TunnelBug's photostream  

Fly Wheel - Abandoned Sawmill

In this abandoned sawmill, deep in the Bay Area mountains, a lone flywheel stood next to various other accoutrements and bric-a-brac. This mill was one of the last steam-operated sawmills in the U.S. There is only one steam-powered sawmill operating in the U.S. today, the Hull-Oakes Sawmill, fifteen miles south of Corvalis, Oregon.

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Uploaded on Nov 15, 2009

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Computer Controls - Steel Factory

This steel factory outside of Detroit was the first to use computer controls. On a related note, I've been reading an academic piece that analyzes the downfall of Detroit. A major reason for Detroit's demise - or so says the thesis statement - is the increased mechanization and automation of the steel production process. No more workers were needed, so blue collar jobs disappeared, while white collar managerial classes prospered. The paper posits that Detroit was hampered by a combination of automation, government policies encouraging dispersed, suburban factories and - of course - increasing globalization. Mainly, however, it was the computer that destroyed the typical Detroit blue collar job.

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Uploaded on Nov 11, 2009

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Guardian Building, Detroit

Built in 1928, and designed by the relatively inauspicious architect, Wirt C. Rowland, the Guardian Building is Detroit's crown jewel (in a city that once held many crown jewels).

Walking the interior of this lobby-level promenade was an excellent capstone to our adventures in Detroit.

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Uploaded on Oct 29, 2009

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"Richmond Plunge" Water Feature

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Uploaded on Oct 28, 2009

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