Login
You're viewing the aleph.land public feed.

Replies

  • Dr Ro SmithRhube@wandering.shop
    Oct 23, 2026, 3:32 AM

    @sindarina @Lunaphied @lackthereof @flyingpenguin The university I went to, rumour was that when they built the library they didn't take into account the weight of all the books.

    They also made Central Hall to be a concert venue, but discovered it wasn't safe for students to jump up and down to rock music in.

    And there was a water tower you could neither take the water out of, nor put more in. (This was dismantled while I was there. RIP Chemistry Mushroom, gone but not forgotten.)

    💬 3🔄 0⭐ 9
  • LunaphiedLunaphied@provably.online
    Oct 23, 2026, 5:30 AM

    @Rhube @sindarina @lackthereof @flyingpenguin I've heard of multiple cases of libraries that didn't account for the weight of the books in the design. Meanwhile in my apartment I'm like "how could the designers possibly know how much weight an individual tenant will load with their belongings?"

    💬 1🔄 0⭐ 5
  • Sindarina, Edge Case Detectivesindarina@ngmx.com
    Oct 23, 2026, 5:35 AM

    @Lunaphied Larger buildings such as offices generally have a pretty standard average load rating per square metre, around 500 kg or so IIRC?

    Which is fine for regular usage, but not for heavier loads, like libraries, or server racks.

    I reckon it’s less of an issue for apartments, since the unsupported span is generally much shorter.

    But yes, I have also wondered 😂

    @Rhube @lackthereof @flyingpenguin

    💬 1🔄 0⭐ 4
  • iweiniwein@mas.to
    Oct 23, 2026, 6:56 AM

    @sindarina @Lunaphied @Rhube @lackthereof @flyingpenguin human designers typically overspec by a wide margin, especially when lives, or other valuable things are on the line. In my experience when someone's whipping out a pencil, notebook and calculator the majority just refuse to fire up their brains. The percentage of people willing to think is lower than the percentage of people willing to try, which has scared the shit out of me more than once . A bad human design looks bad at first sight, usually. AI design looks polished. So humans, on average, are not fit to check an AI design.

    Btw, it is theoretically possible to take appartment buildings down by establishing cast iron collections in them. But I've yet to see a rent contract that explicitly forbids that. As the world is getting stupider, I worry about such things 🤣

    💬 0🔄 0⭐ 1
  • 💬 0🔄 0⭐ 0
  • Gentleman Programmersjjh@hachyderm.io
    Oct 23, 2026, 6:19 AM

    @Rhube @sindarina @Lunaphied @lackthereof @flyingpenguin My university had a hall of residence with a swimming pool in the basement. Except they calculated the depth of foundations without the weight of the water in the pool.
    Somebody noticed after the swimming pool had been built but before the upper storeys had been built. So it stopped just above ground level. Basically a giant slab with pipes sticking out the top with a swimming pool below.

    💬 1🔄 0⭐ 3
  • Roger Gammansrgammans@dice.camp
    Oct 23, 2026, 7:27 AM

    @sjjh @Rhube @sindarina @Lunaphied @lackthereof @flyingpenguin I feel this is getting Monty python, but my uni's main building ( now grade 2 listed I believe) was designed with a swimming pool on the top floor. Until someone calculated then weight. In the end it became a sports/exam hall with an unusually high window placement and balcony.

    💬 1🔄 0⭐ 5
  • 💬 0🔄 0⭐ 2
  • 💬 0🔄 0⭐ 0
  • 💬 0🔄 0⭐ 1