Clarification of Question by
sapien128-ga
on
19 Jan 2006 01:29 PST
To answer point 1) from redhoss:
Please assume that the meter is installed correctly and then calculate
the forces required for it to shift in various ways, the meter
snapping off the pipe, the pipe bending, the cement fracturing, or the
footing shifting in the earth. The lowest of these forces can then be
estimated to be the one that will occur if the meter is properly
installed and adequate force is applied. If the actual meter has
shifted in some other way, then it can be stated that that
characteristic of its installation was inadequate. For example, if
you calculate that the entire footing would shift in the earth before
the 2-inch schedule 40 pipe would bend, and the pipe has bent, then it
would then be reasonable to say that the town did not use the
specification pipe.
To answer point 2) from redhoss:
The assertion I am trying to prove is that it is not possible for a
person to push over a parking meter if it is properly installed. A
person would try to push the meter over at the highest point that they
could, as I have calculated, 57 inches off the ground.
To answer point 3) from redhoss:
I have gone to the Department of Agriculture and I have gotten the
following description about the soil in that location: This soil is
characterized to be, Pd-Paxton-Charlton-Urban land complex, as taken
from the Soil Survey of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, Central part.
Since I can?t believe that any town would do individual soil surveys
for each parking meter they installed, they would rely on their
standard footing detail to assure that all parking meters installed in
their township would be secure. The question to be calculated is
then, would the entire footing shift if the soil meets this
specification? If the pipe were calculated to bend first, and indeed
what has happened in this particular case is that the footing has
shifted, then one would then have to argue that the footing as-built
did not meet specification, or that that the soil in that particular
location was below predicted load-bearing strength.
To answer point 4) from redhoss:
I agree that calculating work is not useful. The reason that I
provide the 20-degree final angle is as a boundary parameter in case
two failures occur simultaneously. For example, could it happen that
the pipe would bend 15 degrees and the footing would shift in the
earth 5 degrees resulting the total 20 degree angle?
To answer point 5) from redhoss:
Please calculate the amount of force required to crack the pipe out of
the 14? diameter 3000 PSI concrete footing. If this force is less
than the amount of force required to bend the pipe then it will not
occur. If this were the failure that has occurred in reality, it
would then be safe to state that there was something inadequate about
the concrete footing as-built.
Finally, I have copied the USDA description of the
Paxton-Charlton-Urban land complex for you to use. You can
cross-reference this as needed:
Pd-Paxton-Charlton-Urban land complex.
This unit consists of deep, gently sloping or moderately sloping soils
and areas covered by buildings, sidewalks, parking lots, roads, and
railroads. The unit is on hills and ridges that are periodically
dissected by small waterways. The areas are irregular in shape or
rectangular and range from 20 to 100 acres. They are about 40 percent
well drained Paxton soils, 20 percent well drained Charlton soils, 20
percent urbanized, and 20 percent other soils. The Paxton and Charlton
soils and the urbanized areas are so intricately mixed that it was not
practical to map them separately.
Typically, the Paxton soils have a surface layer of friable, very dark
grayish brown fine sandy loam about 7 inches thick. The subsoil is
friable fine sandy loam 19 inches thick. It is dark yellowish brown in
the upper 2 inches, light olive brown in the next 10 inches, and olive
brown in the lower 7 inches. The substratum is fine sandy loam to a
depth of 60 inches or more. It is firm and olive brown in the upper 10
inches and very firm and dark grayish brown in the lower part.
Typically, the Charlton soils have a surface layer of very friable,
dark brown fine sandy loam about 7 inches thick. The subsoil is
friable and is 15 inches thick. It is yellowish brown fine sandy loam
in the upper 6 inches and light olive brown gravelly fine sandy loam
in the lower 9 inches. The substratum is firm, olive gravelly sandy
loam to a depth of 60 inches or more.
Included with this complex in mapping are small areas of poorly
drained and very poorly drained soils, nearly level soils, and steep
soils.
Permeability is moderate in the subsoil and slow or very slow in the
substratum of the Paxton soils. It is moderate or moderately rapid in
the Charlton soils. Available water capacity is low in the Paxton
soils and moderate in the Charlton soils. The root zone in the Paxton
soils extends into the subsoil and is restricted by the firm
substratum. The root zone in the Charlton soils extends into the
substratum. A seasonal high water table in the Paxton soils is perched
above the substratum for brief periods during winter and spring and
after prolonged rains. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to slightly
acid in the Paxton soils and from very strongly acid to medium acid in
the Charlton soils.
Most areas of these soils have been developed for homesites and small
buildings. A few areas are wooded, and a few areas are in parks.
A lack of open space makes areas of this unit poorly suited or
unsuited to farming and woodland.
The seasonal perched water table limits the Paxton soils as a building
site and the slow or very slow permeability as a site for septic tank
absorption fields. The Charlton soils have essentially no limitations
for homesites or septic tank absorption fields.
This unit is not assigned to a capability subclass.
