Building an Ark - What would you do?

veronese68

It seems to be getting biblical out there. We can't be too far off 40 days and 40 niights by now.
I understand all this thing about too much rain falling on dry ground and running off. But, if we're going to have a drought could we at least have the traditional dry variety of drought. I'm bored of this now.

Sharkyssurfers

Sorry i think it started again, as i took my BB out last night and re-greased it

walkingbootweather

On my ark I probably wouldn't bother inviting wasps or daddy-long legs. I might have a couple of pairs of bees and ladybirds instead.

bails87

Hmmm, the thing is, I don't understand the stuff about rain falling on hard ground. It's rained pretty much every day for about 2 weeks now, I can assure you the ground is not hard, it's very squishy and if you walk on it you'll get wet feet!

I get it when it's dry for months and then we get 4 weeks worth of rain in an hour, but when it rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains, how can the ground still be hard?!

Kieran_Burns

bails87 wrote:

Hmmm, the thing is, I don't understand the stuff about rain falling on hard ground. It's rained pretty much every day for about 2 weeks now, I can assure you the ground is not hard, it's very squishy and if you walk on it you'll get wet feet!

I get it when it's dry for months and then we get 4 weeks worth of rain in an hour, but when it rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains, how can the ground still be hard?!

the Earth is Chuck Norris.

mr_ribble

I have Noah idea.

veronese68

bails87 wrote:

Hmmm, the thing is, I don't understand the stuff about rain falling on hard ground. It's rained pretty much every day for about 2 weeks now, I can assure you the ground is not hard, it's very squishy and if you walk on it you'll get wet feet!

I get it when it's dry for months and then we get 4 weeks worth of rain in an hour, but when it rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains, how can the ground still be hard?!

I agree. I just wanted to moan without someone going into huge detail about the whys and wherefores. I was also worried about other directions this could go.

t4tomo

I'd be tempted to leave the Rabbits off too. Ours is nothing but trouble, it tried to hump the dog yesterday.

Stevo_666

I suppose to be suitable here it would have to be made out of carbon and have a drop bar helm.

gtvlusso

I was wondering if I could remove the wheels and fit a couple of ducks between the dropouts? They seem to have the handle of water, land and air....

Q/R Skewered ducks......

mr_ribble

gtvlusso wrote:

Q/R Skewered ducks......

with satay sauce.... mmm

Fireblade96

Mmmm, I had roast duck for dinner last night :-)

Rather than build an ark, I recommend living on top of a big hill. However, if this keeps up I may be able to commute by kayak.

Jay dubbleU

Quite hard to get the gopher wood nowadays - and exactly how big is a cubit ?

rjsterry

Veronese68 wrote:

bails87 wrote:

Hmmm, the thing is, I don't understand the stuff about rain falling on hard ground. It's rained pretty much every day for about 2 weeks now, I can assure you the ground is not hard, it's very squishy and if you walk on it you'll get wet feet!

I get it when it's dry for months and then we get 4 weeks worth of rain in an hour, but when it rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains, how can the ground still be hard?!

I agree. I just wanted to moan without someone going into huge detail about the whys and wherefores. I was also worried about other directions this could go.

I was digging the garden this weekend: like the Somme on top, but still only damp less than a foot down. London clay innit - practically waterproof; they used to line ponds with it up on the Downs

veronese68

rjsterry wrote:

I was digging the garden this weekend: like the Somme on top, but still only damp less than a foot down. London clay innit - practically waterproof; they used to line ponds with it up on the Downs

Thanks RJS, I like that. Short and to the point. I heard on the radio this mornnig that a certain south eastern water company had sold off 25 resevoirs which wouldn't help. Not sure how true it is, not what I consider a reliable source.

tailwindhome

Jay dubbleU wrote:

and exactly how big is a cubit ?

I have a childhood memory of listening to an old Bill Cosby record my Grandfather owned which included a routine on this topic. Noah asks God exactly the same question?

It must be on Youtube somewhere.

optimisticbiker

TailWindHome wrote:

Jay dubbleU wrote:

and exactly how big is a cubit ?

I have a childhood memory of listening to an old Bill Cosby record my Grandfather owned which included a routine on this topic. Noah asks God exactly the same question?

It must be on Youtube somewhere.

this one?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bputeFGXEjA

rjsterry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bputeFGXEjA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubit

EDIT: Too slow

sadlybiggins

Stevo 666 wrote:

I suppose to be suitable here it would have to be made out of carbon

Your Ark will be more like The Titanic when the floodwater comes into contact with the carbon frame :shock:

t4tomo

Veronese68 wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

I was digging the garden this weekend: like the Somme on top, but still only damp less than a foot down. London clay innit - practically waterproof; they used to line ponds with it up on the Downs

Thanks RJS, I like that. Short and to the point. I heard on the radio this mornnig that a certain south eastern water company had sold off 25 resevoirs which wouldn't help. Not sure how true it is, not what I consider a reliable source.

Were the full or empty when sold, and did the purchaser have to take them away? We need to know these sort of facts.

mudcow007

its just been on the news about all the flood warnings around the uk, the only part not effected by any floods is the North West

just though i would point that out.....

bails87

mudcow007 wrote:

its just been on the news about all the flood warnings around the uk, the only part not effected by any floods is the North West

just though i would point that out.....

That's because in the North West the weather has been like this for the last 80,000 years, so you're already prepared for it

mudcow007

bails87 wrote:

mudcow007 wrote:

its just been on the news about all the flood warnings around the uk, the only part not effected by any floods is the North West

just though i would point that out.....

That's because in the North West the weather has been like this for the last 80,000 years, so you're already prepared for it

touche'

rick_chasey

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17875456

rjsterry

From Rick's link:

Bewl Water, Kent in 2006

Same reservoir last December.

mudcow007

rjsterry wrote:

From Rick's link:

Bewl Water, Kent in 2006

Same reservoir last December.

surely thats a silly idea, having a bench in the middle of the reservoir (December picture)

unless you go to scuba bbq's?

tailwindhome

OptimisticBiker wrote:

TailWindHome wrote:

Jay dubbleU wrote:

and exactly how big is a cubit ?

I have a childhood memory of listening to an old Bill Cosby record my Grandfather owned which included a routine on this topic. Noah asks God exactly the same question?

It must be on Youtube somewhere.

this one?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bputeFGXEjA

Yep. That's the one.

Initialised

Stevo 666 wrote:

I suppose to be suitable here it would have to be made out of carbon and have a drop bar helm.

Surely it'd melt!

rolf_f

bails87 wrote:

Hmmm, the thing is, I don't understand the stuff about rain falling on hard ground. It's rained pretty much every day for about 2 weeks now, I can assure you the ground is not hard, it's very squishy and if you walk on it you'll get wet feet!

I get it when it's dry for months and then we get 4 weeks worth of rain in an hour, but when it rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains and rains, how can the ground still be hard?!

You are right - it isn't hard anymore. It's not quite as straightforward as that though. Once the ground surface is nicely wetted, rainfall can start to soak into the ground. But it still might have 10s of metres of distance to go before it reaches the water table. In the meantime, as it is now the growing season, much of the water in the shallow subsurface will be lost to feeding the plants (and some won't have reached the ground as many trees are now in leaf and intercept a lot of rain). Then, because the ground is dry, you need to get a fair amount of water back into it before surface tension is overcome - a lot of the water that has fallen will just end up bound on the grains that form the rock. Only once you've got everything properly wet, does gravity take over and the rainfall actually reach the water table. Normally, this has pretty much stopped at this time of year but the rainfall this month has been about as exceptional as the lack of rainfall over winter.

If things calm down now, chances are there surface water drought will be over but the groundwater levels are still likely to be low by the end of the year. So we still need a wet winter to get close to back to normal.

As for the reservoir sell off thing - it's not impossible. There are a lot of small reservoirs about that would cost a fortune to run given the treatment required on the water. They are generally pretty small. Also, not every reservoir is built for public supply - some exist simply to keep rivers flowing. They are actually demolishing some reservoirs in the Northwest

mudcow007

its hot hot hot here today with bright sunshine

ohhhh the sun has got his hat on....

memsley89

Rolf F wrote:

So we still need a wet winter to get close to back to normal.

Exactly, nail on the head.

Many reservoirs are given winter abstraction licences on a seasonal hand off basis, flows were low over the winter so they couldn't fill. It can rain all it wants now, it hasn't given us our winter replenishment period.

Go visit your local stream and tell me how much water you can find :P

Sorry guys!