Author Archives: Ian Marr

This question contains two parts going in different directions. The typical answer (the one supplied by most building codes) is 1/4″ per foot for drainage. The actual minimum slope for drainage is closer to 1/64″ per foot. At that slope gravity stops becoming the driving force behind water. Air movement, surface tension, and capillary flows …

Continue reading “What is the minimum slope for an exterior concrete slab to properly drain water, but not to be so much a slip hazard?”

I’m not sure these are the ”main” obstacles, but certainly major ones. Supply. A bridge or any infrastructure project would require many many many times more carbon fiber than other objects that use it. A single bridge would likely require the entire annual output or more just for the bridge due to volume alone. The …

Continue reading “What are the main obstacles of building bridges using carbon (nano) tubes? When could we overcome those obstacles? Would infrastructure built using this technology together with concrete be cheaper and more robust than steel and concrete bridges?”

First lets define a courtyard. A courtyard would be outdoor space enclosed sufficiently by a building or structures to create a clearly defined area. Sometimes it can be an indoor space that is treated as if it is an outdoor space. An underground courtyard could imply two different versions, as I see things. First, a …

Continue reading “How is an underground courtyard different from a courtyard at ground level in terms of architecture?”

Architecture school pretty much revolves around a class called studio which you take each semester with a different topic. By design all other courses you take in architecture school feed directly into studio, or are best taken away from studio. Studios can take nearly any form from lectures to field trips to 1000 page essays …

Continue reading “Why is architecture considered the toughest course?”

In some cases it adds to the binder material, but for most cases it acts as aggregate (same as the rock or gravel added to concrete).

In principle, you need a structural material (aggregate) and a binder (asphalt or cement). Rock is a plentiful strong material for aggregate, but broken up concrete, glass or plastics works as well. I’m not seeing what the point of the low melting point metal would be unless your description is to use metal and plastic …

Continue reading “What happens if we build roads with plastic and a low melting point metal?”

That amount of water would probably heat up the mountain and wash away a fair portion of it. If the water was slowly put on the mountain cold enough to be snow or ice it would continue to roll/slide down the mountain to melt at lower elevations. The height would not increase by much. Maybe …

Continue reading “If all of the water in the Caspian Sea were poured over the summit of Mount Everest, would it freeze, and how much higher would it make the mountain?”

Most likely you are using a higher voltage on your circuit. You should be pulling the same number of volt-amps regardless.

There is a huge amount of research going into laminates and composites of various materials (structural). Foamed homogenous materials (structural). Sapphire as a structural material. Various grown crystalline structures that behave like metals. Glass as a structural material. Memory metals that behave differently under various conditions like heat or electricity. Strand bundled sections that change …

Continue reading “What are the new promising non-sand based building materials being researched today?”

Simple answer, yes. Real answer, asphaltic binders come in quite a range of workable temperatures while your urethane pellets will likely work in a fairly narrow temperature range. Under lab conditions, this would be doable. If this were to be done in the field, you’d likely have a rocky road ice cream problem.