Construction Safety History - InfoBarrel

Since the beginning of time man has used tools to create and construct a living and working environment. From the earliest of shelters made with sticks and tree branches to the largest skyscrapers in the world, man has been building.

Unfortunately, not Home Improvement College Station everything progressed smoothly throughout these undertakings: plans have failed and deadlines have been missed. However, the single greatest tragedy in construction is not finishing over budget, but the death of a worker. Although there has been much improvement in the world of safety in construction there is still much to be done.

One of the earliest great construction projects of the world belongs to the Chinese with their construction of the Great Wall. The wall, expanding over 1,500 miles, was built in sections over a period of nearly 500 years dating from around 700 B.C. to nearly 200 B.C. The latest section bui lt occurred in a twenty year period starting in roughly 220 B.C.

Labeled the Great Wall of the Han Dynasty, this section of wall took the lives of approximately one million workers, slave and free laborers combined. Needless to say, safety was not a factor in constructing this wall.

Nearly two thousand years later, the French began building a canal to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. From 1880 to the mid 1890s, the French had severely misjudged the scale of the project; roughly 20,000 construction workers perished during the construction.

In the mid 1890s, when American companies took hold of the project, construction resumed and finally was finished almost twenty years later. Unfortunately, another 5,000 workers died working along the canal during this time period.



A few decades later, in the 1930s, the United Sta tes began undertaking huge construction projects. One of these first major projects was the construction of the Hoover Dam in Nevada. This dam, which diverts the flow of the Colorado River and powers virtually everything in the surrounding area, was primarily built in a span of three years. During this time, seventy-six workers perished.

During this same time period on the other side of the country, New York City saw the erection of its tallest skyscraper: the Empire State Building. Remarkably built in a span of only thirteen months, this one-hundred plus story building took the lives of fourteen workers.

Finally, traveling back to the west coast, California saw the connection of San Francisco and Oakland over the bay with the Golden Gate Bridge. Built from 1933 to 1937, this massive suspension bridge claimed the lives of only ten construction workers.

The history of construction is fascinating. However, the fact that so many lives in history have been lost in t he construction process is startling. The trend has decreased steadily, thanks to OSHA and other regulations,but much can https://www.houzz.com/ be done about the safety of workers. Work must continue to ensure that health and safety of all construction workers around the world.



http://www.infobarrel.com/Construction_Safety_History

Home Landscaping Design Tips and Resource Blog

Most traditional landscape management has been based on principles of control rather than cooperation. Historically, gardeners have worked hard to achieve what they considered "natural perfection." Lush, well-tended flower beds and perfectly-shaped shrubs and hedges bordering thick, green lawns.

Of course, all this "perfection and control" takes a terrible toll - on the gardener and the landscape. Hours of backbreaking labor is needed to weed, prune, water, and tend needy Sprinkler Installation Fort Worth plants that don't really want to be where they're planted. Tons of herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers are applied in order to keep everything and everybody in line. As a result, landscapes are all Sprinkler Installation Fort Worth too often ecological nightmares.

Today, it's appropriate to consider entering into a new relationship with the natural wo rld. Taking a step away, if you will, from everything that we've collectively (mis)learned about "proper garden care" and how a cultivated landscape should look. Gardens need to http://lawngrasses.com/ be less wasteful and more environmentally benign.



https://www.thegardencontinuum.com/blog

Landscape Paper-101 - InfoBarrel

Use landscape-paper where you want to kill weeds. Cover the landscape-paper with mulch; the paper rots down after a year, allowing you to hoe the ground to keep those weeds under control.

Some weeds need light to germinate, to start growing. All plants need light to keep growing. Even perennial, deep-rooted weeds like dock weed will exhaust their stored food supply and die if they cannot photosynthesise because light is excluded.

Mulch does a good job of excluding any https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox7DicTda0I light; it also stops wind blown seeds from reaching the ground and rooting. Mulch however will not stop deep-rooted weeds http://www.thefreedictionary.com/landscape from growing through it.



The mulch needs something underneath if it is to have any chance of stopping https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox7DicTda0I dock weed or dandelions. Weed control fabric is designed to do that job. It does so very well, but weed control fabric allows wind blown seeds to put roots down, through it, to the soil. These weeds cannot then be removed by hoeing, because the fabric stops the hoe cutting off the weed just below ground level.

landscape-paper is a new, lower cost, alternative to weed control fabric.

You roll out the landscape-paper onto your vegetable or flower garden. You cut 3 inch diameter holes in it and plant your annuals, cabbages and onions through the holes. Cover the landscape-paper with mulch and you have an attractive looking and totally weed-free vegetable garden or annual border.

landscape-paper comes in rolls 3 feet wide and 25 feet long. It is a pale brown color and it is biodegradable. The paper only lasts one season, but its low cost means that replacing it next season is no big deal.



For those who are growing organically landscape-paper is certified as suitable for growing organic vegetables because it contains no bleach or artificial additives.

If landscape-paper is not available where you live there are similar alternatives you might consider using.

Woodchip wallpaper is the first alternative, low cost, non-bleached paper with splinters stuck in it. It will cover the ground in exactly the same way and rot down into the soil after a year. Wallpaper rolls a re only about 2 feet wide though, so by the time you have done more overlapping than with the wider landscape-paper your savings will be minimal.

The paper underlay designed for underneath carpets might be a better alternative. It has no splinters in it and it is usually 6 feet wide, meaning less is wasted through overlaps.

Sheets of newspaper will also do the same job of separating mulch from soil, but these will not stop deep-rooted weeds in the same way as the others will. Use color printed newspaper if you want them to rot down more slowly.

You can also use newspaper sheets where you are laying turf. Just put the newspaper down on top of the raked soil. Weigh them down with stones and leave them for a month. Most of the weeds will have died by the end of the month and you can just roll the turf out on top of the newspaper.

http://www.infobarrel.com/Landscape_Paper-101

Why You Should Put Permeable Paving In Your Back Yard

By Kathleen Brenzel



Photograph by Eric Brandon Gomez

Big expanses of solid https://www.garden.com/gardening/2263/ paving just don't make sense in the dry West. They allow rainwater to run off down streets and into gutters and beyond. A better choice is porous paving, which allows water to pass through it to plant roots.

An example: Crushed rock covers much of the yard behind this tiny patio in West Hollywood, California. Designer Eric Brandon Gomez used a circle of decomposed granite to define the firepit area. This idea and the following, are from the new Sunset Western Garden Book of Easy Care Plantings.



Photograph by Chris Leschinsky

"Permeable" Can Be Cooling

Cool blue Dymondia margarete fills the spaces between pavers in this path, in a California Central Coast Garden designed by Ryan Fortini. Senecio mandraliscae and gray-green Agave attenuata grow on either side.



Photograph by Jennifer Cheung

"Permeable" Can Be Graphic

Before a redesign, this 700-square-foot front yard in Venice, California, consisted of one mature palm tree and a lawn. Designer Naomi Sanders ditched the lawn, and replaced it with a wide walkway, of concrete pavers and gravel, from the street to the front door. 'Fringing it are Big Red' kangaroo paw, threadleaf Japanese maple, feathery grasses, dark flax (Phormium tenax 'Bronze') and a purple-leaf plum.



Photograph by Thomas Story

"Permeable" Can Be Sleek And Modern

An irregular patchwork of precut pavers juts into a free-form path of decomposed granite in this Palm Springs-inspired patio designed by Lauren Dunec Hoang and Johanna Silver. Succulents fringe a small water trough in foreground; Yucca recurvifolia fills low bowls on the seat wall, and a giant boxed agave accents one corner.



Photograph by David Duncan Livingston

It Can Also Be Crunchy Underfoot

A gravel covers the ground in this Mediterranean-style San Francisco garden, designed by Katharine Webster. The permeable surfa ce and smart plant choices keep this garden drought- tolerant. The mostly green border around it includes a 50-year-old olive tree, screens of English laurel, and chartreuse Choisya ternata 'Sundance.'





Also on HuffPost:

Hang String Lights

Not only is it easy to install, but ambient lighting will set the perfect mood for your outdoor parties. The key to getting them to stay up? Screw-in (or use heavy duty adhesive) hooks. Just drape lights between hooks, making sure that the end plug is near an electrical source. To see more details, head over Sprinkler System Installation Greenville to Home & Garden Ideas.

Flickr photo by johnclarkemills



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sunset/permeable-paving_b_7456322.html

How To Produce Free Electricity at Home? by Gary Ashby

Homeowners are inundated with rising expenses and discovering the newest way to produce free electricity using a magnetic power generator may be helpful in saving money on heating expenses. It differs from a solar powered type of generator. Unlike the solar, wind and water sources of generating energy, it is self-perpetuating and not dependent on external forces.

http://www.renewableenergysystemreview.com/download-magniwork.htm

It is built in a similar way, using three components that are used http://www.sears.com/tools-electricians-tools/b-1219224682 to make the other kinds of generators. The magnets and long-lasting batteries are used to generate electric power. I also learned to build my own DIY electricity system cheaply using a guide that I will share more about with you.

Big businesses and environmental proponents are eager to find new substitutions for oil. Although a few controve rsial remarks have been made about this new generator, there has not been a particular defect identified. The United States will benefit from using this alternative energy source. If there is more of it generated this way, there will be less dependence on oil from overseas. There is no limit to how much heating costs can be reduced.

The generator works by using magnetic forces. A physics expert named Maxwell discovered the law of electromagnetism and developed it for practical use. One of the magnetic generators can be built using parts purchased at a local hardware store.

Two opposing magnets create a force and the third magnet balances that force. Motion is perpetuated, thereby producing energy. It is long-lasting compared to solar, wind or water power.

After being introduced to the public in 2002, it grew popular in a short time. It can heat a house, run the washer and dryer and light up the entire building. This generator will Best Electrician Service give the other Electrician Service College Station three types some competition. The manufacturers of those others are critical of this new one. Perhaps they are afraid of that possible competition.

It is capable of lowering heating bills by fifty percent. There are no safety issues, but more research is being conducted. There is no doubt that this magnetic power generator can produce free electricity. The only question is, how much? The initial cost may be high, but regardless of that, buyers can save money for years into the future. Homeowners are hopeful that it will be manufactured commercially for those who do not want to build their own. I have personally managed to build my own home DIY electricity system simply following a DIY guide online.





http://www.articlecity.com/articles/environment_and_going_green/article_1086.shtml

Fire Sprinkler Recall - CBS News

About 35 million building sprinklers across the country need to be replaced because they might not work during fires, the government and the Pennsylvania manufacturer said Wednesday.

The sprinklers are installed in homes, offices, day-care facilities, hospitals and other buildings, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said.

Central Sprinkler Co., of Lansdale, Pa., discovered some of its sprinkler heads have O-ring seals that can corrode, said L. Dennis Kozlowski, chief executive of Tyco International Ltd., which owns the sprinkler company. The firm has received 13 reports of sprinklers failing to work during fires.

"We immediately shared our concerns with the authorities," Kozlowski told reporters. He noted the deterioration of the sprinklers "takes place over a very long period of time."

Tyco will provide free replacements for all the recalled sprinklers, the safety commission said. The first sprinklers replaced will be the oldest, those showing signs o f damage or those in buildings such as nursing homes and hospitals.



The recall includes another 167,000 sprinklers sold by Gem Sprinkler Co. and Star Sprinkler Inc., which are also owned by Tyco, the safety commission said.

The recalled Sprinkler System Rockwall fire sprinkler heads have the words "CENTRAL" or "STAR", the letters "CSC", the letter "G" in a triangle, or a Sprinkler System Installation Rockwall star-shaped symbol stamped on either the metal frame or the flower-shaped metal piece at one end of the sprinkl er head.

About 2.5 million sprinklers installed in other countries, most of them in Canada, are also included in the recall, said Central Sprinkler spokeswoman Anne Buchanan.

People seeking more information about how to replace their sprinklers should call the company toll-free at 1-800-871-3492.

Building owners, however, shouldn't shut off their sprinkler systems because of http://store.rainbird.com/ this recall, said Joseph Hirschmugl, a spokesman for Chicago-based Underwriters Laboratories (UL), which provides safety certifications and has been testing the recalled sprinklers.

"People should remember that sprinklers are important life saving devices," he said, noting that the recall is a precaution.

The vast majority of the recalled sprinklers are of the GB or glass-bulb type that contain alcohol or another liquid in a bulb mounted on the sprinkler head. Heat rising from a fire expands the liquid, causi ng the glass to shatter. That releases the sprinkler's plug and allows water onto the fire. An O-ring seal keeps the plug from leaking.



The testing organization said in April that some glass-bulb sprinklers produced by Central Sprinkler had crystallized deposits or corrosion around the rubber seal, which indicated leaking water.

It has recommended that the sprinklers be replaced since March 2000, but at the time, Brad McGee, a Tyco senior vice president, said it was too early to consider a recall or replacement of the sprinklers.

In 1998, Central Sprinkler recalled 8.4 million Omega brand fire sprinklers because thy could fail in a fire. Those sprinklers, which were installed nationwide in schools, hospitals, hotels, offices and homes, failed to activate in about 20 fires during the 1990s, causing injuries and millions of dollars in property d amage, the safety commission said at the time.

MMI The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fire-sprinkler-recall/

ibis mobile Releases Deep-Learning-Based Auto Paint for Drawing App ibis Paint

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ibis mobile inc. (head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President/CEO: Eiji

Kamiya) released an additional function for social drawing app ibis

Paint. Using deep learning, the function enables automatic painting

based on line drawings.





Watch how auto paint works

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjCsASiOGmU

ibis Paint, a popular social drawing app with 8 million downloads, now

features deep- learning-based automatic painting for line drawings. On

the ibis Paint social site, many artworks are posted every day, with

more than 600 thousand user-created works on the server. We selected

about 300 thousand artworks suitable for deep learning from over 600

thousand posts, performed some image processing of the artworks in

advance and used them to develop the new function through several months

of trial and error-based research and development by using AWS's machine

learning cloud server (P2 instance) in Oregon in the U.S.

For users, this is a new art tool that is expected to enable new ways of

expression. After the release, users' posts on the ibis Paint social

site are expected to help us understand their drawing trend, which will

lead to higher accuracy and better recognition of diverse line drawings

of people, objects, and landscapes.

The current function can recognize peop le's face, hair, eye, cheek, and

mouth, and lines between people and objects. Not all of these are

painted with colors that users expect. An assist function addresses this

situation, allowing users to specify colors. With this, users can paint

in a short period of time.

This is our first commercial function that leverages deep learning. We

plan to continue research to enable new ways of expression and labor

saving using deep learning for drawing. Ultimately, we aim to develop

artificial intelligence that assists professional cartoonists,

illustrators, and animation creators to save labor and improve

efficiency.

Fig. 1 shows how to experience AI auto paint. First, search ibis Paint

on App Store or Google Play Store, and download a free version. Then

have a line drawing ready.

1. Tap My Gallery on title screen

2.

Tap + on My Galler y

3. Tap Import Picture http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Painters to load a line drawing

and adjust the loading position

4. Tap tool selection window

5.

Tap filters

6. Tap Auto Paint

Then auto paint is executed. If

you want to use the color specification assist function, open the color

selection window, choose a brush color, and apply color by tapping

inside the line drawing. The result is nicer when you put color with a

series of tapping motions rather than specifying a color with long lines.

Fig. 2 shows the results of some line drawings to which auto paint and

color specification assist are applied.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170606005695/en/ibis-mobile-Releases-Dee p-Learning-Based-Auto-Paint-Drawing