1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Gustave Eiffel
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Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was a French civil engineer and architect. A graduate of École Centrale Paris, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway network and he is best known for the world-famous Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris, and his contribution to building the Statue of Liberty in New York. After his retirement from engineering, Eiffel focused on research into meteorology and aerodynamics, Gustave Eiffel was born in France, in the Côte-dOr, the first child of Catherine-Mélanie and Alexandre Bönickhausen. He was a descendant of Jean-René Bönickhausen, who had emigrated from the German town of Marmagen, the family adopted the name Eiffel as a reference to the Eifel mountains in the region from which they had come. Although the family used the name Eiffel, Gustaves name was registered at birth as Bönickhausen. The business was successful enough for Catherine Eiffel to sell it in 1843, both men spent a lot of time with the young Eiffel, teaching him about everything from chemistry and mining to theology and philosophy. During his second year he chose to specialize in chemistry, however, shortly afterwards Nepveus company went bankrupt, but Nepveu found Eiffel a job designing a 22 m sheet iron bridge for the Saint Germaine railway. These were constructed with the aid of compressed air caissons and hydraulic rams, Eiffel was initially given the responsibility of assembling the metalwork and eventually took over the management of the entire project from Nepveu, who resigned in March 1860. Following the completion of the project on schedule Eiffel was appointed as the engineer of the Compagnie Belge. Further promotion within the company followed, but the business began to decline, at the same time he was employed by Jean-Baptiste Kranz to assist him in the design of the exhibition hall for the Exposition Universelle which was to be held in 1867. Eiffels principal job was to draw up the arch girders of the Galerie des Machines, at the end of 1866 Eiffel managed to borrow enough money to set up his own workshops at 48 Rue Fouquet in Levallois-Perret. On 6 October 1868 he entered partnership with Théophile Seyrig, like Eiffel a graduate of the École Centrale. In 1875, Eiffel et Cie were given two important contracts, one for a new terminus for the line from Vienna to Budapest, the station in Budapest was an innovative design. The bridge over the Douro came about as the result of a competition held by the Royal Portuguese Railroad Company and this was greater than the longest arch span which had been built at the time. Eiffels proposal was for a bridge deck was supported by five iron piers. The price quoted by Eiffel was FF, the members included Jean-Baptiste Krantz, Henri Dion and Léon Molinos, both of whom had known Eiffel for a long time, their report was favorable, and Eiffel got the job. On-site work began in January 1876 and was complete by the end of October 1877, the Exposition Universelle in 1878 firmly established his reputation as one of the leading engineers of the time. As well as exhibiting models and drawings of work undertaken by the company, one of these, a pavilion for the Paris Gas Company, was Eiffels first collaboration with Stephen Sauvestre, who was later to become the head of the companys architectural office
3.
Railway
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Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, also known as tracks. It is also referred to as train transport. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles run on a flat surface. Tracks usually consist of rails, installed on ties and ballast, on which the rolling stock, usually fitted with metal wheels. Other variations are possible, such as slab track, where the rails are fastened to a concrete foundation resting on a prepared subsurface. Rolling stock in a transport system generally encounters lower frictional resistance than road vehicles, so passenger. The operation is carried out by a company, providing transport between train stations or freight customer facilities. Power is provided by locomotives which either draw electric power from a railway system or produce their own power. Most tracks are accompanied by a signalling system, Railways are a safe land transport system when compared to other forms of transport. The oldest, man-hauled railways date back to the 6th century BC, with Periander, one of the Seven Sages of Greece, Rail transport blossomed after the British development of the steam locomotive as a viable source of power in the 19th centuries. With steam engines, one could construct mainline railways, which were a key component of the Industrial Revolution, also, railways reduced the costs of shipping, and allowed for fewer lost goods, compared with water transport, which faced occasional sinking of ships. The change from canals to railways allowed for markets in which prices varied very little from city to city. In the 1880s, electrified trains were introduced, and also the first tramways, starting during the 1940s, the non-electrified railways in most countries had their steam locomotives replaced by diesel-electric locomotives, with the process being almost complete by 2000. During the 1960s, electrified high-speed railway systems were introduced in Japan, other forms of guided ground transport outside the traditional railway definitions, such as monorail or maglev, have been tried but have seen limited use. The history of the growth, decline and restoration to use of transport can be divided up into several discrete periods defined by the principal means of motive power used. The earliest evidence of a railway was a 6-kilometre Diolkos wagonway, trucks pushed by slaves ran in grooves in limestone, which provided the track element. The Diolkos operated for over 600 years, Railways began reappearing in Europe after the Dark Ages. The earliest known record of a railway in Europe from this period is a window in the Minster of Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany
4.
Arch bridge
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An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side, a viaduct may be made from a series of arches, although other more economical structures are typically used today. Possibly the oldest existing bridge is the Mycenaean Arkadiko bridge in Greece from about 1300 BC. The stone corbel arch bridge is used by the local populace. The well-preserved Hellenistic Eleutherna Bridge has a corbel arch. The 4th century BC Rhodes Footbridge rests on an early voussoir arch, a more complete survey by the Italian scholar Vittorio Galliazzo found 931 Roman bridges, mostly of stone, in as many as 26 different countries. Roman arch bridges were usually semicircular, although a number were segmental arch bridges, generally, Roman bridges featured wedge-shaped primary arch stones of the same in size and shape. The Romans built both single spans and lengthy multiple arch aqueducts, such as the Pont du Gard and Segovia Aqueduct. Their bridges featured from an early time onwards flood openings in the piers, e. g. in the Pons Fabricius in Rome, Roman engineers were the first and until the industrial revolution the only ones to construct bridges with concrete, which they called Opus caementicium. The outside was covered with brick or ashlar, as in the Alcántara bridge. The Romans also introduced segmental arch bridges into bridge construction, trajans bridge over the Danube featured open-spandrel segmental arches made of wood. This was to be the longest arch bridge for a thousand years both in terms of overall and individual span length, while the longest extant Roman bridge is the 790 m long Puente Romano at Mérida. The late Roman Karamagara Bridge in Cappadocia may represent the earliest surviving bridge featuring a pointed arch, in medieval Europe, bridge builders improved on the Roman structures by using narrower piers, thinner arch barrels and lower span-rise ratios on bridges. Gothic pointed arches were introduced, reducing lateral thrust. The 14th century in particular saw bridge building reaching new heights, the bridge at Trezzo sullAdda, destroyed in the 15th century, even featured a span length of 72 m, not matched until 1796. Constructions such as the acclaimed Florentine segmental arch bridge Ponte Vecchio combined sound engineering with aesthetical appeal, the three elegant arches of the Renaissance Ponte Santa Trinita constitute the oldest elliptic arch bridge worldwide. In China, the oldest existing bridge is the Zhaozhou Bridge of 605 AD. The Zhaozhou Bridge, with a length of 167 feet and span of 123 feet, is the worlds first wholly stone open-spandrel segmental arch bridge, Bridges with perforated spandrels can be found worldwide, such as in China
5.
Cantal
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Cantal is a department in south-central France, with its capital at Aurillac. Its residents are known as Cantalians and its principal towns are Aurillac, Saint-Flour, and Mauriac. Cantal is part of the current region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and borders the departments of Puy-de-Dôme, Haute-Loire, Aveyron, Lot, Lozère, the department is named for the Plomb du Cantal, the central peak of the bare and rugged Monts du Cantal mountain chain which traverses the area. Cantal lies in the middle of Frances central plateau, the Cantal range is a group of extinct and eroded volcanic peaks. Its highest point is the Plomb du Cantal, which reaches an elevation of 1,858 meters and its neighbors are Puy Mary and Puy Chavaroche. To their north lie the Cézallier and Dore ranges and the arid Artense Plateau, immediately to their east is the fertile Planèze Plateau, bound on its east by the Monts de la Margeride. The principal rivers are the Alagnon, which is tributary to the Allier, the Celle and Truyère, tributary to the Lot, at an elevation of 250 meters above sea level, the low point of the province lies in the Lot valley. The Truyère valley skirts the Planèze on the south and divides it from the Monts dAubrac, the western area of the department consists of grassy plateaus and beautiful river valleys. At first, Cantal was divided into four arrondissements—Aurillac, Mauriac, Murat, Murat was later merged into the others. The climate of the department varies considerably, prevailing winds and mountain ranges divide Cantal into four climatic zones, The west is subject to oceanic winds which bring rains. The mountains of the Cantal and the Cézallier create a shadow, it rains. The Planèze of Saint-Flour and the region of Massiac receive less precipitation, the plateaux of the Margeride and the Aubrac have harsh winters and pleasant summers. Generally, the weather is mild and dry in the plain between Murat and St-Fleur and around Aurillac, while summer storms and winters can be long and severe in the northern. The west—nearer precipitation coming in from the Atlantic—is well watered, there is abundant snowfall which can remain up to six months on the mountaintops. Winter temperatures can fall to below −15 °C, whereas in summer 25 °C is often reached, the southern part of the department, on its borders with Aveyron and Lot, is the hottest region. Aurillac averaged 2080 hours of sunlight per year over the period from 1991 to 2000, fog is rare and disappears quickly. Wind is usually not very strong, but the lightning flashes in this department are among the most spectacular in France, televised French weather forecasts often note Aurillac as the coldest city in France in the mornings. This status should be understood in light of their derivation from temperature readings by Météo France, of the 30 cities included on its maps, Aurillac is by far the one with the highest altitude, at 640 m above sea level
6.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
7.
Massif Central
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The Massif Central is an elevated region in the middle of southern France, consisting of mountains and plateaus. It covers approximately 15 percent of the country, the region was a barrier to transport within France until the opening of the A75 motorway, which not only made north-south travel easier, but also opened up the Massif Central itself. The Massif Central is an old massif, formed during the Variscan orogeny and it was powerfully raised and made to look geologically younger in the eastern section by the uplift of the Alps during the Paleogene period and in the southern section by the uplift of the Pyrenees. These tectonic movements created faults and are maybe at the origin of the volcanism in the Massif Central, in fact, above the crystalline foundation, we can observe many volcanoes of many different types and ages, volcanic plateaus, stratovolcanoes, and small, very recent monogenic volcanoes. The entire region contains a concentration of approximately 450 extinct volcanoes. The strip of Chaîne des Puys, running north to south and less than 60 square miles long, the Auvergne Volcanoes National Park is in the massif. In the south, one region, made up of features called causses in French. The most famous of these is the canyon of Tarn, the following régions are part of the Massif Central, Auvergne, Limousin. Part of the following régions are in the Massif Central, Languedoc-Roussillon, the largest cities are Clermont-Ferrand and Saint-Étienne
8.
Structural engineering
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They can also be involved in the design of machinery, medical equipment, and vehicles where structural integrity affects functioning and safety. Structural engineering theory is based upon applied physical laws and empirical knowledge of the performance of different materials. Structural engineering design utilizes a number of relatively simple structural elements to build complex structural systems, Structural engineers are responsible for making creative and efficient use of funds, structural elements and materials to achieve these goals. Structural engineers are responsible for engineering design and analysis, entry-level structural engineers may design the individual structural elements of a structure, for example the beams, columns, and floors of a building. More experienced engineers may be responsible for the design and integrity of an entire system. Structural engineering has existed since humans first started to construct their own structures and it became a more defined and formalized profession with the emergence of the architecture as distinct profession from the engineering during the industrial revolution in the late 19th century. Until then, the architect and the engineer were usually one. Only with the development of specialized knowledge of theories that emerged during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The role of a structural engineer today involves a significant understanding of both static and dynamic loading, and the structures that are available to resist them. The complexity of modern structures often requires a great deal of creativity from the engineer in order to ensure the structures support and resist the loads they are subjected to. A structural engineer will typically have a four or five year undergraduate degree, Structural engineers are licensed or accredited by different learned societies and regulatory bodies around the world. The aim of that association is to exchange knowledge and to advance the practice of engineering worldwide in the service of the profession. Structural engineering dates back to 2700 B. C. E, when the step pyramid for Pharaoh Djoser was built by Imhotep, the first engineer in history known by name. Pyramids were the most common major structures built by ancient civilizations because the form of a pyramid is inherently stable. The limestone blocks were taken from a quarry near the build site, since the compressive strength of limestone is anywhere from 30 to 250 MPa, the blocks will not fail under compression. Therefore, the strength of the pyramid stems from the material properties of the stones from which it was built rather than the pyramids geometry. Throughout ancient and medieval history most architectural design and construction was carried out by artisans, such as masons and carpenters. No theory of structures existed, and understanding of how structures stood up was extremely limited, knowledge was retained by guilds and seldom supplanted by advances
9.
Maurice Koechlin
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Maurice Koechlin was a Franco-Swiss structural engineer from the Koechlin family. A member of the renowned Alsatian Koechlin family, he was born in Buhl, Haut-Rhin and he was the first cousin once removed of André Koechlin, and the great-grandfather of actress Kalki Koechlin. When France lost the Franco-Prussian war to Prussia in 1870/1871 the Koechlin family as a decided to become citizens of Switzerland. After the defeat of the German Empire in 1918, however, Maurice studied at the lycée in Mulhouse, then between 1873 and 1877 civil engineering at the Polytechnikum Zürich under Carl Culmann. In 1876 he became a citizen of Zurich Between 1877 and 1879 he worked for the French railway company Chemin de Fer de lEst, much of his work was done for Gustave Eiffels Compagnie des établissements Eiffel, which Koechlin joined in 1879. In 1886 Maurice married Emma Rossier and they had six children, three sons and three daughters. Maurice and Emma were lifelong members of the Plymouth Brethren, in 1887 he started work on his plans for the Tour de 300 mètres in Paris, along with his younger brother Henri Koechlin and civil engineer Émile Nouguier. Maurice Koechlin became the Managing Director of Eiffels company when Eiffel retired from the profession in 1893. The company was renamed Société de construction de Levallois-Perret, Maurice Koechlin died in 1946 in Veytaux, Switzerland in a house built by himself in 1900. Major structural designs include, Garabit viaduct, Armature for the Statue of Liberty - in collaboration with Frédéric Bartholdi, Kalki Koechlin, an Indian film actress, through her father Joel, is a descendant of Maurice Koechlin. Maurice Koechlin et la Tour Eiffel, Paris, Éditions du Centre Georges Pompidou. Trautz, M. Maurice Koechlin Der eigentliche Erfinder des Eiffelturms, walbrach, K. F. Ohne ihn gäbe es keinen Eiffelturm, Maurice Koechlin. CS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list Maurice Koechlin
10.
Maria Pia Bridge
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The Maria Pia bridge, commonly known as Ponte Dona Maria, is a railway bridge built in 1877 by Gustave Eiffel in Porto, Portugal. Built of wrought iron, its two-hinged crescent arch used to carry the railway to Lisbon for 353 metres across the River Douro at a height of 60 m above the river, when constructed it was the longest single-arch span in the world. It is no longer in use as a bridge, a modern replacement having been constructed in 1991. In 1875 the Royal Portuguese Railway Company announced a competition for a bridge to carry the Lisbon to Porto railway across the river Douro. The river was fast-flowing, its depth could be as much as 20 m when in flood and these factors ruled out the construction of piers in the river, so that the bridge would have to have a central span of 160 m. At the time the longest bridge span was the 156 m of the built by James B. Eads over the Mississippi at St Louis, Eiffel & Cies design, priced at 965,000 French francs, was the least expensive of the four designs considered, around two thirds of the cost of the nearest competitor. Since the company was relatively inexperienced, a commission was appointed to report on their suitability to undertake the work and their report was favorable, although it did emphasise the difficulty of the project, The complete study of a structure of this size presents great difficulties. Eiffel, in his account of the bridge which accompanied the 1,50 scale model exhibited at the 1878 Worlds Fair, credited Seyrig, along with Henry de Dion, with work on the calculations and drawings. The structure consists of a deck 352.7 m long, another innovation was the method of construction used for the central arch. The same method was used to build the decking, temporary tower structures being built above deck level to support the cables. This technique had previously used by Eads, but its use by Eiffel is a good example of his readiness to use the latest engineering techniques. Construction started on 5 January 1876, and work on the abutments, piers, work then paused due to the winter flooding of the river, and the erection of the central arch span was not started until March 1877. Construction was completed on 1 October 1877 and the bridge was opened on 4 November 1877 by King Luís I of Portugal and named after his queen, in 1982, the bridge was designated a National Monument by IGESPAR. The bridge is often confused with the Dom Luís I Bridge, built nine years later and located a kilometre to the west, in 1991, the bridge was superseded by the new St Johns Bridge, designed by engineer Edgar Cardoso. Eiffel, The Genius Who Reinvented Himself, stroud, Gloucestershire, Sutton,2006 ISBN0750933097 Loyrette, Henri. New York, Rizzoli,1985 ISBN0847806316 Maria Pia Bridge at Structurae São João Bridge at Structurae Maria Pia on en. Broer. no
11.
Douro
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The Douro is one of the major rivers of the Iberian Peninsula, flowing from its source near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province across northern-central Spain and Portugal to its outlet at Porto. The Latinized name Durius, likely came from the Celtic tribes that inhabited the area before Roman times, in modern Welsh, dŵr is water, as well as dour in modern Breton with cognate dobhar in Irish. In Roman times, the river was personified as a god, the Douro vinhateiro, an area of the Douro Valley in Portugal long devoted to vineyards, has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Traditionally, the wine was taken down river in boats called rabelos, to be stored in barrels in cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia. In the 1950s and 1960s, dams were built along the river, now Port wine is transported in tanker trucks. In 1998, Portugal and Spain signed the Albufeira Convention, an agreement on the sharing of trans-boundary rivers to include the Douro, Tagus, the convention superseded an original agreement on the Douro, signed in 1927, that was expanded in 1964 and 1968 to include tributaries. It is the third-longest river in the Iberian Peninsula after the Tagus and its total length is 897 kilometres, of which only sections of the Portuguese extension below the fall line are navigable, by light rivercraft. In this region, there are few tributaries of the Douro, the most important are the Pisuerga, passing through Valladolid, and the Esla, which passes through Zamora. This region is generally semi-arid plains, with wheat and in places, especially near Aranda de Duero, with vineyards. Sheep rearing is still important. For 112 kilometres, the forms part of the national border line between Spain and Portugal, in a region of narrow canyons. It formed a barrier to invasions, creating a cultural/linguistic divide. In these isolated areas, in which the Aldeadávila Dam impounds the river, there are protected areas, the International Douro Natural Park and the Arribes del Duero Natural Park. The Douro fully enters Portuguese territory just after the confluence with the Águeda River, once the Douro enters Portugal, except for Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia at the river mouth, the only population centres of any note are Foz do Tua, Pinhão and Peso da Régua. Tributaries here are small, merging into the Douro along the canyons, the most important are Côa, Tua, Sabor, Corgo, Tavora, Paiva, Tâmega, none of these small, fast-flowing rivers is navigable. The most populous cities along the Douro River are Valladolid and Zamora in Spain, the latter two are located at the mouth of the Douro at the Atlantic Ocean. In Portugal, the Douro flows through the districts of Bragança, Guarda, Viseu, Vila Real, Aveiro, Porto is the main hub city in northern Portugal. Its historic centre has designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its significant architecture
12.
Porto
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Porto is the second largest city in Portugal after Lisbon and one of the major urban areas of the Iberian Peninsula. The urban area of Porto, which extends beyond the limits of the city, has a population of 2.1 million in an area of 389 km2. It is recognized as a global city by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group. Located along the Douro river estuary in Northern Portugal, Porto is one of the oldest European centres, the western part of its urban area extends to the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean. Its settlement dates back centuries, when it was an outpost of the Roman Empire. Its combined Celtic-Latin name, Portus Cale, has referred to as the origin of the name Portugal, based on transliteration. In Portuguese, the name of the city is spelled with a definite article, consequently, its English name evolved from a misinterpretation of the oral pronunciation and referred to as Oporto in modern literature and by many speakers. In 2014 and 2017, Porto was elected The Best European Destination by the Best European Destinations Agency, the history of Porto dates back to around 300 BC with Proto-Celtic and Celtic people being the first known inhabitants. Ruins of that period have been discovered in several areas, during the Roman occupation of the Iberian Peninsula the city developed as an important commercial port, primarily in the trade between Olissipona and Bracara Augusta. Porto fell under the control of the Moors during the invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in 711. In 868, Vímara Peres, a warlord from Gallaecia, and this included the area from the Minho to the Douro River, the settlement of Portus Cale and the area that is known as Vila Nova de Gaia. Portus Cale, later referred to as Portucale, was the origin for the name of Portugal. In 868, Count Vímara Peres established the County of Portugal, or, in 1387, Porto was the site of the marriage of John I of Portugal and Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt, this symbolized a long-standing military alliance between Portugal and England. The Portuguese-English alliance, is the worlds oldest recorded military alliance, in the 14th and the 15th centuries, Portos shipyards contributed to the development of Portuguese shipbuilding. It was also from the port of Porto that, in 1415, Prince Henry the Navigator embarked on the conquest of the Moorish port of Ceuta, wine, produced in the Douro valley, was already in the 13th century transported to Porto in barcos rabelos. In 1703, the Methuen Treaty established the relations between Portugal and England. In 1717, a first English trading post was established in Porto, the production of port wine then gradually passed into the hands of a few English firms. To counter this English dominance, Prime Minister Marquis of Pombal established a Portuguese firm receiving the monopoly of the wines from the Douro valley
13.
Marvejols
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Marvejols, is a commune in the Lozère department in southern France. Its inhabitants are known as Marvejolais, the commune is located in the Massif central. The Colagne flows southward through the middle of the commune and crosses the town, a medieval city exemplifying the Occitan culture, Marvejols was strengthened during the Hundred Years War against the English. But, having sided with the then Protestant Henri of Navarre, the future King Henry IV of France, Henry had it rebuilt in 1601 in recognition of the towns support for him. La porte du Soubeyran, a gateway dating from the fourteenth century. Despite some 17th-century repairs, it keeps its medieval charm. Notre Dame de la Carce dating from the end of the 13th century, two large bronze sculptures by Emmanuel Auricoste can be seen at two of the entrances to Marvejols. The wolf park of Gévaudan, Over 100 wolves live in a state in an area of hills above Marvejols. Espoir Oc is an association founded about twenty years ago, to promote and develop the Occitan language, based in Marvejols, they organize, on the first weekend of July, a festival based on the theme of the Middle Ages. Two big events take place, on the Saturday evening a great banquet consisting entirely of regional produce, finishing with a dance, on the Sunday morning, rock band Subway is made up of four women, all originally from Marvejols. Armand Blanquet du Chayla, French admiral, samuel Darchy, footballer The latter part of the story in the movie Betty Blue takes place in Marvejols. Sri Lanka, Colombo Cockermouth, UK Communes of the Lozère département Marvejols en Lozère, site officiel de la ville de Marvejols Espoir Oc Un cop era la Lausera
14.
Neussargues
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Neussargues-Moissac is a former commune in the Cantal department in south-central France. On 1 December 2016, it was merged into the new commune Neussargues en Pinatelle, château St Benoît, owned by the family of Olivier Messiaens first wife, Claire Delbos. The Valley of Alagnon The Alagnon River is tributary of the Allier River Olivier Messiaen Claire Delbos, violinist, first wife of the composer Olivier Messiaen
15.
Viaduct
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A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans for crossing a valley, dry or wetland, or forming a flyover. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere, the ancient Romans did not use the term, it is a modern derivation from an analogy with aqueduct. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early viaducts comprised a series of arches of equal length. Viaducts may span land, water or both, a viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans for crossing a valley or a gorge. The term is conventional for a flyover as opposed to a flying junction or a rail bridge which crosses one feature. In Romance languages, the word refers to a bridge which spans only land. A bridge spanning water is called ponte, the longest viaduct in antiquity may have been the Pont Serme which crossed wide marshes in southern France. Viaducts are commonly used in cities that are railroad centers, such as Chicago, Atlanta, Birmingham, London. These viaducts cross the railroad yards that are needed for freight trains there. These viaducts keep highway and city street traffic from having to be interrupted by the train traffic. Likewise, some viaducts carry railroads over large valleys, or they carry railroads over cities with many cross-streets, many viaducts over land connect points of similar height in a landscape, usually by bridging a river valley or other eroded opening in an otherwise flat area. Often such valleys had roads descending either side that become inadequate for the traffic load, such bridges also lend themselves for use by rail traffic, which requires straighter and flatter routes. Some viaducts have more than one deck, such that one deck has vehicular traffic, others were built to span settled areas, crossing over roads beneath—the reason for many viaducts in London. Viaducts over water use of islands or successive arches. The Millau Viaduct is a cable-stayed road-bridge that spans the valley of the River Tarn near Millau in southern France and it was formally dedicated on 14 December 2004 and opened to traffic two days later. The viaduct Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge in China is the longest bridge in the according to Guinness World Records as of 2011. Where a viaduct is built across land rather than water, the space below the arches may be used for such as car parking, vehicle repairs, light industry, bars. In the United Kingdom, many lines in urban areas have been constructed on viaducts
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Deflection (engineering)
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In engineering, deflection is the degree to which a structural element is displaced under a load. It may refer to an angle or a distance, Deflection can be calculated by standard formula, or by methods such as virtual work, direct integration, Castiglianos method, Macaulays method or the direct stiffness method, amongst others. The deflection of beam elements is calculated on the basis of the Euler–Bernoulli beam equation while that of a plate or shell element is calculated using plate or shell theory. An example of the use of deflection in this context is in building construction, architects and engineers select materials for various applications. The beams used for work are selected on the basis of deflection. Beams can vary greatly in their geometry and composition, for instance, a beam may be straight or curved. It may be of constant cross section, or it may taper and it may be made entirely of the same material, or it may be composed of different materials. Some of these things make analysis difficult, but many engineering applications involve cases that are not so complicated. Analysis is simplified if, -The beam is straight. A number of examples are shown below. The formulas expressed are approximations developed for long, slender, homogeneous, prismatic beams with small deflections, under these restrictions, the approximations should give results within 5% of the actual deflection. Cantilever beams have one end fixed, so that the slope, most calculations will be made in SI or US customary units, although there are many other systems of units. For example, sometimes the kilogram force unit is used to measure loads, in such a case, the modulus of elasticity must be converted to k g f m 2. Building codes determine the deflection, usually as a fraction of the span e. g. 1/400 or 1/600. Either the strength limit state or the serviceability limit state may govern the minimum dimensions of the member required, the deflection must be considered for the purpose of the structure. When designing a frame to hold a glazed panel, one allows only minimal deflection to prevent fracture of the glass. The deflected shape of a beam can be represented by the moment diagram, slope deflection method Deflection & stress of beams Calculators Deflection of beams Online Calculator for Deflection and slope of beams Beam Deflections
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Franc
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The franc is the name of several currency units. The French franc was the currency of France until the euro was adopted in 1999. The Swiss franc is a world currency today due to the prominence of Swiss financial institutions. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription francorum rex used on early French coins and until the 18th century, or from the French franc, the countries that use francs include Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and most of Francophone Africa. Before the introduction of the euro, francs were used in France, Belgium and Luxembourg, while Andorra. The franc was used within the French Empires colonies, including Algeria and Cambodia. The franc is sometimes italianised or hispanicised as the franco, for instance in Luccan franco, one franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. It was equivalent to one livre tournois, the French franc was the name of a gold coin issued in France from 1360 until 1380, then a silver coin issued between 1575 and 1641. The franc finally became the currency from 1795 until 1999. Though abolished as a coin by Louis XIII in 1641 in favor of the gold louis and silver écu. The franc was also minted for many of the former French colonies, such as Morocco, Algeria, French West Africa, today, after independence, many of these countries continue to use the franc as their standard denomination. The value of the French franc was locked to the euro at 1 euro =6, fourteen African countries use the franc CFA, originally worth 1.7 French francs and then from 1948,2 francs but after January 1994 worth only 0.01 French franc. Therefore, from January 1999,1 CFA franc is equivalent to €0.00152449, a separate circulates in Frances Pacific territories, worth €0.0084. In 1981, The Comoros established an arrangement with the French government similar to that of the CFA franc, originally,50 Comorian francs were worth 1 French franc. In January 1994, the rate was changed to 75 Comorian francs to the French franc, since 1999, the currency has been pegged to the euro. The conquest of most of western Europe by Revolutionary and Napoleonic France led to the wide circulation. Newly unified Italy adopted the lira on a basis in 1862. In the 1870s the gold value was made the fixed standard, the 1921 monetary union of Belgium and Luxembourg survived, however, forming the basis for full economic union in 1932
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Corail (train)
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Corail is the name given to a class of passenger rail cars of the SNCF that first entered commercial service in 1975. When introduced Corail carriages improved passenger comfort, featured air-conditioning, and superior levels of comfort, suspension, the acquisition of the Corail coaches was huge investment for SNCF with more than 3,000 carriages ordered, and represented leap in quality of service for French rail passengers. The name Corail, which is used as a designation of service for trains made up of these carriages, derives from combination of comfort. The carriages were built by the Société Franco-Belge in Raismes, northern France, when introduced, Corail carriages were painted in two tones of grey with a sharp flash of orange on the doors. Corail carriages were used throughout France on non-TGV locomotive-hauled services and their use was reduced with the development and introduction of the TGV, as the TGV network has expanded, Corail trains were cascaded down onto regional services. The SNCF responded by beginning to modernise the fleet in 1996, a new livery and refurbished interior was introduced as part of the Corail Plus programme. The orange doors become green for second class and red for first, buffet coaches do not operate anymore, however a mobile catering service using trolleys is offered on some Téoz services. On night services, a machine is located in the so-called voiture service. Lunéa night trains operate on a number of routes, offering a first. Passengers travel in compartments of four or six bunks, and are provided with a pillow, most Lunéa services also convey reclining seats cars. Between 2004 and 2008 Alstom rebuilt some 2nd class cars with baggage compartments into new B5uxh cab-cars, most of the vehicles were still in service in 2008. Surplus carriages were sold to councils to be used for TER regional services. Certain regions use Corail coaches geared for 200 km/h operation to operate fast regional services known as TER200, aqualys Sorefame Media related to Corail coaches at Wikimedia Commons Pictures of Lunéa services, categorized into separate folders for first class and two types of second class coaches. Facilities in Lunéa trains, from seat61. com
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Clermont-Ferrand
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Clermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with a population of 141,569. Its metropolitan area had 467,178 inhabitants at the 2011 census and it is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department. Olivier Bianchi is its current mayor, Clermont-Ferrand sits on the plain of Limagne in the Massif Central and is surrounded by a major industrial area. The city is famous for the chain of volcanoes, the Chaîne des Puys surrounding it, the famous dormant volcano Puy de Dôme is one of the highest of these and well known for the telecommunication antennas that sit on its top and are visible from far away. Clermont-Ferrands most famous square is Place de Jaude, on which stands a grand statue of Vercingetorix sitting imperiously on a horse. The inscription reads, Jai pris les armes pour la liberté de tous and this statue was sculpted by Frédéric Bartholdi, who also created the Statue of Liberty. Clermont-Ferrands first name was Augusta Nemetum and it was born on the central knoll where the cathedral is situated today, known then as Nemossos. It overlooked the capital of Gaulish Avernie, the fortified castle of Clarus Mons gave its name to the whole town in 848, to which the small episcopal town of Montferrand was attached in 1731, together taking the name of Clermont-Ferrand. The old part of Clermont is delimited by the route of the ramparts, the town of Clermont-Ferrand came about with the joining together of two separate towns, Clermont and Montferrand, which was decreed by Louis XIII and confirmed by Louis XV. Clermont ranks among the oldest cities of France, the first known mention was by the Greek geographer Strabo, who called it the metropolis of the Arverni. The city was at that time called Nemessos – a Gaulish word for a sacred forest and it was somewhere in the area around Nemossos that the Arverni chieftain Vercingetorix was born in around 72 BC. Also, Nemossos was situated not far from the plateau of Gergovia, after the Roman conquest, the city became known as Augustonemetum sometime in the 1st century, a name which combined its original Gallic name with that of the Emperor Augustus. Its population was estimated at 15, 000–30,000 in the 2nd century and it then became Arvernis in the 3rd century, and expanded until the mid 3rd century. The city became the seat of a bishop in the 5th century, at the time of the bishop Namatius or Saint Namace, who built a cathedral here described by Gregory of Tours. Clermont went through a period after the disappearance of the Roman Empire and during the whole High Middle Ages. Between 471 and 475, Auvergne was often the target of Visigothic expansion, a generation later, it became part of the Kingdom of the Franks. On 8 November 535 the first Council of Clermont opened at Arvernis, with fifteen bishops participating, including Caesarius of Arles, Nizier of Lyons and Saint Hilarius, bishop of Mende. Sixteen decrees were made there, notably the second canon that recalls that the granting of episcopal dignity must be according to the merits, in 570, Bishop Avitus offered the Jews of his town the alternatives of baptism or expulsion
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The Cassandra Crossing
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Ponti also saw the production as a showcase for his wife, Sophia Loren. When the existence of a strain of plague is revealed at the U. S. mission at the International Health Organization, two of them are shot, one mortally, by security personnel but one escapes. The surviving terrorist is hospitalized and quarantined and identified as Swedish, Colonel Stephen Mackenzie argue over the nature of the strain, which Stradner suspects is a biological weapon but which Colonel Mackenzie claims was in the process of being destroyed. The third terrorist escapes and stows away on a train bound from Geneva to Stockholm. Dr. Stradner believes that the train should be stopped so that the terrorist can be removed and quarantined, Mackenzie insists on rerouting the train to an abandoned ex-Nazi railway line to a quarantine camp in Janov, Poland. She is embroiled in an affair with her young companion Robby Navarro, Navarro is a heroin trafficker being pursued by FBI agent Haley, who is traveling undercover as a priest. Mackenzie informs Dr. Chamberlain of the presence of the terrorist, who is found, Chamberlain is also told that the plague has a 60% mortality rate. Mackenzie, however, informs passengers that police have received reports of anarchist bombs placed along the line. There the train is sealed with an oxygen system and a U. S. Army medical team is placed aboard. Dr. Chamberlain learns of the risk of the Cassandra Crossing, passengers on the train work together to stop the train before it reaches the Cassandra Crossing. The passengers manage to seize the back half of the roughly one km before the bridge and detach it, hoping that with less weight. But the bridge collapses, killing everyone aboard the front half, the back end applies the brakes and stops just before reaching the downed bridge. In Geneva, both Stradner and MacKenzie depart, she keeps hope of survivors while he thinks the elimination of the train means no investigations, a guard on duty orders both of them be watched. As appearing in The Cassandra Crossing, The Cinecittà studios in Rome were chosen for interiors, with French and Swiss locales providing most of the location footage. The steel arch bridge depicted in the film is actually the Garabit Viaduct in southern France, built from 1880 to 1884 by Gustave Eiffel, at the beginning of the film, passengers arrive at Geneva railway station to embark on the train. The scenes were shot at Basel central station, where Dr. Chamberlain enters the station, the green coloured trams, and Basels Central Station Square can be seen in the background. Many scenes were shot on the railway line Basel – Delémont – Porrentruy, peter OToole was offered the lead role, but he turned it down. Richard Harris played the part instead, the Cassandra Crossing was only the second film made by Lee Strasberg
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International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
22.
IMDb
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In 1998 it became a subsidiary of Amazon Inc, who were then able to use it as an advertising resource for selling DVDs and videotapes. As of January 2017, IMDb has approximately 4.1 million titles and 7.7 million personalities in its database, the site enables registered users to submit new material and edits to existing entries. Although all data is checked before going live, the system has open to abuse. The site also featured message boards which stimulate regular debates and dialogue among authenticated users, IMDb shutdown the message boards permanently on February 20,2017. Anyone with a connection can read the movie and talent pages of IMDb. A registration process is however, to contribute info to the site. A registered user chooses a name for themselves, and is given a profile page. These badges range from total contributions made, to independent categories such as photos, trivia, bios, if a registered user or visitor happens to be in the entertainment industry, and has an IMDb page, that user/visitor can add photos to that page by enrolling in IMDbPRO. Actors, crew, and industry executives can post their own resume and this fee enrolls them in a membership called IMDbPro. PRO can be accessed by anyone willing to pay the fee, which is $19.99 USD per month, or if paid annually, $149.99, which comes to approximately $12.50 per month USD. Membership enables a user to access the rank order of each industry personality, as well as agent contact information for any actor, producer, director etc. that has an IMDb page. Enrolling in PRO for industry personnel, enables those members the ability to upload a head shot to open their page, as well as the ability to upload hundreds of photos to accompany their page. Anyone can register as a user, and contribute to the site as well as enjoy its content, however those users enrolled in PRO have greater access and privileges. IMDb originated with a Usenet posting by British film fan and computer programmer Col Needham entitled Those Eyes, others with similar interests soon responded with additions or different lists of their own. Needham subsequently started an Actors List, while Dave Knight began a Directors List, and Andy Krieg took over THE LIST from Hank Driskill, which would later be renamed the Actress List. Both lists had been restricted to people who were alive and working, the goal of the participants now was to make the lists as inclusive as possible. By late 1990, the lists included almost 10,000 movies and television series correlated with actors and actresses appearing therein. On October 17,1990, Needham developed and posted a collection of Unix shell scripts which could be used to search the four lists, at the time, it was known as the rec. arts. movies movie database
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Virtual International Authority File
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The Virtual International Authority File is an international authority file. It is a joint project of national libraries and operated by the Online Computer Library Center. The project was initiated by the US Library of Congress, the German National Library, the National Library of France joined the project on October 5,2007. The project transitions to a service of the OCLC on April 4,2012, the aim is to link the national authority files to a single virtual authority file. In this file, identical records from the different data sets are linked together, a VIAF record receives a standard data number, contains the primary see and see also records from the original records, and refers to the original authority records. The data are available online and are available for research and data exchange. Reciprocal updating uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting protocol, the file numbers are also being added to Wikipedia biographical articles and are incorporated into Wikidata. VIAFs clustering algorithm is run every month, as more data are added from participating libraries, clusters of authority records may coalesce or split, leading to some fluctuation in the VIAF identifier of certain authority records
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Integrated Authority File
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The Integrated Authority File or GND is an international authority file for the organisation of personal names, subject headings and corporate bodies from catalogues. It is used mainly for documentation in libraries and increasingly also by archives, the GND is managed by the German National Library in cooperation with various regional library networks in German-speaking Europe and other partners. The GND falls under the Creative Commons Zero license, the GND specification provides a hierarchy of high-level entities and sub-classes, useful in library classification, and an approach to unambiguous identification of single elements. It also comprises an ontology intended for knowledge representation in the semantic web, available in the RDF format
