would limit the height of and future building and it would also mess up the view. But, I think that It could work if a developer wanted to create a shopping district or something similar where people could walk around and shop no matter what the weather is like. It would also attract people to it just because that are interested in what it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20thStDad Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 That sounds like a good entrepreneurial idea! I think it could work, but it would have to be modified specifically or refining.Still a VERY BAD idea. See post #44. Pollution is tolerable and "safe" based on the fact that it will disperse as it is emitted. Bottling it up would be deadly, even if it's piped out of the top you have a huge potential for releases/spills/fires within a closed space and it'll never be worth the risk to those living/working in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livincinco Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 We must really be bored to even spend time discussing this. It was a stupid idea on the TV show and it's not getting any better with further discussion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gto250us Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 This is the stupidest, dumbass thing that I have heard in a long time. Can you imagine the cost to cool this thing? Look at what it costs to keep your home livable. What about the cost to keep the air clean, we can't even do that without a dome. Get real. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniepwils Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 What would happen to the plants and vegetation inside the bubble? No natural water or bees would have access to them. So no farms or flowers inside the bubble? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchtastic Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 57 posts and not a single reference yet to Logan's Run???????I'll be like the wise old dude on the outside with the cats and the ruins of DC. Everyone can risk death to escape the domed city and come live out their natural lives with me in freedom, on the weedy, decaying east side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLWM8609 Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 We must really be bored to even spend time discussing this. It was a stupid idea on the TV show and it's not getting any better with further discussion. Geesh, what a Captain Bringdown! Let us have fun mocking this already self-mocking prospect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Timmy Chan's Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 DON'T TAKE AWAY MY DREAMS!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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