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Engineering Math Question


cattmouch33

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Conditions:

A backhoe weighing 22 tons is on top of a lowboy trailer and heading east on Interstate 70 near Hays, Kansas .

The extended shovel arm is made of hardened refined steel and the approaching overpass is made of commercial-grade concrete, reinforced with 1 1/2 inch steel rebar spaced at 6 inch intervals in a criss-cross pattern layered at 1 foot vertical spacing.

Solve: When the shovel arm hits the overpass, how fast do you have to be going to slice the bridge in half ?

(Assume no effect for headwind and no braking by the

driver...)

Extra Credit: Solve for the time and distance required for the entire rig to come to a complete stop after hitting the overpass at the speed calculated above.

Yes, you can neglect friction.................

http://www.snopes.com/photos/accident/hoecrash.asp#photo3

I couldn't solve it either......but who cares;

The driver was on his cell phone..................

Edited by cattmouch33
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Conditions:

A backhoe weighing 22 tons is on top of a lowboy trailer and heading east on Interstate 70 near Hays, Kansas .

The extended shovel arm is made of hardened refined steel and the approaching overpass is made of commercial-grade concrete, reinforced with 1 1/2 inch steel rebar spaced at 6 inch intervals in a criss-cross pattern layered at 1 foot vertical spacing.

Solve: When the shovel arm hits the overpass, how fast do you have to be going to slice the bridge in half ?

(Assume no effect for headwind and no braking by the

driver...)

Extra Credit: Solve for the time and distance required for the entire rig to come to a complete stop after hitting the overpass at the speed calculated above.

Yes, you can neglect friction.................

Answer: Speed, somewhere between ridiculous and obscene, but not quite to ludicrous.

Time and distance for the truck to stop:

time - way too late, probably after some fecal matter hit his shorts

distance - about 75 feet after the fecal matter...

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