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Old 12-28-2017, 05:34 PM
tsofian tsofian is offline
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Default Structure survivability

How could the oil rig with the bolt hole have survived 150 years?

First let's look at some historic structures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_Tortugas_Light

https://www.nps.gov/drto/learn/histo...-jefferson.htm

Although the lighthouse was repaired while in service it did survive a number of direct hits by hurricanes over the century and a half since it was built. The Fort however went a hundred years without any care at all.

If a pair of brick structures could survive that long I think a facility designed by the Project could last 150 years as well.

Back in the Nostromo days there was a discussion about why any bolt hole could survive 150 years. It comes down to planned lifespan and over engineering. If the project started freezing people in the 1960s or so and the war could be anywhere up to 40 years later, that gives us a decent starting point. All structures had to survive 40 years. The standard bolt hole would be designed to survive 40 years of the worst case scenario. That would include erosion, ground water earthquakes, a nearby nuke, tornados and such. From there we can look at over engineering the structures and they will double or triple the life, as a factor of 2-3 is not excessive. A factor of 5 is not unheard of.

So let's look at the Lonestar Bolt Hole. It would have been designed for a worst case scenario. In this case I'd say it would be designed to survive a direct hit by a Cat three hurricane every three years and a Cat five direct hit every ten and a nearby nuke hit.

I have no problem seeing the platform leg lasting 150 years
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