Boston: Building History

Published on March 12, 2013 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Boston skyline, fron National Geographic, at nationalgeographic.com.

Do you enjoy reading through the many projects on the Building the World site? Would you like to create one of your own? Well you can! Building the World is looking for student submissions for Boston landmarks and systems for its Boston: Building History page. Students are asked to submit a brief history, an important document relating to the establishment of the structure or system, two discussion questions, resource list, and images to buildingtheworld@umb.edu. This is a great opportunity for students to become published. For more details please see the Boston: Building History page.

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Win $1000 for Voices of the Future!

Published on March 5, 2013 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Who: Rising junior or graduate student intending to receive degree in Spring 2014.

What: Award of $1000.00 for best discussion response (3 paragraph limit), voicing an idea for the future. This prize is to be distributed by the University of Massachusetts Boston in accordance with rules and regulations.

When: Enter by midnight, April 19, 2013

How: THREE EASY STEPS:
Step #1 VISIT
Visit UMB’s Building the World blog (http://blogs.umb.edu/buildingtheworld/).

Step #2 POST
On the blog, consider some of questions in Voices of the Future. What interests you? What problem speaks to you?

Step #3 EMAIL TO ENTER
Send a copy of your posted discussion response as an attachment to: buildingtheworld@umb.edu

For more entry details as well as sample responses, please visit:
http://blogs.umb.edu/buildingtheworld/annual-voices-of-the-future-award/ 

Duties of the Winner: Winner will be responsible for creating 4 original posts for the site’s homepage – 2 in fall 2013 and 2 in spring 2014.

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Cycling in France

Published on February 26, 2013 in The Canal des Deux Mers: France. 1 Comment

Cyclists along the Canal du Midi, from The Daily Mail, at dailymail.com.

Think of Paris and the image of a young man or woman riding a bicycle through the streets with a baguette in the front basket almost immediately comes to mind. Cycling is also associated with France through the famed Tour de France annual cycling race. It is no surprise then, that cycling is also a popular form of sight-seeing for French people and visitors. The Canal du Midi of the Canal des Deux Mers offers wonderful scenery to the cycling tourist, be it a casual ride along the banks, or a more intense trip from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. There are many guides available, from  Lonely Planet to personal blogs. Find one today and get pedalling!

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Holy Rivers

Published on February 19, 2013 in The Taj Mahal: India. 0 Comments

Pilgrims in Allahabad wading into the Holy Waters of the Ganges, from PBS at pbs.org.

In India, as with many other nations and/or religions, water is considered valuable for more than its hydrating properties. In fact, three of India’s rivers are considered to be holy: the Yamuna, – which runs by the Taj Mahal – the Ganges, and the Saraswati. Every twelve years a 55-day celebration known as Kumbh Mela occurs where these three rivers meet in Allahabad. The most recent of these celebrations occurred February 2013. For more information on the festival and its participants, please visit: http://www.npr.org/2013/02/12/171735743/in-the-waters-of-indias-holy-rivers-seeking-a-glimpse-of-immortality?sc=17&f=1001

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Charles Ives’ “The New River”

Published on February 12, 2013 in The New River: England. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

London traffic, from The Guardian, at guardian.co.uk.

The American composer’s “The New River” is a song that in title might sound as if it were about England’s human-made waterway, but instead Ives talks about a different kind of river, one of noise. The song for voice and piano has these lyrics:

“Down the river comes a noise!

It is not the voice of rolling waters.

It’s only the sound of man,

phonographs and gasoline,

dancing halls and tambourine;

Killed is the blare of the hunting horn.

The River Gods are gone.

Fortunately, the New River in England continues to preserve its bucolic nature through walking paths designed to help the public admire the English countryside not too far from London. In fact, some would say that without the beauty of the walking paths and their healthy lifestyle, Britain could have been less attractive due to the river of noise. Consider London Monday morning traffic reports.

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London Bridge not the Only One Worth Noticing

Published on February 5, 2013 in London Bridge: England. 0 Comments

View of the Forth Rail Bridge under construction, photograph by Evelyn Carey, in the records of the British Railways Board, from nas.gov.uk.

The Thames is not the only river in Britain with bridges that amaze the observer in style and design. The Fourth Rail Bridge in Scotland is to be considered as a world heritage site by UNESCO in 2015. For more information on the construction of the bridge and its application to UNESCO, please see:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-18237211

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Charlemagne in WWII?

Published on January 29, 2013 in Charlemange's Works: Western Europe. 0 Comments

If he weren’t so well known as a warrior and leader, Charlemagne’s would perhaps have been recognized by history for innovation in engineering. His troops may have been the first to invent the temporary bridge.  In 792 he commanded the design of a pontoon bridge suitable for crossing the Danube River. This method proved handy to an army on the move, and provided excellent security when the soldiers assembled the bridge, stormed across and then pulled it back over with them, not unlike the concept of a moat of a castle. Years later, the Bailey Bridge  — same concept – helped to win World War II.

A modern Bailey Bridge, from New Zealand Transport Agency, at nzta.gov.nz.

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Hospitality in a Time of Rebuilding

Published on January 22, 2013 in The Founding of Baghdad: Iraq. 0 Comments

The Republican Palace in Baghdad’s Green Zone, one of the buildings hosting the 2013 conferences, by Jim Gordon.

Rebuilding a city after a disaster, be it natural or man made, is a task that requires the cooperation of government and civilian alike. There is often a great deal of pride involved in attempting to reach a former level of success and beauty. Baghdad is no exception. In the midst of reconstructing the city and government however, Baghdad is demonstrating that it is still a city worthy of international awe by hosting a number of 2013′s international conferences, including the Gulf Energy Forum and an Arab League conference on Palestine. Like with London and the 2012 Summer Olympics, the need to house the international players while presenting the city of Baghdad as a global leader has led to a great deal of improvement within the city.

For more informaiton on the city’s improvements and the conferences being held there, please see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20979039.

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An Army of Peace?

Published on January 15, 2013 in Protective Dikes and Land Reclamation, The Netherlands. 0 Comments

Aerial view of the dike system in the Netherlands, from NASA, at nasa.gov.

Dikes not only saved the Netherlands from floods, but perhaps from war as well. The thousand-year-old dike army can be regarded as an authentic progenitor of the concept of “an army enlisted against nature” as proposed by William James in the essay “The Moral Equivalent of War.” Around the year AD 1100, west-Friesland had built an enclosure dike (omringkijk). At the same time, the Frisians established a “dike peace” or strongly enforced consensus that whenever a dike was endangered, family feuds must cease forthwith so that all available manpower could be mobilized to reinforce the dikes.

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Chambered Locks

Published on January 8, 2013 in The Grand Canal: China. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Chambered locks area a common feature on canals around the world. The first one, however, was located on the Grand Canal in China, dating back to 983 A.D. A lock is a mechanism for moving a boat or ship up or down an elevated portion of a river. The boat enters the first chamber of the lock, which is sealed by watertight gates at either end. The water level then rises or falls to the level of the second chamber, depending on the direction the boat is trying to go: upriver, the  chamber fills; downriver, the chamber empties. Once the desired level is reached, the gate in front of the boat opens and the process is repeated. Below is an image of a modern lock from the lower elevation.

Locks on the Ottowa River, from The New York Times, at nytimes.com.

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