Stars on houses

[David Kennedy]

Some Wv counties did allow 'privies a few years ago. Federal EPA water regs might have outlawed them.

They were legal in Wetzel County and hordes of people driving through Mobley would stop and use the hundred or so that sat back from the sidewalks of that town.
A five million dollar federal beautification project of pink stamped sidewalks and street lights almost made them look beautiful.

It was part of Mobley's tourist venue but I think it's gone now...just grass growing on the other side of the now vacant sidewalks...and most of the streetlight don't burn...to expensive without tourist dollars to keep things afloat (if you know what I mean)..


I was through the 'Friendly City of Fairmont yesterday and saw that underground city water was being called a 'villan there.

Seems that the new water system with it's super filtration has cleaned the sludge out the pipes and leaks are everywhere.

That town is being swept away as the foundations move and shift. Water and sand just don't mix and most of the town is built on sand. 'A parable there, somehow."

Looks like in addition to the cost of the new water system, Fairmont will need an entire system of new water piping...wonder what that will cost?
At present,the delivery system is a hodge-podge... a lot of it concrete/abestos pipe...some cast iron...a patch job from one end to the other.

I hope Morgantown doesn't have to re-do our hundreds of miles of water piping..but if we can get about 100 miles of overhead highways, we can have the engineers put the water distribution in those road panels...

If Dallas can get a new 22 billion dollar belt-way around town...we can too.

Vehicle traffic loop, water distribution and how about hanging a new PRT under it all.

Time to email someone in DC...where's Mr. Byrds email address.

[Tiger Beer]

So no one knows yet?

[Threerun]

John Kelly - Answer Man Exposes More Secrets of the Stars - washingtonpost.com

I read your column about the Blue Star Memorial Highways (Answer Man, Dec. 10). It reminded me of another blue- star question I have. In some historic neighborhoods in the Washington area -- Georgetown, Old Town Alexandria -- there are stars on the outsides of old rowhouses. Do they have a similar meaning?
-- N. Alexandra Sutliffe, Alexandria



No. The blue stars that hang in windows -- and give their name to the memorial highways -- signify that a loved one is serving in the military, but the stars on the exterior walls of old brick buildings signify something else: Here's hoping this building doesn't fall down.
Despite what you might have read in "Three Little Pigs," a brick building is not fail-safe, especially if it was made before about 1900. That's because of how the floors were put in, said Al Cox, Alexandria's code enforcement architect.
In older brick buildings, each end of a floor joist sits in a tiny pocket within the masonry wall, a ledge often no more than two inches wide. The walls don't have to bow out very much for the joist to slip out from the pocket.
If that happens, Al said, "the whole floor falls, and the building collapses."
Not good. In fact, so not good that you would do just about anything to keep that wall from bowing, wouldn't you? Of course you would. And what you would do is this:



Drill a hole through the brick wall and run an iron rod into a floor (or ceiling) for about six feet, or -- what the heck? -- all the way over to the brick wall on the other side. Outside, at the ends of the rod, affix a nut and washer.

You would not use a wimpy little washer. Because old bricks and mortar are soft, a small washer might punch through the masonry. The stress of keeping the walls plumb needs to be distributed over a wider area. You could use a big round washer -- or a big square one, for that matter -- but wouldn't it be nice to use something a little more decorative, something evocative of our great nation?

Thus, what's often called a "star bolt," or a tie-rod end. The devices are occasionally referred to as earthquake or hurricane bolts because such disasters often precipitate the need for them. And that raises another point: Al said that star bolts are usually an afterthought, installed after brick walls have started to flex. They're common in Alexandria, where the soil under the city can be unstable. You can also see them in Georgetown and other older neighborhoods.

Answer Man is delighted by variety in arcane objects and enjoyed spotting the various shapes employed for this piece of equipment: stars of all sizes, but also diamonds and what look like asterisks.
Star bolts aren't needed on newer structures because building methods have changed. Nowadays, brick is typically a veneer over a wood or steel frame rather than a load-bearing element in its own right. But reproduction star bolts cast in resin are available for those who want an old-fashioned look -- without the risk of collapse, of course.

[David Kennedy]

During the 1820's and on...those 'Star shaped bolts were made of cast iron and were sand casted.

Excellent Post, 3 Run. owe you points...