1.
Howrah Bridge (film)
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Howrah Bridge is a 1958 film directed by Shakti Samanta. Its name is a reference to Howrah Bridge, which connects Howrah to Kolkata over the Hooghly River and it features the well known Hindi song Mera Naam Chin Chin Chuwhich was reused in the film Salaam Bombay. This song was sung by Geeta Dutt and picturised on Helen, Director Samanta also said that the sensuous club number Aaiye Meherbaan picturized on Madhubala was also very memorable. The Music Director is O. P. Nayyar, the songs of this film were penned by the famous lyricist and Urdu poet Qamar Jalalabadi. The film performed average at the box office. There is an reference to the song Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu in Karan Johars 1998 film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. The ex-pat businessman Prem Kumar rushes to Calcutta from his home in Rangoon when he learns that his brother Madan has been murdered on the citys famous Howrah Bridge. Before his murder Madan stole their familys priceless heirloom, a dragon mask. Giving a false name, Rakesh, Prem attempts to infiltrate this underworld by romancing Edna, but Shyamus servant Bhiku witnessed the murder on Howrah Bridge. His snooping raises Pyarelals suspicion, and Pyarelal - who is jealous of Ednas attention - attempts to turn the tables on Prem. For a film in the genre, Howrah Bridges mystery isnt particularly mysterious. We know from the first scenes who committed the murder and stole the artifact, the love story, too, would have benefited greatly from subtler handling. Its apparent from the story that Prems initial interest in Edna is a fabrication, by failing to show us a clear turning point where Prem struggles against his pretended feelings becoming real, Howrah Bridge squanders an opportunity for satisfying dramatic tension. Despite these storytelling flaws, though, Howrah Bridge is engaging and entertaining all the way through, shadowy cinematography sets an appropriately noirish mood. And the city of Calcutta, its skyline dominated by the bridge, offers an ever-present. The film careens through its streets, from seedy immigrant districts to ramshackle waterfront shanties to shady nightclubs. The citys better face is shown, in the jaunty song Sunoji yeh Calcutta hai, picturized on Om Prakash driving his tanga past Calcuttas bright parks, historic buildings. The wonderful song Mera naam Chin Chin Chu, which made a star of Helen, is one of the exotic jewels set front-and-center in this dragon-mask of a film, the rest of the films numerous songs are magnificent too, and really deserve repeat watchings
2.
Neil Island
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Neill Island is an island of the Andaman Islands, located in Ritchies Archipelago. It belongs to the South Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman, the island is lying 36 km northeast from Port Blair. Neill is named after British Brigadier general James Neill, who had dealt with the rebels during the suppression of the 1857 Mutiny. Neill Island was uninhabited until the arrival of settlers in the late 1960s, like Havelock, the vast majority of settlers at Neill were refugees from erstwhile Bangladesh, following the exodus of Hindu Bangladeshis prior to that countrys war of independence in 1971. The island belongs to the Ritchies Archipelago and is located between Havelock Island and Rose Island and it is a comparatively flat island, and much of the landmass was deemed suitable for paddy cultivation. Unfortunately, as a result of this, very little forest cover remains at Neil, Neill island tends to remain a degree or two warmer than Havelock as a result of the lack of forest cover. The island is not without charm however, but it is a different, politically, Neill Island is part of Neill Kendra panchayat, of Port Blair Taluk. There are regular Government ferry from Port Blair to Neill Island, there are private cruise ships such as Makruzz and Coastal Cruise. Agriculture is the occupation of the villagers, and the island supplies vegetables to the rest of Andaman. Despite its minuscule tourist infrastructure, a number of tourists have chosen to stay at Neill Island instead of neighboring Havelock Island. There are a handful of restaurants and basic beach hotels that cater to international and domestic tourists
3.
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
4.
Hooghly River
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The Hooghly River or the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly, called Ganga traditionally, is an approximately 260-kilometre-long distributary of the Ganges River in West Bengal, India. It splits from the Ganges as a canal in Murshidabad District at the Farakka Barrage, the town of Hugli-Chinsura, formerly Hooghly, is located on the river, in the Hooghly. The origins of the Hooghly name are uncertain, whether the city or the river was named first, the Farakka Barrage is a dam that diverts water from the Ganges into a canal near the town of Tildanga in Murshidabad district. This supplies the Hooghly with adequate water even in the dry season and it parallels the Ganges, past Dhulian, until just above Jahangirpur where the canal ends and the river takes its own course. Just south of Jahangirpur it leaves the Ganges area and flows south past Jiaganj Azimganj, Murshidabad, the river then flows south past Katwa, Navadwip and Kalna. At Kalna it originally formed the border between Nadia District and Hooghly District, and then further south between Hooghly District and North 24 Parganas District and it flows past Halisahar, Chinsurah, Serampore, and Kamarhati. Then just before entering the cities of Kolkata and Howrah. At Nurpur it enters an old channel of the Ganges and turns south to empty into the Bay of Bengal through the estuary of about 20 mi wide, two of its primary tributaries are Damodar and Rupnarayan. The tide runs rapidly on the Hooghly, and produces an example of the fluvial phenomenon known as a tidal bore. This consists of the head-wave of the tide, hemmed in where the estuary narrows suddenly into the river. It is felt as high up as Kolkata, and frequently destroys small boats, the difference from the lowest point of low-water in the dry season to the highest point of high-water in the rains is reported to be 20 ft 10 in. The greatest mean rise of tide, about 16 ft, takes place in March, April or May - with a declining range during the season to a mean of 10 ft. In its upper reaches the river is known as the Bhāgirathi. In 1974, the Farakka Barrage began diverting water into the Hooghly during the dry season so as to reduce the difficulties at Kolkatas port. Like the rest of the Ganges, the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly is considered sacred to Hindus, the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly river system is an essential lifeline for the people of West Bengal. It was through this river that the East India company sailed into Bengal and established their settlement, Calcutta. People from other such as the French, Dutch, Portuguese. The river provides a supply of water to the plain of West Bengal for irrigation
5.
Howrah
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Howrah or Haora is an industrial city, a municipal corporation in the Howrah district, West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the district, and of the Howrah Sadar subdivision of the district, located on the west bank of the Hoogli River, it is a twin city to Kolkata. Howrah is the second smallest district after Kolkata, currently the state secretariat and the Chief Ministers Office in also located in Nabanna in Howrah. Howrah Station serves as a terminal for two railway zones of India, the Eastern Railway and the South Eastern Railway. There are six railway stations with the city, including the railway junction at Santragachhi. Dinabandhu Institution, an Institute of National Importance and a research institution, is also situated in Shibpur. Two national highways—NH2 and NH 6—are connected to Vidyasagar Setu via Kona Expressway, one endpoint of the Grand Trunk Road is at the Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden here, where the Great Banyan tree stands. Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, over 150 years old, the name came from the word Haor—Bengali word for a fluvial swampy lake, which is sedimentologically a depression where water, mud and organic debris accumulate. The word itself was used in eastern part of Bengal. Venetian explorer Cesare Federici, who travelled in India during 1565–79, as per his description, this was the a location into which large ships could travel and perhaps a commercial port. This place is identifiable with the modern day neighbourhood of Bator, Bator was also mentioned in the Bengali poetry Manasamangal written by Bipradas Pipilai in 1495. The list of villages appeared in the Consultation Book of the Council dated 4 May 1714, the five villages on the west bank on Hooghly river were, Salica, Harirah, Cassundeah, Ramkrishnopoor, and Battar, all identifiable with localities of modern-day Howrah city. The deputation was successful except for five villages. By 1728, most of the present-day Howrah district was part of either of the two zamindaris, Burdwan or Muhammand Aminpur. After Battle of Plassey, as per the treaty signed with the Nawab of Bengal, Mir Qasim, on 11 October 1760, in 1787, the Hooghly district was formed, and till 1819, the whole of the present day Howrah district was added to it. The Howrah district was separated from the Hooghly district in 1843, by 1914 almost every major city in India was served by the Railways and the increased demand for its rolling stocks and repair works resulted in the establishment of railway workshop in Howrah. The light engineering industry grew up after 1914, Howrah is located at 22. 59°N88. 31°E /22.59,88.31. It has an elevation of 12 metres As of 2011 India census
6.
Kolkata
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Kolkata /koʊlˈkɑːtɑː/ is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. In 2011, the city had a population of 4.5 million, while the population of the city and its suburbs was 14.1 million, making it the third-most populous metropolitan area in India. Recent estimates of Kolkata Metropolitan Areas economy have ranged from $60 to $150 billion making it third most-productive metropolitan area in India, after Mumbai, in the late 17th century, the three villages that predated Calcutta were ruled by the Nawab of Bengal under Mughal suzerainty. After the Nawab granted the East India Company a trading licence in 1690, Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah occupied Calcutta in 1756, and the East India Company retook it the following year. In 1793 the East India company was enough to abolish Nizamat. Calcutta was the centre for the Indian independence movement, it remains a hotbed of contemporary state politics, following Indian independence in 1947, Kolkata, which was once the centre of modern Indian education, science, culture, and politics, suffered several decades of economic stagnation. Many people from Kolkata—among them several Nobel laureates—have contributed to the arts, the sciences, Kolkata culture features idiosyncrasies that include distinctively close-knit neighbourhoods and freestyle intellectual exchanges. Though home to major cricketing venues and franchises, Kolkata differs from other Indian cities by giving importance to association football, there are several explanations about the etymology of this name, The term Kolikata is thought to be a variation of Kalikkhetrô, meaning Field of Kali. Similarly, it can be a variation of Kalikshetra, alternatively, the name may have been derived from the Bengali term kilkila, or flat area. The name may have its origin in the words khal meaning canal, followed by kaṭa, according to another theory, the area specialised in the production of quicklime or koli chun and coir or kata, hence, it was called Kolikata. The discovery and archaeological study of Chandraketugarh,35 kilometres north of Kolkata, Kolkatas recorded history began in 1690 with the arrival of the English East India Company, which was consolidating its trade business in Bengal. The area occupied by the city encompassed three villages, Kalikata, Gobindapur, and Sutanuti. Kalikata was a village, Sutanuti was a riverside weavers village. They were part of an estate belonging to the Mughal emperor and these rights were transferred to the East India Company in 1698. In 1712, the British completed the construction of Fort William, facing frequent skirmishes with French forces, the British began to upgrade their fortifications in 1756. The Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, condemned the militarisation and his warning went unheeded, and the Nawab attacked, he captured Fort William which led to the killings of several East India company officials in the Black Hole of Calcutta. A force of Company soldiers and British troops led by Robert Clive recaptured the city the following year, declared a presidency city, Calcutta became the headquarters of the East India Company by 1772. In 1793, ruling power of the Nawabs were abolished and East India company took control of the city
7.
Suspension bridge
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A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of type of bridge were built in the early 19th century. Simple suspension bridges, which lack vertical suspenders, have a history in many mountainous parts of the world. This type of bridge has cables suspended between towers, plus vertical suspender cables carry the weight of the deck below, upon which traffic crosses. This arrangement allows the deck to be level or to arc upward for additional clearance, like other suspension bridge types, this type often is constructed without falsework. The suspension cables must be anchored at each end of the bridge, the main cables continue beyond the pillars to deck-level supports, and further continue to connections with anchors in the ground. The roadway is supported by vertical suspender cables or rods, called hangers, in the latter case there will be very little arc in the outboard main cables. The earliest suspension bridges were ropes slung across a chasm, with a deck possibly at the level or hung below the ropes such that the rope had a catenary shape. The Tibetan saint and bridge-builder Thangtong Gyalpo originated the use of chains in his version of simple suspension bridges. In 1433, Gyalpo built eight bridges in eastern Bhutan, the last surviving chain-linked bridge of Gyalpos was the Thangtong Gyalpo Bridge in Duksum en route to Trashi Yangtse, which was finally washed away in 2004. Gyalpos iron chain bridges did not include a deck bridge which is the standard on all modern suspension bridges today. Instead, both the railing and the layer of Gyalpos bridges used wires. The stress points that carried the screed were reinforced by the iron chains, before the use of iron chains it is thought that Gyalpo used ropes from twisted willows or yak skins. He may have also used tightly bound cloth, the first American iron chain suspension bridge was the Jacobs Creek Bridge in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, designed by inventor James Finley. Finleys bridge was the first to all of the necessary components of a modern suspension bridge. Finley patented his design in 1808, and published it in the Philadelphia journal, The Port Folio, in 1810. Early British chain bridges included the Dryburgh Abbey Bridge and 137 m Union Bridge, with rapidly increasing to 176 m with the Menai Bridge. The first chain bridge on the European continent was the Chain Bridge in Nuremberg, the Clifton Suspension Bridge is one of the longest of the parabolic arc chain type
8.
Cantilever bridge
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A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using cantilevers, structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end. Engineers in the nineteenth century understood that a bridge that was continuous across multiple supports would distribute the loads among them and this would result in lower stresses in the girder or truss and meant that longer spans could be built. Several nineteenth century engineers patented continuous bridges with hinge points mid-span, the use of a hinge in the multi-span system presented the advantages of a statically determinate system and of a bridge that could handle differential settlement of the foundations. Engineers could more easily calculate the forces and stresses with a hinge in the girder, heinrich Gerber was one of the engineers to obtain a patent for a hinged girder and is recognized as the first to build one. The Hassfurt Bridge over the Main river in Germany with a span of 124 feet was completed in 1867 and is recognized as the first modern cantilever bridge. The High Bridge of Kentucky by C, the Kentucky River Bridge spanned a gorge that was 275 feet deep and took full advantage of the fact that falsework, or temporary support, is not needed for the main span of a cantilever bridge. The most famous early cantilever bridge is the Forth Bridge and this bridge held the record for longest span in the world for seventeen years, until it was surpassed by the Quebec Bridge. Benjamin Baker illustrated the principles of the suspended span cantilever in the photo on the left. The suspended span, where Kaichi Watanabe sits, is seen in the center, the need to resist compression of the lower chord is seen in the use of wooden poles while the tension of the upper chord is shown by the outstretched arms. The action of the foundations as anchors for the cantilever is visible in the placement of the counterweights. A simple cantilever span is formed by two arms extending from opposite sides of an obstacle to be crossed, meeting at the center. In a common variant, the span, the cantilever arms do not meet in the center, instead. The suspended span may be built off-site and lifted into place, thus, in a bridge built on two foundation piers, there are four cantilever arms, two which span the obstacle, and two anchor arms which extend away from the obstacle. Because of the need for strength at the balanced cantilevers supports. The Commodore Barry Bridge is an example of type of cantilever bridge. Steel truss cantilevers support loads by tension of the upper members, commonly, the structure distributes the tension via the anchor arms to the outermost supports, while the compression is carried to the foundations beneath the central towers. Many truss cantilever bridges use pinned joints and are statically determinate with no members carrying mixed loads. Prestressed concrete balanced cantilever bridges are built using segmental construction
9.
Truss arch bridge
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A truss arch bridge combines the elements of the truss bridge and the arch bridge. The actual resolution of forces will depend upon the design, if no horizontal thrusting forces are generated this becomes an arch-shaped truss, essentially a bent beam – see moon bridge for an example. If horizontal thrust is generated but the apex of the arch is a pin joint, if no hinge exists at the apex, it will normally be a two-hinged arch. In the Iron Bridge shown below, the structure of each frame emulates the kind of structure that previously had made of wood. Such rigid structures were developed in the 20th century as the Vierendeel truss. The Iron Bridge, the first metal bridge of any kind, maria Pia Bridge, Gustave Eiffels pioneering two-hinge arch. Hurricane Deck Bridge, the last remaining truss-type bridge on Lake of the Ozarks in central Missouri, i-35W Mississippi River bridge bridge that collapsed in 2007 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Navajo Bridge and newer bridge of the general construction, each built as unsupported cantilevers joined with a central pin
10.
James Meadows Rendel (engineer)
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James Meadows Rendel FRS was a British civil engineer. Rendel was the son of the surveyor James Rendel or Rendle and his wife Jane, daughter of the architect John Meadows, he was born near Okehampton, Devon, in 1799. He was initiated into the operations of a millwright under an uncle at Teignmouth, at an early age he went to London as a surveyor under Thomas Telford, by whom he was employed on the surveys for the proposed suspension bridge across the Mersey at Runcorn. About 1822 he settled at Plymouth, and commenced the construction of roads in the north of Devon, one of his smaller projects, still surviving, was an 1826 bridge over Bowcombe Creek on the Kingsbridge Estuary. In August 1824 he was employed by the Earl of Morley in making a bridge across the Catwater, to guard against the undermining effects of the current, he formed an artificial bottom. The bridge, which cost £27,126, was opened on 14 July 1827 and he soon entered into partnership at Plymouth with Nathaniel Beardmore, and his practice rapidly grew. In 1826 he erected Bowcombe Bridge, near Kingsbridge, Devon, in 1831 he introduced a new system of crossing rivers by means of chain ferries worked by steam, and in 1832 he constructed a floating bridge on this principle, crossing the Dart at Dartmouth. Between 1832 and 1834 similar floating bridges were erected at Torpoint and Saltash across the Tamar, for these achievements a second Telford medal was awarded to Rendel in 1838. The Torpoint Ferry still operates, albeit much updated, a similar floating bridge was implemented as the Woolston ferry between Woolston, Hampshire and Southampton in 1836. During this period Rendel was also engaged in reporting on harbours and rivers in the southwest of England, in 1836-37 he designed, as a terminus to the Great Western Railway, the Millbay Docks, Plymouth, afterwards executed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In 1843-44 he constructed canals in Devon, and was engaged on the Colchester and Arundel navigation, at the same time he was largely employed on marine works by the Admiralty and other government departments, as well as by public companies. The exchequer loan commissioners engaged him in 1835-37 in the repair of the Montrose suspension bridge after its fall, there he introduced the principle of trussing the framing of the roadway. This system of preventing the undulation, by which so many structures of the kind have been destroyed, was acknowledged to be essential to their safety. About 1838 Rendel dissolved his partnership with Beardmore at Plymouth, and settled in London, in 1841 he constructed the Millbay pier, Plymouth, a work of considerable difficulty owing to the depth of water in which it was built. Here he first introduced the method of construction since employed in Holyhead, in 1839 he was engaged in preparing schemes for a railway between Exeter and Plymouth, running over Dartmoor. At the time sufficient funds could not be raised, but an alternative coast line was carried out by I. K. Brunel. In 1843 he made plans for docks at Birkenhead, which he defended before parliamentary committees against hostile local influence, the contest was long protracted, and the incessant labour served to shorten Rendels life, his published evidence forms a valuable record of engineering practice of the period. In 1844-53 he constructed docks at Grimsby, in 1848-53 extensions of the docks at Leith, in 1850-53 docks at Garston on the Mersey, with extensions of the East and West India and the London docks
11.
Annual average daily traffic
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Annual average daily traffic, abbreviated AADT, is a measure used primarily in transportation planning and transportation engineering. Traditionally, it is the volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a year divided by 365 days. AADT is a useful and simple measurement of how busy the road is, newer advances from traffic data providers are now providing AADT by side of the road, by day of week and by time of day. One of the most important uses of AADT is for determining funding for the maintenance, in the United States the amount of federal funding a state will receive is related to the total traffic measured across its Highway network. Each year on June 15, every state in the United States submits a Highway Performance Monitoring System HPMS report, the HPMS report contains various information regarding the road segments in the state based on a sample of the road segments. In the report, the AADT is converted to Vehicle Miles Traveled, VMT is the AADT multiplied by the length of the road segment. To determine the amount of traffic a state has, the AADT cannot be summed for all road segments since an AADT is a rate, the VMT is summed and is used as an indicator of the amount of traffic a state has. For federal-funding, formulas are applied to include the VMT and other highway statistics, to measure AADT on individual road segments, traffic data is collected either by an automated traffic counter or hiring an observer to record traffic. There are two different techniques of measuring the AADTs for road segments, one technique is called continuous count data collection method. This is where sensors are embedded into a road and traffic data is measured all 365 days. The AADT would be the sum of the traffic for the entire year divided by 365 days. There is a problem calculating the AADT with this method. The continuous count equipment is not operating for the full 365 days due to being shut down for maintenance or repair, because of this, seasonal or day-of-week biases might skew the calculated AADT. In 1992, AASHTO released the AASHTO Guidelines for Traffic Data Programs, for every month and day-of-week, a Monthly Average Day of Week is calculated. Each day-of-weeks MADW is then calculated across months to calculate an Annual Average Day of Week, finally, the AADWs are averaged to calculate an AADT. The United States Federal Highway Administration has adopted this method as the method in the. While providing the most accurate AADT, installing and maintaining continuous count stations method is costly, most agencies are only able to monitor a very small percentage of the roadway using this method. Most AADTs are generated using data collection methods sometimes known as the coverage count data collection method
12.
West Bengal
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West Bengal is an Indian state, located in East India on the Bay of Bengal. It is Indias fourth-most populous state, with over 91 million inhabitants and it has a total area of 34,267 sq mi, making it similar in size to Serbia. A part of the ethno-linguistic Bengal region, it borders Bangladesh in the east and Nepal and it also has borders five Indian states, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata, the seventh-largest city in India, the geography of West Bengal includes the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in its extreme north, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region and the coastal Sundarbans. The main ethnic group are the Bengali people, with Bengali Hindus forming the demographic majority, Ancient Bengal was the site of several major janapadas, including Vanga, Radha, Pundra and Suhma. In the 2nd century BC, the region was conquered by the emperor Ashoka, in the 4th century AD, it was absorbed into the Gupta Empire. From the 13th century onward, the region was ruled by sultans, powerful Hindu states and Baro-Bhuyan landlords. The British East India Company cemented their hold on the following the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Between 1977 and 2011, the state was administered by the worlds longest elected Communist government, a major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to Indias net domestic product. It is noted for its activities and the presence of cultural and educational institutions. The states cultural heritage, besides varied folk traditions, ranges from stalwarts in literature including Nobel-laureate Rabindranath Tagore to scores of musicians, film-makers and artists. West Bengal is also distinct from most other Indian states in its appreciation and practice of playing football besides cricket. The origin of the name Bengal is unknown, one theory suggests that the word derives from Bang, a Dravidian tribe that settled the region around 1000 BC. The word might have derived from the ancient kingdom of Vanga. Although some early Sanskrit literature mentions the name, the early history is obscure. At the end of British Rule over the Indian subcontinent, the Bengal region was partitioned in 1947 along religious lines into east and west, the east came to be known as East Bengal and the west came to known as West Bengal, which continued as an Indian state. In 2011, the Government of West Bengal proposed a change in the name of the state to Poschimbongo. This is the name of the state, literally meaning western Bengal in the native Bengali language
13.
Pontoon bridge
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A pontoon bridge, also known as a floating bridge, uses floats or shallow-draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the limits the maximum load they can carry. Most pontoon bridges are temporary, used in wartime and civil emergencies, permanent floating bridges are useful for sheltered water-crossings where it is not considered economically feasible to suspend a bridge from anchored piers. Such bridges can require a section that is elevated, or can be raised or removed, a pontoon bridge is a collection of specialized, shallow draft boats or floats, connected together to cross a river or canal, with a track or deck attached on top. The water buoyancy supports the boats, limiting the load to the total. The supporting boats or floats can be open or closed, temporary or permanent in installation, the decking may be temporary or permanent, and constructed out of wood, modular metal, or asphalt or concrete over a metal frame. The spelling ponton in English dates from at least 1870, the use continued in references found in U. S. patents during the 1890s. It continued to be spelled in that fashion through World War II, U. S. combat engineers commonly pronounced the word ponton rather than pontoon and U. S. military manuals spelled it using a single o. The original word was derived from Old French ponton, from Latin ponto, when designing a pontoon bridge, the civil engineer must take into consideration the Archimedes principle looking at the maximum amount of load that it is intended to support. Each pontoon can support an equal to the mass of the water that it displaces. If the maximum load of a section is exceeded, one or more pontoons become submerged. The roadway across the pontoons must also be able to support the load, survey to determine the best location. The connection to shore often causes problems, requiring the design of approaches that are not too steep, keep the bank from crumbling, Floating bridges were typically constructed using wood. Such a wooden floating bridge could be built in a series of sections, Pontoons were formed using boats, several barrels lashed together, rafts of timbers, or some combination of these. Each bridge section consisted of one or more pontoons, which were maneuvered into position and then anchored, using underwater and these pontoons were then linked together using wooden stringers called balks. The balks were then covered by a series of cross planks called chesses to form a surface. Some bridges have been designed and survived much longer, in Hobart a long pontoon bridge built in 1943 was only replaced after 21 years. The fourth Galata Bridge that spans the Golden Horn in Istanbul, Turkey was built in 1912, precautions are needed to protect a pontoon bridge from becoming damaged
14.
Bengalis
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The Bengalis, also spelled as the Bangalees, are a major Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group. They are native to the region of Bengal in South Asia and they speak the Bengali language, the most easterly branch of the Indo-European language family. Bengalis are the third largest ethnic group in the world after the Han Chinese, apart from Bangladesh and West Bengal, Bengali-majority populations also reside in Indias Tripura state, the Barak Valley in Assam state and the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The global Bengali diaspora has well-established communities in Pakistan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and they have four major religious subgroups, including Bengali Muslims, Bengali Hindus, Bengali Christians and Bengali Buddhists. Archaeologists have discovered remnants of a 4,000 years old Chalcolithic civilisation in the greater Bengal region, however evidence of much older Palaeolithic human habitations are found in the form of a Stone Implement and a Hand Axe in Rangamati and Feni districts of Bangladesh. The origin of the word Bangla ~ Bengal is unknown, though it is believed to be derived from a tribe called Bang that settled in the area around the year 1000 BCE. Kingdoms of Anga, Vanga and Magadha were formed in and around Bengal and were first described in the Atharvaveda around 1000 BCE as well as in Hindu epic Mahabharata, from the 6th century BCE, Magadha expanded to include most of the Bihar and Bengal regions. It was one of the four kingdoms of India at the time of Buddha and was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas. One of the earliest foreign references to Bengal is the mention of a land ruled by the king Xandrammes named Gangaridai by the Greeks around 100 BCE, the word is speculated to have come from Gangahrd in reference to an area in Bengal. Later from the 3rd to the 6th centuries CE, the kingdom of Magadha served as the seat of the Gupta Empire, one of the first recorded independent kings of Bengal was Shashanka, reigning around the early 7th century. After a period of anarchy, Gopala came to power in 750, atisha was a renowned Bengali Buddhist teacher who was instrumental in revival of Buddhism in Tibet and also held the position of Abbot at the Vikramshila university. Tilopa was also from Bengal region, the Pala dynasty was later followed by a shorter reign of the Hindu Sena Empire. Islam was introduced to Bengal in the century by Sufi missionaries. Subsequent Muslim conquests helped spread Islam throughout the region, bakhtiar Khilji, a Turkic general of the Slave dynasty of Delhi Sultanate, defeated Lakshman Sen of the Sena dynasty and conquered large parts of Bengal. Consequently, the region was ruled by dynasties of sultans and feudal lords under the Bengal Sultanate for the few hundred years. Islam was introduced to the Sylhet region by the Muslim saint Shah Jalal in the early 14th century, Mughal general Man Singh conquered parts of Bengal including Dhaka during the time of Emperor Akbar. Few Rajput tribes from his army permanently settled around Dhaka and surrounding lands, later on, in the early 17th century, Islam Khan conquered all of Bengal. Other figures have been considered to be part of the Renaissance and he is considered one of the fathers of radio science, and is also considered the father of Bengali science fiction
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Rabindranath Tagore
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Author of Gitanjali and its profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. Sometimes referred to as the Bard of Bengal, Tagores poetic songs were viewed as spiritual and mercurial, however, his elegant prose, a Pirali Brahmin from Calcutta with ancestral gentry roots in Jessore, Tagore wrote poetry as an eight-year-old. At the age of sixteen, he released his first substantial poems under the pseudonym Bhānusiṃha, by 1877 he graduated to his first short stories and dramas, published under his real name. As a humanist, universalist internationalist, and ardent anti-nationalist, he denounced the British Raj, Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and personal, Gitanjali, Gora and Ghare-Baire are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed—or panned—for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation. His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems, Indias Jana Gana Mana and Bangladeshs Amar Shonar Bangla, the Sri Lankan national anthem was inspired by his work. The youngest of thirteen surviving children, Tagore was born on 7 May 1861 in the Jorasanko mansion in Calcutta to Debendranath Tagore, Tagore was raised mostly by servants, his mother had died in his early childhood and his father travelled widely. The Tagore family was at the forefront of the Bengal renaissance and they hosted the publication of literary magazines, theatre and recitals of Bengali and Western classical music featured there regularly. Tagores father invited several professional Dhrupad musicians to stay in the house, Tagores oldest brother Dwijendranath was a philosopher and poet. Another brother, Satyendranath, was the first Indian appointed to the elite, yet another brother, Jyotirindranath, was a musician, composer, and playwright. His sister Swarnakumari became a novelist, jyotirindranaths wife Kadambari Devi, slightly older than Tagore, was a dear friend and powerful influence. Her abrupt suicide in 1884, soon after he married, left him for years profoundly distraught, Tagore largely avoided classroom schooling and preferred to roam the manor or nearby Bolpur and Panihati, idylls which the family visited. His brother Hemendranath tutored and physically conditioned him—by having him swim the Ganges or trek through hills, by gymnastics and he learned drawing, anatomy, geography and history, literature, mathematics, Sanskrit, and English—his least favourite subject. Tagore loathed formal education—his scholarly travails at the local Presidency College spanned a single day, there Tagore read biographies, studied history, astronomy, modern science, and Sanskrit, and examined the classical poetry of Kālidāsa. Tagore returned to Jorosanko and completed a set of works by 1877. As a joke, he claimed that these were the lost works of a newly discovered 17th-century Vaiṣṇava poet Bhānusiṃha, regional experts accepted them as the lost works of Bhānusiṃha. He debuted in the genre in Bengali with Bhikharini. Published in the year, Sandhya Sangit includes the poem Nirjharer Swapnabhanga
16.
Nobel Prize in Literature
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Though individual works are sometimes cited as being particularly noteworthy, here work refers to an authors work as a whole. The Swedish Academy decides who, if anyone, will receive the prize in any given year, the academy announces the name of the chosen laureate in early October. Although the Nobel Prize in Literature has become the worlds most prestigious literature prize, many authors who have won the prize have fallen into obscurity, while others rejected by the jury remain widely studied and read. The prize has become seen as a political one - a peace prize in literary disguise, whose judges are prejudiced against authors with different political tastes to them. Tim Parks has expressed skepticism that it is possible for Swedish professors, as of 2016,16 of the 113 recipients have been of Scandinavian origin. The Academy has often been alleged to be biased towards European, Nobels vague wording for the criteria for the prize has led to recurrent controversy. In the original Swedish, the word translates as either idealistic or ideal. The Nobel Committees interpretation has varied over the years, in recent years, this means a kind of idealism championing human rights on a broad scale. Though Nobel wrote several wills during his lifetime, the last was written a little over a year before he died, Nobel bequeathed 94% of his total assets,31 million Swedish kronor, to establish and endow the five Nobel Prizes. Due to the level of surrounding the will, it was not until 26 April 1897 that the Storting approved it. The executors of his will were Ragnar Sohlman and Rudolf Lilljequist, the members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee that were to award the Peace Prize were appointed shortly after the will was approved. The prize-awarding organisations followed, the Karolinska Institutet on 7 June, the Swedish Academy on 9 June, the Nobel Foundation then reached an agreement on guidelines for how the Nobel Prize should be awarded. In 1900, the Nobel Foundations newly created statutes were promulgated by King Oscar II, according to Nobels will, the Royal Swedish Academy was to award the Prize in Literature. Each year, the Swedish Academy sends out requests for nominations of candidates for the Nobel Prize in Literature and it is not permitted to nominate oneself. Thousands of requests are sent out each year, and as of 2011 about 220 proposals are returned and these proposals must be received by the Academy by 1 February, after which they are examined by the Nobel Committee. By April, the Academy narrows the field to around twenty candidates, by May, a short list of five names is approved by the Committee. The subsequent four months are spent in reading and reviewing the works of the five candidates. In October, members of the Academy vote and the candidate who receives more than half of the votes is named the Nobel laureate in Literature
17.
Vidyasagar Setu
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Vidyasagar Setu, also known as the Second Hooghly Bridge, is a toll bridge over the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India, linking the cities of Kolkata and Howrah. With a total length of 823 metres, Vidyasagar Setu is the longest cable–stayed bridge in India and it was the second bridge to be built across the Hooghly River, the first, the Howrah Bridge 3.7 kilometres to the north, was completed in 1943. Named after the educationist reformer Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, it cost ₹3.88 billion to build, the project was a joint effort between the public and private sectors, under the control of the Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners. Subsequently, the traffic reached a minimum of 45,000 vehicles. The original management of the revenue collection by HRBC was consequently criticized for corruption. Population and commercial activity grew rapidly after India gained independence in August 1947, the only link across the Hooghly River, the Howrah Bridge, between Howrah and Kolkata, was subject to much traffic congestion, with over 85,000 vehicles every day. This necessitated planning for a new bridge across the river so that it could connect to the cities of Mumbai, Delhi. The foundation stone for the bridge was laid by Indira Gandhi on 20 May 1972, the bridge took more than 22 years to complete and cost Indian Rupees 3.88 billion, but in seven of those years there was no construction activity. The bridge is named after the 19th-century Bengali educationist reformer Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, work on the cable-stayed bridge started with the construction of the well curb on the Calcutta bank end on 3 July 1979. Kona Expressway and Vidyasagar Setu experienced an rise in the volume of traffic over a couple of years. Over 100,000 vehicles take the expressway to reach Calcutta via Vidyasagar Setu, the bridge was designed by Schlaich Bergermann & Partner, and checked by Freeman Fox & Partners and Bharat Bhari Udyog Nigam Limited. Construction was carried out by the consortium of The Braithwaite Burn, the Hooghly River Bridge Commission was responsible for the commissioning operations of the bridge. Construction began on 3 July 1979, and the bridge was commissioned on 10 October 1992 by the Hooghly River Bridge Commission, Vidyasagar Setu is a cable-stayed bridge, with 121 cables in a fan arrangement, built using steel pylons 127.62 metres high. With a total length of 823 metres, Vidyasagar Setu is the longest cable–stayed bridge in India, the deck is made of composite steel-reinforced concrete with two carriageways. The total width of the bridge is 35 metres, with 3 lanes in each direction, the deck over the main span is 457.20 metres long. The two side spans are supported by wire cables and are 182.88 metres long. Vidyasagar Setu is a toll bridge and it has capacity to handle more than 85,000 vehicles in a day. The design of the bridge differs slightly from other bridges, which are of live load composite construction, the difference is in the dead load design concept adopted for this bridge and concreting of the side spans done with support provided by the intermediate trestle
18.
Vivekananda Setu
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Vivekananda Setu is a bridge over the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. It links the city of Howrah, at Bally, to its city of Kolkata. Completed in December 1932, it is a steel bridge and was built to provide road. The erection and deep well sinking of the bridge was done by famous Kutchi-Mestri contractor and his nameplate can still be seen on each girder of the bridge. The construction of bridge started in year 1926 and was completed in year 1932, the fabrication of the bridge was done at works of Braithwate & Company, Calcutta. The Bally Bridge was named Willingdon Bridge after Viceroy of India, Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon, the first train that ran across the bridge was named Jagmal Raja Howrah Express by the British, acknowledging the feat of Rai Bahadur Jagmal Raja. The bridge cost over ₹1 crore in those years, the Bridge was built with eight spans laid at distance of 300 ft each. The length of bridge is almost half mile with 10 km approach roads on both sides, the foundation laid with well-sinking 100 ft down the river beds, girding, erection of abutments, arching was all done by Jagmal Raja. The bridge also has bridges over the river at different points, namely the Howrah Bridge. This bridge has recently handled a traffic of 24,000 vehicles. Vivekananda Setu had become weak as a result of ageing, and with heavy traffic, there was need for a second bridge. Nivedita Setu was constructed parallel to it and around 50 metres downstream and it was opened to traffic in 2007. The Vivekananda Setu allows traffic movement upstream while the Nivedita Bridge helps downstream transport, List of longest bridges in the world List of longest bridges above water in India
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Nivedita Setu
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Nivedita Setu is a cable-stayed bridge over Hooghly River in Kolkata, West Bengal. It runs parallel to and around 50 m downstream of the old Vivekananda Setu opened in 1932, the bridge is named after Sister Nivedita, the social worker-disciple of Swami Vivekananda. Belghoria Expressway that connects the meeting point of NH2 with NH6 at Dankuni to NH34, NH35, Dum Dum Airport, the bridge is designed to carry 48,000 vehicles per day. Vivekananda Setu had become weak as a result of ageing and with heavy traffic even repairs became difficult, there was need for a second bridge. The bridge rests on deep-well foundations going down to the bed level. It carries six lanes for high speed traffic, the carriageway is supported by 254 pre-stressed concrete girders. Cables from 14m high pylons extend additional support, Nivedita Setu is the first bridge in the country that is a single profile cable-stayed bridge. By design, the height of the columns are lower than the tip of the Dakshineswar temple and this wonder of an architecture bridge is estimated to cost approximately Rs.6,50 crore. The construction of the started in April 2004, by the construction giant Larsen. The bridge is the Indias first multi-span, single-plane cable supported extra-dosed bridge, with pylons and seven continuous spans of 110 m. It is 29 m wide and will be able to support 6 lanes of traffic, Nivedita Setu has won an Award of Excellence from the American Segmental Bridge Institute, USA. As of 2011, the charges for using Nivedita Setu are, Rs.42 for light passenger vehicles, Rs.65 for buses. 183 for trucks and multi-axle vehicles, List of longest bridges in the world List of longest bridges above water in India Image of bridge Another image of bridge
20.
Bay of Bengal
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The Bay of Bengal, the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Roughly triangular, it is bordered mostly by India and Sri Lanka to the west, Bangladesh to the north, and Myanmar, the Bay of Bengal occupies an area of 2,172,000 square kilometres. Among the important ports are Chennai, Chittagong, Colombo, Kolkata, Mongla, Paradip, Tuticorin, Visakhapatnam, on the south, Adams Bridge and from the southern extreme of Dondra Head to the north point of Poeloe Bras. The bay gets its name from the historical Bengal region, in ancient Hindu scriptures, this water body is referred to as Mahodadhi while it appears as Sinus Gangeticus or Gangeticus Sinus, meaning Gulf of the Ganges, in ancient maps. The other Sanskrit names for Bay of Bengal are Vangopasagara, also called as Vangasagara. Even today in Bengali, it is known as Bongoposagor, many major rivers of the Indian subcontinent flow west to east before draining into the Bay of Bengal. The Ganga is the northernmost of these and its main channel enters and flows through Bangladesh, where it is known as the Padma River, before joining the Meghna River. However, the Brahmaputra River flows from east to west in Assam before turning south and this joins the Padma whereupon the Padma joins the Meghna River that finally drains into Bay of Bengal. The Sundarbans mangrove forest at the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers lies partly in West Bengal, the Brahmaputra at 2,948 km is the 28th longest River in the world. The Hooghly River, another channel of the Ganga that flows through Calcutta drains into Bay of Bengal in India itself, the Ganga–Brahmaputra rivers deposits nearly 1000 million tons of sediment per year. The Bay of Bengal used to be deeper than the Mariana Trench, the fan has buried organic carbon at a rate of nearly 1.1 trillion mol/yr since the early Miocene period. The two rivers currently contribute nearly 8% of the organic carbon deposited in the worlds oceans. Due to high TOC accumulation in the sea bed of the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh can reclaim land substantially and economically from the sea area by constructing sea dikes, bunds, causeways and by trapping the sediment from its rivers. Further south of Bengal, the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri Rivers are the rivers that flow from west to east in the Indian subcontinent. Many small rivers drain directly into the Bay of Bengal. The Irrawaddy River in Myanmar flows into the Andaman Sea of the Bay of Bengal, some of the biggest ports in the world — Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, Kolkata in India as well as Chittagong and Mongla in Bangladesh — are on the bay. Other Indian ports on the bay include Kakinada, Pondicherry, Dhamra, the islands in the bay are numerous, including the Andaman Islands, Nicobar and Mergui groups of India
21.
Traffic
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Traffic on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars, buses and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel. Organized traffic generally has well-established priorities, lanes, right-of-way, Traffic is formally organized in many jurisdictions, with marked lanes, junctions, intersections, interchanges, traffic signals, or signs. Traffic is often classified by type, heavy vehicle, other vehicle. Different classes may share speed limits and easement, or may be segregated, some jurisdictions may have very detailed and complex rules of the road while others rely more on drivers common sense and willingness to cooperate. Organization typically produces a combination of travel safety and efficiency. Events which disrupt the flow and may cause traffic to degenerate into a disorganized mess include road construction, collisions, on particularly busy freeways, a minor disruption may persist in a phenomenon known as traffic waves. A complete breakdown of organization may result in traffic congestion and gridlock, simulations of organized traffic frequently involve queuing theory, stochastic processes and equations of mathematical physics applied to traffic flow. The word traffic originally meant trade and comes from the Old Italian verb trafficare, the origin of the Italian words is unclear. Rules of the road and driving etiquette are the practices and procedures that road users are required to follow. These rules usually apply to all users, though they are of special importance to motorists and cyclists. These rules govern interactions between vehicles and with pedestrians, the basic traffic rules are defined by an international treaty under the authority of the United Nations, the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. Not all countries are signatory to the convention and, even among signatories, there are also unwritten local rules of the road, which are generally understood by local drivers. These rules should be distinguished from the procedures required to operate ones vehicle. Traffic going in opposite directions should be separated in such a way that they do not block each others way, the most basic rule is whether to use the left or right side of the road. In many countries, the rules of the road are codified, in the United Kingdom, the rules are set out in the Highway Code, which includes obligations but also advice on how to drive sensibly and safely. In the United States, traffic laws are regulated by the states and municipalities through their respective traffic codes, most of these are based at least in part on the Uniform Vehicle Code, but there are variations from state to state. However, states such as South Carolina have completely criminalized their traffic law, so, for example, vehicles often come into conflict with other vehicles and pedestrians because their intended courses of travel intersect, and thus interfere with each others routes. The general principle that establishes who has the right to go first is called right of way and it establishes who has the right to use the conflicting part of the road and who has to wait until the other does so
22.
George Turnbull (civil engineer)
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George Turnbull was a British engineer responsible from 1851 to 1863 for construction of the first railway line from Calcutta to Benares, some 600 miles – later extended to Delhi. Turnbull was acclaimed by the Indian government as the first railway engineer of India and his two grandfathers Hector Turnbull and William Sandeman had jointly developed linen bleachfields in Luncarty. Initially largely schooled by his older sister Mary, George in 1819 from age 10 rode a pony to Perth Grammar School, in 1824 he attended Edinburgh University learning Latin, Greek and mathematics. In 1828 he sailed from Dundee to London to train under the civil engineer Thomas Telford building St Katharine Docks. In 1830 he became Telfords draughtsman and clerk, living in Telfords house in 24 Abingdon Street and he became an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers at age 19 and eventually the oldest member. He was involved in 1833 with experiments for fast passenger boats on the Paddington Canal with Cubitt, Dundas. In 1834 Telford died, Turnbull made arrangements for his house, Turnbull was promoted to be resident engineer building the Bute ship canal and Bute Dock in Cardiff, reporting to William Cubitt and meeting Lord Bute regularly. In August 1836 George was in Bristol to see the 1½-inch bar drawn across the river at Clifton for the suspension bridge. Brunel visited him at the Cardiff works in 1839, from 1840 to 1842 Turnbull built Middlesbrough Dock which was later bought by the Stockton and Darlington Railway. In 1841 he travelled through deep snow to Stirling to agree a contract to supply sleepers for the railway. In 1843 he was resident engineer for William Cubitt for the line from the Shakespeare Tunnel along the shore to Dover station and built a pier. In 1845 he was the engineer in Birkenhead for the complex Seacombe Wall sea defence that helped drain the marshes behind the town of Seacombe. In 1850 he was appointed Chief Engineer of the East Indian Railway building 1851–1862 the first railway 541 miles from Calcutta to Benares,601 miles including branches and he designed Calcuttas terminus at Howrah which now has 23 platforms and the highest train-handling capacity of any station in India. Turnbull was offered a knighthood for his building in India. In 1856 the Bengal Government appointed Turnbull to be the Commissioner of Drainage and Sewerage, in 1861 Turnbull was appointed a member of the Syndicate of the Calcutta University. In Calcutta in 1861 the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company employed Turnbull to redesign the Sulkea Graving Dock, in February 1868, Turnbull was offered £2000 to settle the claim by contractors who had built part of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway. He travelled via Marseilles, Alexandria, train to Suez, and he and others had a private train for four days getting down and inspecting every bridge and large culvert and making copious notes for the 242 miles between Bhusawal and Nagpore. In 1845 he married Jane Pope in St. Margarets, Westminster and she died in 1850 in Calcutta
23.
East Indian Railway Company
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The company was established 1 June 1845 in London by a deed of settlement with a capital of £4,000,000, largely raised in London. The first board of directors formed in 1845 comprised thirteen members and they assessed that the maximum cost of a twin-track line would not exceed £15000 per mile if the land was available without charge. The East Indian Railway Company was then formed and raised money in London, by June, there was an impasse, in that the government still did not allow Turnbull and his engineers to mark a route on the ground. Specifications for works were advertised on 1 July and tenders received on 31 July for six contracts. Bamboo towers 80 feet tall were built above the palm trees at Serampore. On 29 January 1851 the East Indian Railway Company took possession of its first land, Turnbull and other British engineers began detailed surveys of the line. They chose the critical crossing point on the 5, 000-foot-wide Son River on 17 February, the best route to Raniganj was determined in May and June. The plans for Howrah station were submitted on 16 June, tenders for 11 contracts arrived on 31 October 1851. In December Turnbull continued his survey, he took levels and defined the line from Burdwan to Rajmahal, all permanent way, rolling stocks were transported from England in sailing ships to Calcutta via the Cape of Good Hope. In April 1854, it was estimated that over 100,000 tons of rails,27,000 tons of chairs, by 1859, there were 77 engines,228 coaches and 848 freight wagons. Although immense quantities of sal tree wood for sleepers were delivered from Nepal, yet more were needed. Thus fir sleepers from the Baltic were creosoted in England and shipped to India. The initial plans were for the bridges over the Ganges tributaries to be built of bricks. Brick-making skills were limited and often the available clay was found to be unsuitable. Transport by river of suitable clay was difficult, brick availability became a major problem, such that the decision was made to use vast quantities of ironwork – imported from England as India had no iron works at that time. Much ironwork was stolen during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, in 1853, The first railway line between Bombay to Thane was opened. It had 14 coaches and was driven by 3 engines The 541 miles of line from Howrah to Benares were opened to, more than 3,000 applications were received from the people wanting a ride in the first train. The first train ran to full capacity, the train left Howrah station at 8,30 a. m. and reached Hooghly in 91 minutes. It had three first-class and two second-class coaches and it also had three trucks for third-class passengers and a brakevan for the guard
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Howrah Junction railway station
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Howrah Junction railway station is the largest railway complex in India with maximum number of platforms in the entire railway system of India,23 platforms. It is one of the four intercity railway stations serving the city of Kolkata, the terminal station is located on the west bank of the Hooghly River, linked to Kolkata by Howrah Bridge. With 23 platforms, it has the highest train-handling capacity of any station in India. Total 293 passenger trains Start/End/PassThrough Howrah railway station, total 1220 Stations are directly connected to Howrah railway station via these 293 passenger trains. Initial plans for the first Howrah railway station were submitted by George Turnbull the Chief Engineer of the East Indian Railway Company on 17 June 1851, in May 1852, the detailed station plans were the major work of him and his team of engineers. In October four tenders for building the station were received varying from 190,000 to 274,526 INR against an estimate of 250,000 INR, due to a great increase of traffic, a new station building was proposed in 1901. The new station was designed by the British architect Halsey Ricardo and it was brought into service on 1 December 1905. This building is the current Howrah station building, the station had 15 platform tracks. It was expanded in the 1980s with the addition of 8 platform tracks in an area to the south of the station previously had a parcels terminal. At the same time a new Yatri Niwas was built south of the head house. There are currently 23 platforms in Howrah Station, platforms 1-15 are located in the old complex also referred to as Terminal-1, while 17-23 are in the new complex. Terminal-1 serves the local and long-distance trains of Eastern Railway as well as trains of South Eastern Railway. Terminal-2 serves the long trains of South Eastern Railway. A narrow gauge line connects Bardhaman and Katwa and is served by DMU trains. There is a plan to extend the train service from Bardhaman to Mankar and Guskara, by electrifying the Khana–Guskara existing stretch. The Bardhaman–Mankar stretch is now served by electric loco hauled trains, the South Eastern Railway serves local trains to Amta, Mecheda, Panskura, Haldia, Tamluk, Haldia, Kanthi, Medinipur and Kharagpur, and mail/express trains to Central, West and South India. The Tamluk–Kanthi stretch is currently electrified and now EMU runs up to Digha, there is a plan to extend the suburban train service from Kharagpur to Jhargram, Hijli, Belda and Narayangarh. Both stretches are now served by electric loco hauled trains, trains from this station serve the Kolkata urban area via the Kolkata suburban railway, the state of West Bengal, and most major cities of India
25.
Port of Kolkata
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The Port of Kolkata is a riverine port in the city of Kolkata, India, located around 203 kilometres from the sea. It is the oldest operating port in India, and was constructed by the British East India Company, the Port has two distinct dock systems - Kolkata Docks at Kolkata and a deep water dock at Haldia Dock Complex, Haldia. In the 19th century Kolkata Port was the port in British India. After independence its importance decreased because of factors including the Partition of Bengal, reduction in size of the port hinterland, with the turn of the century the volume of throughput has again started increasing steadily. Kolkata Port was established by the British East India Company after the company received trading rights from the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, following the shift of power from the company to the British crown, a port commission was set up in 1870. Though the port was conceived to be a port and gateway of eastern India. It was bombed twice by the Japanese forces, after independence, the Commissioners for the Port of Kolkata were responsible for the port till January 1975 when Major Port Trusts Act,1963, came into force. The Port is now run by a Board of Trustees having representatives from the Government, Trade Bodies, various Port Users, Labour Unions, the Kolkata Port Trust manages two separate dock agglomerations - the Kolkata Dock System and the Haldia Dock Complex. It is situated on the bank of the Hooghly River at 22°32′53″N 88°18′05″E about 203 km upstream from the sea. The pilotage station is at Gasper/ Saugor roads,145 Kilometres to the south of the KDS and it is situated at 22°02′N 88°06′E around 60 kilometres away from the pilotage station. The complex consists of, Impounded Dock, System with 12 Berths 3 Oil Jetties in the River 3 Barge Jetties in the River for handling Oil carried by Barges. All the docks are impounded dock systems with locks from river, KoPT has the largest dry dock facility in India. These dry docks cater to the repair and maintenance needs of the vessels calling on the Eastern Ports of India. In addition, shipbuilding facilities are available in these dry docks. All the dry docks are inside the dock system. There are five dry docks of which three are in Kidderpore Dock and two are in Netaji Subhas Dock, Kolkata Dry Dock & Workshop facilities have been awarded ISO9001,2000 certificate in recognition of their excellence in quality. Due to the constraints of the river no seagoing vessel above 200 GRT is allowed to navigate without a pilot of the Kolkata Port Trust. Sagar Lighthouse is situated at Middleton Point on the Sagar Island 1.5 kilometres inshore and it is visible from a distance of 28 kilometres in clear weather
26.
Bradford Leslie
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Sir Bradford Leslie KCIE was an English civil engineer who specialised in bridges and was a pupil of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. His most notable achievement was the 1887 Jubilee Bridge, Leslie was born in London on 18 August 1831 the son of Charles Robert Leslie a noted painter and illustrator. His younger brother George was also later a painter and illustrator, Leslie became a specialist at bridge building and in 1851 was assistant engineer on the Chepstow Bridge, his next position was resident engineer on the Saltash Bridge. Before the Saltash Bridge was completed he returned to London to undertake inspection of material for the steamship Great Eastern, Brunel was a consulting engineer to the Eastern Bengal Railway and Leslie was sent to India as engineer in charge of bridges and viaducts. He supervised the building of the Eschamutter and Koormar river bridges before returning to Britain in 1861 to design bridges for railway lines in South Wales. He soon returned to India as chief engineer of the Eastern Bengal Railway and in 1876 Leslie became agent and his greatest achievement in India was the Hooghly Bridge for which he was appointed a Knight Commander Order of the Indian Empire. He also designed a floating pontoon bridge which straddled the Hooghly in Calcutta for 70 years. The ship Tasmania was wrecked off Corsica and while carrying one of his granddaughters to safety he fell and injured his knee, it was to trouble him for the rest of his life. The injury was not helped by an accident when he was 84 when he was knocked down by a bicycle as he left his London home, despite the injuries he continued to work and in 1895 he became the chairman of the Southern Punjab Railway Company in London. In 1899 he went on a return visit to India to discuss a replacement for his floating bridge which was now inadequate for the increased usage. In 1901 he entered partnership with Lt Col Arthur John Barry as Barry. Barry had been the Chief Engineer in charge of the construction of the Jubilee Bridge and he died at his London home on 21 March 1926 aged 95
27.
Pound sterling
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It is subdivided into 100 pence. A number of nations that do not use sterling also have called the pound. At various times, the sterling was commodity money or bank notes backed by silver or gold. The pound sterling is the worlds oldest currency still in use, the British Crown dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey produce their own local issues of sterling, the Guernsey pound and the Jersey pound. The pound sterling is also used in the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, the Bank of England is the central bank for the pound sterling, issuing its own coins and banknotes, and regulating issuance of banknotes by private banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Sterling is the fourth most-traded currency in the exchange market, after the United States dollar, the euro. Together with those three currencies it forms the basket of currencies which calculate the value of IMF special drawing rights, Sterling is also the third most-held reserve currency in global reserves. The full, official name, pound sterling, is used mainly in formal contexts, otherwise the term pound is normally used. The abbreviations ster. or stg. are sometimes used, the term British pound is commonly used in less formal contexts, although it is not an official name of the currency. The pound sterling is also referred to as cable amongst forex traders, the origins of this term are attributed to the fact that in the 1800s, the dollar/pound sterling exchange rate was transmitted via transatlantic cable. Forex brokers are sometimes referred to as cable dealers, as another established source notes, the compound expression was then derived, silver coins known as sterlings were issued in the Saxon kingdoms,240 of them being minted from a pound of silver. Hence, large payments came to be reckoned in pounds of sterlings, in 1260, Henry III granted them a charter of protection. And because the Leagues money was not frequently debased like that of England, English traders stipulated to be paid in pounds of the Easterlings, and land for their Kontor, the Steelyard of London, which by the 1340s was also called Easterlings Hall, or Esterlingeshalle. For further discussion of the etymology of sterling, see sterling silver, the currency sign for the pound sign is £, which is usually written with a single cross-bar, though a version with a double cross-bar is also sometimes seen. The ISO4217 currency code is GBP, occasionally, the abbreviation UKP is used but this is non-standard because the ISO3166 country code for the United Kingdom is GB. The Crown dependencies use their own codes, GGP, JEP, stocks are often traded in pence, so traders may refer to pence sterling, GBX, when listing stock prices. A common slang term for the pound sterling or pound is quid, since decimalisation in 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence. The symbol for the penny is p, hence an amount such as 50p properly pronounced fifty pence is more colloquially, quite often, pronounced fifty pee /fɪfti, pi and this also helped to distinguish between new and old pence amounts during the changeover to the decimal system
28.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
29.
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
30.
Tata Steel
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Tata Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel-making company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, and a subsidiary of the Tata Group. Its largest plant is located in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, in 2007 Tata Steel acquired the UK-based steel maker Corus. It was ranked 486th in the 2014 Fortune Global 500 ranking of the worlds biggest corporations and it was the seventh most valuable Indian brand of 2013 as per Brand Finance. Tata Iron and Steel Company was founded by Jamshetji Tata and established by Dorabji Tata on 26 August 1907, by 1939 it operated the largest steel plant in the British Empire. The company launched a modernization and expansion program in 1951. Later in 1958, the program was upgraded to 2 million metric tonnes per annum project, by 1970, the company employed around 40,000 people at Jamshedpur, with a further 20,000 in the neighbouring coal mines. In 1971 and 1979, there were attempts to nationalise the company. In 1990, it started expansion plan and established its subsidiary Tata Inc. in New York, the company changed its name from TISCO to Tata Steel in 2005. NatSteel in 2004, In August 2004, Tata Steel agreed to acquire the steel making operations of the Singapore-based NatSteel for $486.4 million in cash, NatSteel had ended 2003 with turnover of $1.4 billion and a profit before tax of $47 million. The steel businesses of NatSteel would be run by the company through a wholly owned subsidiary called Natsteel Asia Pte Ltd, the acquisition was completed in February 2005. At the time of acquisition, NatSteel had a capacity of about 2 million tonnes per annum of finished steel, Millennium Steel in 2005, Tata Steel acquired a majority stake in the Thailand-based steelmaker Millennium Steel for a total cost of $130 million. It paid US$73 million to Siam Cement for a 40% stake, for the year 2004, Millennium Steel had revenues of US$406 million and a profit after tax of US$29 million. Millennium Steel has now renamed to Tata Steel Thailand and is headquartered in Bangkok. On 31 March 2013, it held approx, 68% shares in the acquired company. Corus in 2007, On 20 October 2006, Tata Steel signed a deal with Anglo-Dutch company, on 19 November 2006, the Brazilian steel company Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional launched a counter offer for Corus at 475 pence per share, valuing it at £4.5 billion. On 11 December 2006, Tata preemptively upped its offer to 500 pence per share, the Corus board promptly recommended both the revised offers to its shareholders. On 31 January 2007, Tata Steel won their bid for Corus after offering 608 pence per share, in 2005, Corus employed around 47,300 people worldwide, including 24,000 in the UK. At the time of acquisition, Corus was four times larger than Tata Steel, Corus was the worlds 9th largest producer of Steel, whereas Tata Steel was at 56th position
31.
Caisson (engineering)
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These are constructed such that the water can be pumped out, keeping the working environment dry. When piers are to be using an open caisson and it is not practical to reach suitable soil. These piles are connected by a foundation pad upon which the pier is erected. Shallow caissons may be open to the air, whereas pneumatic caissons, an airlock allows access to the chamber. Workers move mud and rock debris from the edge of the workspace to a water-filled pit, a crane at the surface removes the soil with a clamshell bucket. The water pressure in the tube balances the air pressure, with excess air escaping up the muck tube, the pressurized air flow must be constant to ensure regular air changes for the workers and prevent excessive inflow of mud or water at the base of the caisson. To install a caisson in place, it is brought down through soft mud until a foundation material is encountered. While bedrock is preferred, a stable, hard mud is used when bedrock is too deep. Caisson disease has been named since it appeared in construction workers when they left the atmosphere of the caisson. It is caused by the processes as decompression sickness in divers. Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, which was built with the help of caissons, barotrauma of the ears, sinus cavities and lungs and dysbaric osteonecrosis are other risks. Caissons have also used in the installation of hydraulic elevators where a single-stage ram is installed below the ground level. Caissons, codenamed Phoenix, were a part of the Mulberry harbours used during the World war II Allied invasion of Normandy. The four main types of caisson are box caisson, open caisson, compressed-air caisson, a box caisson is a prefabricated concrete box, it is set down on prepared bases. Once in place, it is filled with concrete to become part of the permanent works, hollow concrete structures are usually less dense than water so a box caisson must be ballasted or anchored to keep it from floating until it can be filled with concrete. Sometimes elaborate anchoring systems may be required, such as in tidal zones, adjustable anchoring systems combined with a GPS survey enable engineers to position a box caisson with pinpoint accuracy. An open caisson is similar to a box caisson, except that it not have a bottom face. It is suitable for use in soft clays, but not for where there may be large obstructions in the ground, a caisson is sunk by self-weight, concrete or water ballast placed on top, or by hydraulic jacks
32.
Seismometer
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Seismometers are instruments that measure motion of the ground, including those of seismic waves generated by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and other seismic sources. Records of seismic waves allow seismologists to map the interior of the Earth, the seismometer was invented by the Chinese polymath Zhang Heng in AD132 during the Han dynasty. The first Western description of a comes from the French physicist and priest Jean de Hautefeuille in 1703. The modern seismometer was developed in the 19th century by John Milne, James Alfred Ewing, seismograph is another Greek term from seismós and γράφω, gráphō, to draw. The concerning technical discipline is called seismometry, a branch of seismology, a simple seismometer that is sensitive to up-down motions of the earth can be understood by visualizing a weight hanging on a spring. The spring and weight are suspended from a frame that moves along with the earthʼs surface, as the earth moves, the relative motion between the weight and the earth provides a measure of the vertical ground motion. Any movement of the moves the frame. The mass tends not to move because of its inertia, early seismometers used optical levers or mechanical linkages to amplify the small motions involved, recording on soot-covered paper or photographic paper. In some systems, the mass is held nearly motionless relative to the frame by a negative feedback loop. The motion of the relative to the frame is measured. The voltage needed to produce this force is the output of the seismometer, in other systems the weight is allowed to move, and its motion produces a voltage in a coil attached to the mass and moving through the magnetic field of a magnet attached to the frame. This design is used in the geophones used in seismic surveys for oil. Professional seismic observatories usually have instruments measuring three axes, north-south, east-west, and the vertical, if only one axis is measured, this is usually the vertical because it is less noisy and gives better records of some seismic waves. The foundation of a station is critical. A professional station is mounted on bedrock. The best mountings may be in deep boreholes, which avoid thermal effects, ground noise and tilting from weather, other instruments are often mounted in insulated enclosures on small buried piers of unreinforced concrete. Reinforcing rods and aggregates would distort the pier as the temperature changes, a site is always surveyed for ground noise with a temporary installation before pouring the pier and laying conduit. Originally, European seismographs were placed in an area after a destructive earthquake
33.
Kidderpore
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Khidirpur or Kidderpore is a neighborhood of metropolitan Kolkata. The gateway of Kidderpore is at the crossing of Diamond Harbour Road, at that place a roadside restaurant dating from the British era remains, named Panchubabus Shop or Panchubabur Dokan, one of the landmarks of Kidderpore. The area is home to quite a few dargahs of Sufi saints like Syed Baba and Shah Warsi Baba. A number of soldiers killed during the 2nd World War were buried at the Solana Muslim burial ground, even in the field of Indian literature, this part of Kolkata produced three jewel poets. They were Rongolal Bandhopadhyay, Hemchandra Bandopadhyay and Michael Madhushudan Dutta, one of the oldest parts of the city, Kidderpore has many legends associated with respect to the stoical origin of its name. It is said that some British could not converse in Bengali, whenever they passed by, their asking in broken Hindi for the directions to the port where their ships used to dock sounded somewhat like kidder-port. More plausibly, the name is a corruption of Khidrpur or Khizarpur, Kidderpore is located at 22. 53°N88. 32°E /22.53,88.32. It has an elevation of 9 m. Kidderpore Bridge is one of the few bridges in Kolkata that has trams plying across it, the Kidderpore Tram Depot connects famous locations like Kalighat, Tollygunge and Ballygunge, etc. The main Kidderpore intersection is connected with North, South and Central Kolkata by various private and state bus services, shared autos which ply from nearby distances and is a cheap and affordable option. Kidderpore can also be accessed by the Kolkata Circular Railway which has a station in the locality, pauls School Kidderpore, Diamond Harbour Road St. Ibrahim road. Labbaik coaching center. M. M Ali road Kidder Pore Muslim High Secondary School, child Care Primary School. Ram Kamal Street Kidderpore Drawbridge at Port area Hastings House, Warren Hastings residence. Hanging Place of Maharaja Nandakumar at Hastings National Library
34.
Earthquake
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An earthquake is the shaking of the surface of the Earth, resulting from the sudden release of energy in the Earths lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in size from those that are so weak that they cannot be felt to those violent enough to people around. The seismicity or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type, Earthquakes are measured using measurements from seismometers. The moment magnitude is the most common scale on which earthquakes larger than approximately 5 are reported for the entire globe and these two scales are numerically similar over their range of validity. Magnitude 3 or lower earthquakes are mostly imperceptible or weak and magnitude 7 and over potentially cause damage over larger areas. The largest earthquakes in historic times have been of magnitude slightly over 9, intensity of shaking is measured on the modified Mercalli scale. The shallower an earthquake, the damage to structures it causes. At the Earths surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by shaking and sometimes displacement of the ground, when the epicenter of a large earthquake is located offshore, the seabed may be displaced sufficiently to cause a tsunami. Earthquakes can also trigger landslides, and occasionally volcanic activity, in its most general sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any seismic event — whether natural or caused by humans — that generates seismic waves. Earthquakes are caused mostly by rupture of faults, but also by other events such as volcanic activity, landslides, mine blasts. An earthquakes point of rupture is called its focus or hypocenter. The epicenter is the point at ground level directly above the hypocenter, tectonic earthquakes occur anywhere in the earth where there is sufficient stored elastic strain energy to drive fracture propagation along a fault plane. The sides of a fault move past each other smoothly and aseismically only if there are no irregularities or asperities along the surface that increase the frictional resistance. Most fault surfaces do have such asperities and this leads to a form of stick-slip behavior, once the fault has locked, continued relative motion between the plates leads to increasing stress and therefore, stored strain energy in the volume around the fault surface. This continues until the stress has risen sufficiently to break through the asperity, suddenly allowing sliding over the portion of the fault. This energy is released as a combination of radiated elastic strain seismic waves, frictional heating of the fault surface and this process of gradual build-up of strain and stress punctuated by occasional sudden earthquake failure is referred to as the elastic-rebound theory. It is estimated that only 10 percent or less of a total energy is radiated as seismic energy. Most of the energy is used to power the earthquake fracture growth or is converted into heat generated by friction
35.
Hindu
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Hindu refers to any person who regards themselves as culturally, ethnically, or religiously adhering to aspects of Hinduism. It has historically used as a geographical, cultural, or religious identifier for people indigenous to South Asia. The historical meaning of the term Hindu has evolved with time, by the 16th century, the term began to refer to residents of India who were not Turks or Muslims. The historical development of Hindu self-identity within the Indian population, in a religious or cultural sense, is unclear, competing theories state that Hindu identity developed in the British colonial era, or that it developed post-8th century CE after the Islamic invasion and medieval Hindu-Muslim wars. A sense of Hindu identity and the term Hindu appears in texts dated between the 13th and 18th century in Sanskrit and regional languages. The 14th- and 18th-century Indian poets such as Vidyapati, Kabir and Eknath used the phrase Hindu dharma, the Christian friar Sebastiao Manrique used the term Hindu in religious context in 1649. In the 18th century, the European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus, in contrast to Mohamedans for Mughals, scholars state that the custom of distinguishing between Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs is a modern phenomenon. Hindoo is a spelling variant, whose use today may be considered derogatory. At more than 1.03 billion, Hindus are the third largest group after Christians. The vast majority of Hindus, approximately 966 million, live in India, according to Indias 2011 census. After India, the next 9 countries with the largest Hindu populations are, in decreasing order, Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, United States, Malaysia, United Kingdom and Myanmar. These together accounted for 99% of the worlds Hindu population, the word Hindu is derived from the Indo-Aryan and Sanskrit word Sindhu, which means a large body of water, covering river, ocean. It was used as the name of the Indus river and also referred to its tributaries, the Punjab region, called Sapta Sindhava in the Vedas, is called Hapta Hindu in Zend Avesta. The 6th-century BCE inscription of Darius I mentions the province of Hidush, the people of India were referred to as Hinduvān and hindavī was used as the adjective for Indian in the 8th century text Chachnama. The term Hindu in these ancient records is an ethno-geographical term, the Arabic equivalent Al-Hind likewise referred to the country of India. Among the earliest known records of Hindu with connotations of religion may be in the 7th-century CE Chinese text Record of the Western Regions by the Buddhist scholar Xuanzang, Xuanzang uses the transliterated term In-tu whose connotation overflows in the religious according to Arvind Sharma. The Hindu community occurs as the amorphous Other of the Muslim community in the court chronicles, wilfred Cantwell Smith notes that Hindu retained its geographical reference initially, Indian, indigenous, local, virtually native. Slowly, the Indian groups themselves started using the term, differentiating themselves, the poet Vidyapatis poem Kirtilata contrasts the cultures of Hindus and Turks in a city and concludes The Hindus and the Turks live close together, Each makes fun of the others religion
36.
Temple
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A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. It is typically used for such buildings belonging to all faiths where a specific term such as church. These include Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism among religions with many modern followers, the form and function of temples is thus very variable, though they are often considered by believers to be in some sense the house of one or more deities. Typically offerings of some sort are made to the deity, and other rituals enacted, the degree to which the whole population of believers can access the building varies significantly, often parts or even the whole main building can only be accessed by the clergy. Temples typically have a building and a larger precinct, which may contain many other buildings. The word comes from Ancient Rome, where a templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest and it has the same root as the word template, a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out on the ground by the augur. Templa also became associated with the places of a god or gods. Hindu temples are large and magnificent with a rich history, there is evidence of use of sacred ground as far back as the Bronze Age and later the Indus Valley Civilization. Hindu temples have been built in countries around the world, including Cambodia, Nepal, Mauritius, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Great Britain. They include the structures called stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions, Temples in Buddhism represent the pure land or pure environment of a Buddha. Traditional Buddhist temples are designed to inspire inner and outer peace, a Jain temple is the place of worship for Jains, the followers of Jainism. Some famous Jain temples are Shikharji, Palitana Jain Temples, Ranakpur Jain Temple, Shravan Belgola, Dilwara Temples, Jain temples are built with various architectural designs. Jain temples in North India are completely different from the Jain temples in South India, additionally, a Manastambha is a pillar that is often constructed in front of Jain temples. The temple of Mesopotamia derived from the cult of gods and deities in the Mesopotamian religion and it spanned several civilizations, from Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian. Ancient Egyptian temples were meant as places for the deities to reside on earth, indeed, the term the Egyptians most commonly used to describe the temple building, ḥwt-nṯr, means mansion of a god. A gods presence in the temple linked the human and divine realms and these rituals, it was believed, sustained the god and allowed it to continue to play its proper role in nature. They were therefore a key part of the maintenance of maat, maintaining maat was the entire purpose of Egyptian religion, and thus it was the purpose of a temple as well. Ancient Egyptian temples were also of significance to Egyptian society
37.
East India Company
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The company also ruled the beginnings of the British Empire in India. The company received a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600, wealthy merchants and aristocrats owned the Companys shares. Initially the government owned no shares and had only indirect control, during its first century of operation the focus of the Company was trade, not the building of an empire in India. The company eventually came to rule large areas of India with its own armies, exercising military power. Despite frequent government intervention, the company had recurring problems with its finances, the official government machinery of British India had assumed its governmental functions and absorbed its armies. Soon after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, London merchants presented a petition to Queen Elizabeth I for permission to sail to the Indian Ocean, one of them, Edward Bonventure, then sailed around Cape Comorin to the Malay Peninsula and returned to England in 1594. In 1596, three ships sailed east, however, these were all lost at sea. Two days later, on 24 September, the Adventurers reconvened and resolved to apply to the Queen for support of the project, the Adventurers convened again a year later. For a period of fifteen years the charter awarded the newly formed company a monopoly on trade with all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Straits of Magellan. Anybody who traded in breach of the charter without a licence from the Company was liable to forfeiture of their ships and cargo, the governance of the company was in the hands of one governor and 24 directors or committees, who made up the Court of Directors. They, in turn, reported to the Court of Proprietors, ten committees reported to the Court of Directors. According to tradition, business was transacted at the Nags Head Inn, opposite St Botolphs church in Bishopsgate. Sir James Lancaster commanded the first East India Company voyage in 1601, in March 1604 Sir Henry Middleton commanded the second voyage. Early in 1608 Alexander Sharpeigh was appointed captain of the Companys Ascension, thereafter two ships, Ascension and Union sailed from Woolwich on 14 March 1607–8. Initially, the company struggled in the trade because of the competition from the already well-established Dutch East India Company. The company opened a factory in Bantam on the first voyage, the factory in Bantam was closed in 1683. During this time belonging to the company arriving in India docked at Surat. In the next two years, the company established its first factory in south India in the town of Machilipatnam on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal
38.
Concrete
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Concrete is a composite material composed of coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement that hardens over time. Most concretes used are lime-based concretes such as Portland cement concrete or concretes made with other hydraulic cements, when aggregate is mixed together with dry Portland cement and water, the mixture forms a fluid slurry that is easily poured and molded into shape. The cement reacts chemically with the water and other ingredients to form a matrix that binds the materials together into a durable stone-like material that has many uses. Often, additives are included in the mixture to improve the properties of the wet mix or the finished material. Most concrete is poured with reinforcing materials embedded to provide tensile strength, famous concrete structures include the Hoover Dam, the Panama Canal, and the Roman Pantheon. The earliest large-scale users of technology were the ancient Romans. The Colosseum in Rome was built largely of concrete, and the dome of the Pantheon is the worlds largest unreinforced concrete dome. Today, large concrete structures are made with reinforced concrete. After the Roman Empire collapsed, use of concrete became rare until the technology was redeveloped in the mid-18th century, today, concrete is the most widely used man-made material. The word concrete comes from the Latin word concretus, the passive participle of concrescere, from con-. Perhaps the earliest known occurrence of cement was twelve years ago. A deposit of cement was formed after an occurrence of oil shale located adjacent to a bed of limestone burned due to natural causes and these ancient deposits were investigated in the 1960s and 1970s. On a human timescale, small usages of concrete go back for thousands of years and they discovered the advantages of hydraulic lime, with some self-cementing properties, by 700 BC. They built kilns to supply mortar for the construction of houses, concrete floors. The cisterns were kept secret and were one of the reasons the Nabataea were able to thrive in the desert, some of these structures survive to this day. In the Ancient Egyptian and later Roman eras, it was re-discovered that adding volcanic ash to the mix allowed it to set underwater, similarly, the Romans knew that adding horse hair made concrete less liable to crack while it hardened, and adding blood made it more frost-resistant. Crystallization of strätlingite and the introduction of pyroclastic clays creates further fracture resistance, german archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann found concrete floors, which were made of lime and pebbles, in the royal palace of Tiryns, Greece, which dates roughly to 1400–1200 BC. Lime mortars were used in Greece, Crete, and Cyprus in 800 BC, the Assyrian Jerwan Aqueduct made use of waterproof concrete
39.
Pier
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A pier is a raised structure in a body of water, typically supported by well-spaced piles or pillars. Bridges, buildings, and walkways may all be supported by piers, Piers can range in size and complexity from a simple lightweight wooden structure to major structures extended over 1600 metres. In American English, pier may be synonymous with dock, thus in North America and Australia, where many ports were, until recently, built on the multiple pier model, the term tends to imply a current or former cargo-handling facility. In Europe in contrast, where more often use basins and river-side quays than piers. However, the earliest piers pre-date the Victorian age, Piers can be categorized into different groupings according to the principal purpose. However, there is overlap between these categories. Many piers are floating piers, to ensure that the piers raise and this prevents a situation where lines become overly taut or loose by rising or lowering tides. An overly taut or loose tie-line can damage boats by pulling out of the water or allowing them so much leeway that they bang forcefully against the sides of the pier. Working piers were built for the handling of passengers and cargo onto, working piers themselves fall into two different groups. Longer individual piers are found at ports with large tidal ranges. Such piers provided an alternative to impounded docks where cargo volumes were low, or where specialist bulk cargo was handled. The other form of working pier, often called the pier, was built at ports with smaller tidal ranges. Here the principal advantage was to give a greater available quay length for ships to berth against compared to a linear littoral quayside, typically each pier would carry a single transit shed the length of the pier, with ships berthing bow or stern in to the shore. Some major ports consisted of numbers of such piers lining the foreshore, classic examples being the Hudson River frontage of New York. One example, is in use in Progreso, Yucatán, where a pier extends more than 4 miles into the Gulf of Mexico, making it the longest pier in the world. The Progreso Pier supplies much of the peninsula with transportation for the fishing, many other working piers have been demolished, or remain derelict, but some have been recycled as pleasure piers. The best known example of this is Pier 39 in San Francisco, at Southport and the Tweed River on the Gold Coast in Australia, there are piers that support equipment for a sand bypassing system that maintains the health of sandy beaches and navigation channels. Pleasure piers were first built in Britain during the early 19th century, the earliest structures were Ryde Pier, built in 1813/4, Trinity Chain Pier near Leith, built in 1821, and Brighton Chain Pier, built in 1823
40.
Dredging
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Dredging is an excavation activity usually carried out underwater, in shallow seas or freshwater areas with the purpose of gathering up bottom sediments and disposing of them at a different location. This technique is used to keep waterways navigable. It is also used as a way to replenish sand on some public beaches, fishing dredges are used as a technique for catching certain species of edible clams and crabs. Capital, dredging carried out to create a new harbor, berth or waterway, preparatory, work and excavation for future bridges, piers or docks/wharves, often connected with foundation work. This is often carried out with a trailing suction hopper dredge, most dredging is for this purpose, and it may also be done to maintain the holding capacity of reservoirs or lakes. Land reclamation, dredging to mine sand, clay or rock from the seabed and this is typically performed by a cutter-suction dredge or trailing suction hopper dredge. The material may also be used for flood or erosion control, beach nourishment, mining sand offshore and placing on a beach to replace sand eroded by storms or wave action. This is done to enhance the recreational and protective function of the beaches and this is typically performed by a cutter-suction dredge or trailing suction hopper dredge. Harvesting materials, dredging sediment for elements like gold, diamonds or other valuable trace substances, seabed mining, a possible future use, recovering natural metal ore nodules from the seas abyssal plains. Construction materials, dredging sand and gravels from offshore licensed areas for use in construction industry, very specialist industry focused in NW Europe using specialized trailing suction hopper dredgers self discharging dry cargo ashore. Anti-eutrophication, Dredging is an option for the remediation of eutrophied water bodies. Contaminant remediation, to areas affected by chemical spills, storm water surges. Disposal becomes a large factor in these operations. Removing trash and debris, often done in combination with maintenance dredging, flood prevention, this can help to increase channel depth and therefore increase a channels capacity for carrying water. This tradition has now more or less obsolete and the tools used to do this have also changed significantly. Oyster dredging or harvesting, in Louisiana and other states with salt water estuaries that can sustain bottom oyster beds. A heavy metal rectangular scoop device is towed astern of a boat with a chain bridle attached to a cable. The device is periodically hauled aboard and the oysters in it are sorted and bagged for shipment to a processing facility
41.
Bar (unit)
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The bar is a metric unit of pressure, but is not approved as part of the International System of Units. It is defined as equal to 100000 Pa, which is slightly less than the current average atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea level. The bar and the millibar were introduced by the Norwegian meteorologist Vilhelm Bjerknes, use of the bar is deprecated by some professional bodies in some fields. The International Astronomical Union also lists it under Non-SI units and symbols whose continued use is deprecated, as of 2004, the bar is legally recognized in countries of the European Union. Units derived from the bar include the megabar, kilobar, decibar, centibar, the notation bar, though deprecated by various bodies, represents gauge pressure, i. e. pressure in bars above ambient or atmospheric pressure. The bar is defined using the SI derived unit, pascal,1 bar ≡100000 Pa. Thus,1 bar is equal to,100 kPa 1×105 N/m21000000 Ba, notes,1 millibar =1 one-thousandth bar, or 1×10−3 bar 1 millibar =1 hectopascal. The word bar has its origin in the Greek word βάρος, the units official symbol is bar, the earlier symbol b is now deprecated and conflicts with the use of b denoting the unit barn, but it is still encountered, especially as mb to denote the millibar. Between 1793 and 1795, the bar was used for a unit of weight in an early version of the metric system. Atmospheric air pressure is given in millibars where standard sea level pressure is defined as 1013 mbar,101.3,1.013 bar. Despite the millibar not being an SI unit, meteorologists and weather reporters worldwide have long measured air pressure in millibars as the values are convenient, for example, the weather office of Environment Canada uses kilopascals and hectopascals on their weather maps. In contrast, Americans are familiar with the use of the millibar in US reports of hurricanes, in fresh water, there is an approximate numerical equivalence between the change in pressure in decibars and the change in depth from the water surface in metres. Specifically, an increase of 1 decibar occurs for every 1.019716 m increase in depth, in sea water with respect to the gravity variation, the latitude and the geopotential anomaly the pressure can be converted into meters depth according to an empirical formula. As a result, decibars are commonly used in oceanography, many engineers worldwide use the bar as a unit of pressure because, in much of their work, using pascals would involve using very large numbers. In the automotive field, turbocharger boost is often described in bars outside the USA), unicode has characters for mb and bar, but they exist only for compatibility with legacy Asian encodings and are not intended to be used in new documents. The kilobar, equivalent to 100 MPa, is used in geological systems. Bar and bara are sometimes used to indicate absolute pressures and bar and this usage is deprecated and fuller descriptions such as gauge pressure of 2 bar or 2 bar gauge are recommended.0 Unported License but not under the GFDL. Non-SI units accepted for use with the SI
42.
Parasitic drag
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Parasitic drag is drag that results when an object is moved through a fluid medium. In the case of aerodynamic drag, the medium is the atmosphere. Parasitic drag is a combination of form drag, skin friction drag, the other components of total drag, induced drag, wave drag, and ram drag, are separate types of drag, and are not components of parasitic drag. Parasitic drag does not result from the induction of lift on the body, in flight, induced drag results from the lift force that must produced so that the craft can maintain level flight. Induced drag is greater at lower speeds where a high angle of attack is required, as speed increases, the induced drag decreases, but parasitic drag increases because the fluid is striking the object with greater force, and is moving across the objects surfaces at higher speed. As speed continues to increase into the transonic and supersonic regimes, each of these drag components changes in proportion to the others based on speed. The combined overall drag curve therefore shows a minimum at some airspeed, pilots will use this speed to maximize the gliding range in case of an engine failure. However, to maximize the gliding endurance, the speed would have to be at the point of minimum power. At the point of minimum drag, CD, o is equal to CD, at the point of minimum power, CD, o is equal to one third times CD, i. Form drag follows the equation, meaning that it increases with velocity. Form drag depends on the section of the body. A prudent choice of body profile is essential for a low drag coefficient, streamlines should be continuous, and separation of the boundary layer with its attendant vortices should be avoided. Profile drag is usually defined as the sum of form drag, however, the term is often used synonymously with form drag. Interference drag results when airflow around one part of an object must occupy the space as the airflow around another part. This velocity increase is present at all airspeeds, but becomes more important in the transonic range when the resulting velocity becomes sonic. Interference drag plays a role throughout the aircraft and its detrimental effect is always kept in mind by designers. Ideally, the distributions on the intersecting bodies should complement each other’s pressure distribution. If one body locally displays a negative coefficient, the intersecting body should have a positive pressure coefficient
43.
Bearing (mechanical)
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A bearing is a machine element that constrains relative motion to only the desired motion, and reduces friction between moving parts. Most bearings facilitate the desired motion by minimizing friction, Bearings are classified broadly according to the type of operation, the motions allowed, or to the directions of the loads applied to the parts. Rotary bearings hold rotating components such as shafts or axles within mechanical systems, the simplest form of bearing, the plain bearing, consists of a shaft rotating in a hole. Lubrication is often used to reduce friction, a wide variety of bearing designs exists to allow the demands of the application to be correctly met for maximum efficiency, reliability, durability and performance. The term bearing is derived from the verb to bear, a bearing being an element that allows one part to bear another. The simplest bearings are bearing surfaces, cut or formed into a part, with varying degrees of control over the form, size, roughness, other bearings are separate devices installed into a machine or machine part. The most sophisticated bearings for the most demanding applications are very precise devices, the invention of the rolling bearing, in the form of wooden rollers supporting, or bearing, an object being moved is of great antiquity, and may predate the invention of the wheel. Though it is claimed that the Egyptians used roller bearings in the form of tree trunks under sleds. They are depicted in their own drawings in the tomb of Djehutihotep as moving massive stone blocks on sledges with liquid-lubricated runners which would constitute a plain bearing, there are also Egyptian drawings of bearings used with hand drills. The earliest recovered example of a rolling element bearing is a ball bearing supporting a rotating table from the remains of the Roman Nemi ships in Lake Nemi. The wrecks were dated to 40 BC, leonardo da Vinci incorporated drawings of ball bearings in his design for a helicopter around the year 1500. This is the first recorded use of bearings in an aerospace design, however, Agostino Ramelli is the first to have published sketches of roller and thrust bearings. An issue with ball and roller bearings is that the balls or rollers rub against each other causing additional friction which can be reduced by enclosing the balls or rollers within a cage, the captured, or caged, ball bearing was originally described by Galileo in the 17th century. The first practical caged-roller bearing was invented in the mid-1740s by horologist John Harrison for his H3 marine timekeeper and this uses the bearing for a very limited oscillating motion but Harrison also used a similar bearing in a truly rotary application in a contemporaneous regulator clock. The first modern recorded patent on ball bearings was awarded to Philip Vaughan and his was the first modern ball-bearing design, with the ball running along a groove in the axle assembly. Bearings played a role in the nascent Industrial Revolution, allowing the new industrial machinery to operate efficiently. For example, they saw use for holding wheel and axle to greatly reduce friction over that of dragging an object by making the act over a shorter distance as the wheel turned. The first plain and rolling-element bearings were wood closely followed by bronze, over their history bearings have been made of many materials including ceramic, sapphire, glass, steel, bronze, other metals and plastic which are all used today
44.
Jack (device)
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A jack, screwjack or jackscrew is a mechanical device used as a lifting device to lift heavy loads or to apply great forces. A mechanical jack employs a screw thread for lifting heavy equipment, a hydraulic jack uses hydraulic power. The most common form is a car jack, floor jack or garage jack, jacks are usually rated for a maximum lifting capacity. Industrial jacks can be rated for many tons of load, the personal name Jack, which came into English usage around the thirteenth century as a nickname form of John, came in the sixteenth century to be used as a colloquial word for a man. From here, the word was applied to things which in some way take the place of a lad or man, scissor car jacks usually use mechanical advantage to allow a human to lift a vehicle by manual force alone. The jack shown at the right is made for a modern vehicle, earlier versions have a platform to lift on a vehicles frame or axle. Electrically operated car scissor jacks are powered by 12 volt electricity supplied directly from the cigarette lighter receptacle. The electrical energy is used to power these car jacks to raise, electric jacks require less effort from the motorist for operation. A house jack, also called a jack, is a mechanical device primarily used to lift buildings from their foundations for repairs or relocation. A series of jacks is used and then wood cribbing temporarily supports the structure and this process is repeated until the desired height is reached. The house jack can be used for jacking carrying beams that have settled or for installing new structural beams, on the top of the jack is a cast iron circular pad that the jacking post rests on. This pad moves independently of the jack so that it does not turn as the acme-threaded rod is turned with a metal rod. This piece tilts very slightly, but not enough to render the post dangerously out of plumb. In 1851, inventor Richard Dudgeon was granted a patent for a hydraulic press - the hydraulic jack. Hydraulic jacks are used for shop work, rather than as an emergency jack to be carried with the vehicle. Use of jacks not designed for a vehicle requires more than the usual care in selecting ground conditions, the jacking point on a vehicle. Hydraulic jacks are used to lift elevators in low and medium rise buildings. A hydraulic jack uses a liquid, which is incompressible, that is forced into a cylinder by a pump plunger, oil is used since it is self lubricating and stable
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