Posts by David Haywood
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Juha Saarinen wrote:
Hmm, zooming along at 60-65kph on water? It's probably not totally practical.... I doubt the craft would be able to hit such speeds in a canal...
Tom Semmens wrote:
I know something about boats, and a 35 knot ferry would not be practical within a confined waterway.
To find an engineer's opinion on this topic I've just spoken to Alan Caughley, a former engineer at Hamilton Jets (one of the world's largest water-jet engine manufacturers) and he says:
35 knots is a fairly typical speed for a jet catamaran on the open sea. Contrary to what people might think a jet catamaran can actually travel even faster on a closed body of water like a canal. It's the wave drag that limits the cruising speed.
He points out that boats with planing hulls behave entirely differently to boats with displacement hulls.
James Bremner wrote:
David, any mention of just how long the canal would be, which is the preferred route and how much it would cost (probably serious $).
Richard said that the plan is to use the Tamaki river. I guess the route would be as per the map in my original post (M = Manukau Harbour; W = Waitemata Harbour; Tamaki river shown as dark blue; canal extension shown in red).
Wikipedia's article on the Tamaki river says that:
[From the end of the Tamaki river] it is less than two kilometres to the waters of the Manukau Harbour...
Richard said that the canal would cost no more than a rail link (I've got no idea how much that is!).
Tom Semmens wrote:
I am not sure if much of what Richard Simpson proposes would stand up to detailed examination, but I think much of the problem in Auckland isn't so much a vision thing as the balkanised mind set of its local government.
Richard's been involved with some pretty massive engineering projects in the past -- and I'd expect that as chairman of Auckland City Council's Transport and Urban Linkages Committee he'd have done some pretty careful analysis on the details before he started talking publicly about them. But I daresay you're right about the "Balkanised mind set of... local government". That's pretty much what my grandfather said (see original post).
I can't really defend any of Richard's proposals because I'm not conversant with the engineering details (as I mentioned previously, to my uninformed mind an airport rail link seemed like a better idea). However I've contacted Richard and I'm still hopeful that he might post a reply on this thread.
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Yamis wrote:
Lets face it though, Auckland must have the least number of people spread over the largest 'urban' area in the world.
That's exactly the myth that Part 2 of the documentary confronts.
Apparently, it's not true at all.
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Some very interesting points raised here -- but I've learned long ago not to pass judgement on engineering issues without knowing the detailed facts and data. I've contacted Richard Simpson and hopefully he will post a reply.
In the meantime, here's a description of Auckland's transportation system by an expert on the subject... Dr Paul Mees -- a Lecturer in Transport & Land Use at the University of Melbourne:
"[Auckland has] probably got one of the worst public transport systems you could come across anywhere in the world... and the worst urban rail system of any [comparably sized] city in any developed country in the world."
Hear more from Paul Mees and other public transportation and town-planning experts by following these links:
Auckland, City of Cars: Episode 1
Auckland, City of Cars: Episode 2
The second episode confronts the myth about Auckland being too spread out for public transportation to work properly...
These mini-documentaries made an appearance in Public Address's 'Our Tube' section a few months ago, and are compulsory viewing for anyone interested in the subject of Auckland's town-planning. They also generated some interesting comments from PA readers.
Jolisa wrote:
By the way, David, that wasn't Public Address's first actual public marriage proposal was it?? Or are you just flirting with hot linguists for the sheer fun of it?
Apparently Assoc-Prof Hay is already married. And she informs me that it's six languages not five.
...[the] air bridge should be more like the High Line or its model, the Promenade Plantée.
Wow, I totally agree -- High Line looks like a brilliant idea! I'm kicking myself because I walked right under the Promenade Plantée last time I was in Paris, and had no idea that it was so fantastic on top.
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Graeme H wrote:
Have you measured the distance from the port to the airport by sea? 20 min no way! It's over 20km and on a congested waterway. After flying hours and hours to get to godzone do you really fancy a 2 hour canal ride to the city.
Thanks for your comments, Graeme...
I'm not privy to the detailed calculations behind Richard's plans, but I note that the Teknicraft catamaran ferry cruises at 35 knots. At this speed it would take 18.5 minutes to cover a 20 km journey.
By the way, the main trunk line is only 5km from the airport.
At first glance, a rail link certainly sounds simpler -- but as I've said I haven't seen Richard's detailed plans or calculations, so I'm not fully conversant with the logic behind this proposal.
I'll try to get Richard to post a detailed reply to your comments...
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Marcus Turner wrote:
I'd still quite like to know more about the concertina...
I honestly don't know if there's much more I can tell you, dude. Did you see my reply the first time you asked this question?
Assuming that you're not taking the piss, I can tell you that it's a 'Jack' concertina designed by Wim Wakker in the Netherlands. It was purchased here:
http://www.concertinaconnection.com/jackie-jack.htm
It's actually extremely pleasant in tone -- not that I can play a note on it myself. To me its lower range sounds rather cello-esque, although it's clearly not an instrument designed by optimists. I’d never realized quite how mournful a light-hearted ditty such as My Shining Hour could become in the hands of a skilled concertinist. Judge for yourself here:
After two months it's still working well -- but other than this, I'm not sure what else I can say! But if you do have any other specific questions then you're welcome to email me here.
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Manakura said:
... don't you think the flag debate was tedious enough the first time around?
It's certainly not the most important topic in the world, so you may have a point!
Just to liven up the debate a little then...
Manakura said:
I was initially perturbed at how white it is down here...
I'm sure that you're accurately describing your emotions (and I know what you're trying to say), but I wonder how this differs from those people who feel 'perturbed' because they see Asian faces waiting in line at their local bank.
Try out the phrases:
I was initially perturbed at how Asian it is down here...
I was initially perturbed at how many Pacific Islanders there are down here...
You can see how some people might feel a little offended.
Go for it...
[Addendum: This is a serious question -- I had a similar experience when I came to Christchurch (although I would describe my reaction as surprised rather than perturbed). Why should different faces provoke this response? Why are some people perturbed by sameness, and others by differentness? And should we feel offended by other people's reactions (which presumably they can't help)?]
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Che and Emma: nice to know that at least someone got my point. Thanks for the words of support... I felt all Emo and misunderstood for a few moments there (particularly since I did study Blake at university, and have read (nearly) all of his works... sniff... sniff).
Juha: I can see the grin on your face as you write this -- and I know that you're just arguing for the sake of it -- but, heaven help me, I'll take the bait...
Juha Saarinen wrote:
...removing a historical emblem lessens its significance. Eventually, it gets written out of our immediate history - how many remember what the Canadian flag looked like before the Maple Leaf?
One is tempted to ask: "So what?". The old flag will just become part of history, like the Lion & the Unicorn, standing in the cinema for 'God Save the Queen', referring to Britain as "home", or any of our other DCRs (Daft Colonial Relics).
Juha Saarinen wrote:
As for a new flag somehow magically bringing forth thousand years of Maori history, I'm not so sure that will work.
As you well know, no-one is suggesting any such hypothesis. All that has been suggested is simply:
...if we are going to have a flag, then maybe we should have one that better represents the country. Or, at the very least, we should seriously consider the possibility.
Juha Saarinen wrote:
If it's a clean break with all things British we want... perhaps the goal [should be] the phasing out of English.
Ignoring the fact that you're obviously taking the piss by now, I would point out that we don't actually speak British English in this country any more. We have our own officially-recognized dialect, see:
http://www.ling.canterbury.ac.nz/research/project.shtml
And the point is that some people think that our flag should similarly be uniquely representative of the country.
Juha Saarinen wrote:
What's the problem by the way with keeping the Union Flag but adding for instance the United Tribes one on the other side?
No problem at all! Add it to the list of suggestions.
By the way, does anyone think that my suggestion of adopting a new flag in addition to the old one (as we did with our National Anthems) might be a compromise that more people could live with?
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Merc wrote:
Please no, William Blake was not.
I wasn't suggesting that they both produced illuminated books, or that Billy Bragg wanders around mumbling: "I see an innumerable company of the heavenly host crying: holy, holy, holy". I was just making a light-hearted comparison in terms of their ability to be both patriotic and critical of their country at the same time, the obvious parallels with regard to their social and political idealism, and...
Oh, never mind.
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I think _God Save the Queen_ has to be the most appalling anthem ever.
I so totally agree! Whenever I am embarrassed by the awfulness of 'God Defend New Zealand' I think of the imbecility of 'God Save The Queen' and cheer myself up no end...
But in the (somewhat unlikely) event of being made Prime Minister of Britain, I would go straight for 'Jerusalem'. William Blake was the Billy Bragg of the early 1800s, and he manages to take the piss out of organized religion, and work in an environmental message at the same time. Elgar's tune is a knockout, and can any national athem match the poetry of this:
Bring me my bow
of burning gold,
Bring me my arrows
of desire,And how wonderfully understated to refer to your country as merely "green and pleasant"...
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Love those mistaken identity stories, Graeme...
Here is one that I've always enjoyed: