Re: quake hits east mids

"Paul Scott" <notvalidpmscott@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


"Sue McNaughton" <Sue@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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In article <UdudnbqyMtImPljanZ2dnUVZ8sSrnZ2d@xxxxxx>, Paul Scott
<notvalidpmscott@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes

"Paul Weaver" <usenet@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:601196a5-d95d-40f9-9f87-c477ab4d1edf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Feb 27, 1:09 am, "flybywire" <ram...@xxxxxx> wrote:
no scale yet announced lasted 13 secs and nearly chucked me out of bed

mike

HIt LBZ at 00:57. Heard a train (being on topic and all) in the
distance about 01:10 -- how bad doesa quake have to be before trains
are stopped to check for rail buckling? Or would that never happen in
the UK?

Ballasted track should be pretty safe from a quake surely? I would imagine
the biggest risk area is ancient brickwork at bridges, viaducts, tunnels
etc...

It is remarkable how flexible masonry can be. For example, visit
Chichester Cathedral bell tower on practice night (Wednesday, 7.30-9.00)
and feel this stone-and-rubble structure sway like a ship at sea when the
bells get going. It's been doing it for over 500 years.

I suspect the brickwork standards of many early railway structures are very
similar to the fallen chimney stacks all over the place, rather than a
cathedral bell tower, though IANAB (Brickie)...


All early railway brick structures would have been constructed with
lime mortar, which is long-lasting and flexible.

Chimney stacks up until WW2 would also have been constructed mostly
with lime mortar (cement mortar after that) but chimney stacks are
exposed and require more in the way of regular maintenance. A brick
railway arch might consist of seven courses of brickwork, so losing
some of the pointing to frost would be far less significant than in a
domestic chimney, which might only be one or two courses thick, and
hence far noire sensitive to loss of mortar from the outermost course.

Another problem with domestic brickwork is that, for the last half
century, re-pointing has been largely carried out with cheaper cement
mortar, which is stiff and brittle. Using cement mortar tends to
reduce the residual life of brick structures, whereas lime mortar
preserves it.

In very recent years, polymer admixtures have given cement mortars
some of the flexibility of lime mortar.

.

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