Project Update- July 25th 2007

More progress was made one the Seaside model today, which just about wraps up the set-up and construction phase of the project. At the end of last week we bolted down the red concrete pavers. Gravity wasn't quite enough to keep them in place and large waves for the other project pushed the pavers close to the seawall around a bit. So, those were bolted down in the same manner as the houses and hotels.

Yesterday an ADV was placed in the model near the seawall. The placement of the ADV (which will measure flow velocity) will catch the velocity of the flow as it is channeled down a street with buildings on either side.

This morning, we mounted pressure sensors onto the large u-shaped hotel near the Turnaround and a smaller custom commercial building in the model. Two pressure sensors were placed on the inside of the u-shaped hotel as close to ground level as possible, one in the center and one in the corner. One more pressure sensor was placed on the front face of another building. These sensors will allow us to compare the pressure (and through calculations, the force) experienced by the buildings during various height waves.

We should be running waves tomorrow and collecting data as we go. It should be interesting and we've been waiting a long time to do this, so it ought to be fun!

The Pressure Sensor is the round metal piece
mounted in a metal bracket that resembles
a light switch plate.

The ADV placed so it will capture velocity as
the tsunami flows down a street.