Living Bridges... Intro - What They Are
This is maybe the coolest engineering thing I've ever seen (well, this week, okay?). Bridges, in India, that aren't built, but are GROWN. Talk about the ultimate "green" industry.
So here's the reason. They get a lot of rain. Okay, Seattle, I know you think you get a lot of rain. But this place in India - Cherrapunji - gets a LOT of rain. No. A WAAAAAY lot of rain. Like two Guinness Book of World Records for rainfall amounts of rain. In the 1860s in one month they got over 30 feet - yes THIRTY FEET of rain. And that year they got almost 75 and a half feet of rain. Holy cow. You put traditional wood bridges in that kind of rain and they'll rot in a couple years. Apparently some of these root bridges are a hundred years old - no cut wood bridge could last in the wet that long. But living rubber tree roots do just fine. 'Cause they're ALIVE...
Here's what they do. They cut and hollow out some trees to guide the roots over the streams or rivers or whatever the obstacle is they want to cross - this keeps the rubber tree roots from branching out and keeps them growing straight out through the hollowed out tree trunk. When they've guided the roots to the other side of the river, they allow the roots to... well... take root into the ground. The root structure continues to grow thicker and deeper and stronger - eventually strong enough to support people, paving stones, etc. It takes a long time - decades - but the bridges last generations. Poke around on the internet you'll find some more info about living bridges and some more pics. Cool stuff.
I'll spend some time this week thinking out loud about Living Bridges and Faith...
What do you think?
So here's the reason. They get a lot of rain. Okay, Seattle, I know you think you get a lot of rain. But this place in India - Cherrapunji - gets a LOT of rain. No. A WAAAAAY lot of rain. Like two Guinness Book of World Records for rainfall amounts of rain. In the 1860s in one month they got over 30 feet - yes THIRTY FEET of rain. And that year they got almost 75 and a half feet of rain. Holy cow. You put traditional wood bridges in that kind of rain and they'll rot in a couple years. Apparently some of these root bridges are a hundred years old - no cut wood bridge could last in the wet that long. But living rubber tree roots do just fine. 'Cause they're ALIVE...
Here's what they do. They cut and hollow out some trees to guide the roots over the streams or rivers or whatever the obstacle is they want to cross - this keeps the rubber tree roots from branching out and keeps them growing straight out through the hollowed out tree trunk. When they've guided the roots to the other side of the river, they allow the roots to... well... take root into the ground. The root structure continues to grow thicker and deeper and stronger - eventually strong enough to support people, paving stones, etc. It takes a long time - decades - but the bridges last generations. Poke around on the internet you'll find some more info about living bridges and some more pics. Cool stuff.
I'll spend some time this week thinking out loud about Living Bridges and Faith...
What do you think?
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