Practical Engineering is all about infrastructure and the human-made world around us. It is hosted, written, and produced by civil engineer, Grady Hillhouse. We have new videos posted every first and third Tuesday, so please subscribe for updates.
Practical Engineering: Deciphering Our Constructed World
From Practical Engineering. _Closed Conduit Hydraulics_ is a place where intuitions don’t always serve you well ⚙️ Check out SendCutSend for custom parts fabricated from your CAD: http://sendcutsend.com/practicalengineering The garden hose is a backyard version of the same problem engineers and operators deal with every day: how much flow can you get through a real…
From Practical Engineering. This year is the 50th anniversary of the Teton Dam Failure 🌌Get Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/practical-engineering 🚣Watch Joe Scott – Oldest and Newest Places on Earth: https://nebula.tv/oldestnewest?ref=practical-engineering Teton was one of the most dramatic and catalyzing dam failures of the 20th century in the US.…
From Practical Engineering. An overview of fuse plug and fusible gate spillways ⚙️ Check out SendCutSend for custom parts fabricated from your CAD: http://sendcutsend.com/practicalengineering Most of the largest dams in the world have gated spillways with whole teams of staff dedicated to their operation. But it’s still a challenge, especially for small owners like cities.…
From Practical Engineering. A little tour of the Los Angeles Aqueduct system 🌌Get Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/Practical-Engineering 🚣Watch The Colorado Problem: https://nebula.tv/thecoloradoproblem?ref=practical-engineering The story of the LA aqueduct in a nutshell: The project seemed obvious from an engineering perspective. But it many ways, it was not only unscrupulous,…
From Practical Engineering. An overview of seismic base isolation for buildings ⚙️ Check out SendCutSend for custom parts fabricated from your CAD: http://sendcutsend.com/practicalengineering Earthquakes are such a challenge in engineering: unpredictable both in time and intensity. But I love this solution of base isolation because it’s so intuitive. It’s something my five-year-old would come up…
From Practical Engineering. Some of us just yearn for the mines. 🌌Get Nebula using my link for 50% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/Practical-Engineering 🚆Watch A Bit Obscure: https://nebula.tv/abitfrank/a-bit-obscure?ref=practical-engineering Mentions in the intro: @colinfurze @GhostTownLiving @saveitforparts @JerryRigEverything A little exploration into modern tunnel construction methods used in public infrastructure and how those lessons can be applied…
From Practical Engineering. An overview of the engineering behind stormwater ponds ⚙️ Check out SendCutSend for custom parts fabricated from your CAD: http://sendcutsend.com/practicalengineering Errata: 5 acres is about 2 hectares. Sorry for the conversion error! Part park, part plumbing, mostly hiding in plain sight, they are often carefully tuned pieces of infrastructure that help keep…
From Practical Engineering. A few of the things I love about runways 🌌Get Nebula using my link for 50% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/Practical-Engineering 🚆Watch The Logistics of X: https://nebula.tv/thelogisticsofx?ref=practical-engineering Errata: 3:47 Wind sock is in the wrong direction! 9:05 The graphic and voiceover could have explained this more clearly. Tire width goes into estimating…
From Practical Engineering. Designing and building a pulser pump ⚙️ Check out SendCutSend for custom parts fabricated from your CAD: http://sendcutsend.com/practicalengineering Primal Space video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLaLpMeOyHk A pump with no moving parts, able to lift water above its source, quietly serving a hillside fortress centuries ago. It is clever, effective, and, all these years later, mostly…
From Practical Engineering. A primer on alkali-silica reactions in concrete and one of the more interesting ways we manage it. 🌌Get Nebula using my link for 50% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/Practical-Engineering 🏙️Watch Beyond the Bleachers: https://nebula.tv/maapify/beyond-the-bleachers?ref=practical-engineering Thanks to the @TennesseeValleyAuthority for their help and footage. Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/practical-engineering-sawing-a-dam-in-half-on-purpose Signed copies…
From Practical Engineering. A visit to the wave lab to learn about how hurricanes affect coastal structures. ⚙️ Check out SendCutSend for custom parts fabricated from your CAD: http://sendcutsend.com/practicalengineering Engineering is a balancing act; we need structures that are both strong and safe, but also affordable, easy to occupy, and maybe even architecturally pleasing. Using…
From Practical Engineering. Some of the hidden details behind this very cool piece of infrastructure. 🥑 Claim your 10 Free Meals + Free Breakfast for Life by using code PRACTICALFM at https://bit.ly/41PhMMi! One free meal per box with active subscription. Free meals applied as discount on first box, new or returning subscribers only, varies by…
From Practical Engineering. The challenge of cure time 🌌Get Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/Practical-Engineering 🏙️Watch 17 Pages: https://nebula.tv/videos/17pages?ref=practical-engineering Concrete is a material that embodies both a sprint and a marathon. Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/practical-engineering-concretes-greatest-weakness Signed copies of my book (plus other cool stuff) are available here:…
From Practical Engineering. All the things I love about Niagara Falls 🌏 Get Exclusive NordVPN deal at https://nordvpn.com/practicalengineering It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee! The same thing that makes Niagara Falls impressive for tourists (the big drop) makes it valuable for power and a major challenge for shipping. And out of that comes all…
From Practical Engineering. Want to restore the planet’s ecosystems and see your impact in monthly videos? The first 100 people to join Planet Wild with my code PRACTICAL10 will get the first month for free at: https://planetwild.com/r/practicalengineering/join If you want to get to know them better first, check out their project protecting the Little Owl…
From Practical Engineering. A few of my thoughts about the recent tragedy in central Texas. I don’t have any good answers to any of this, but I think it’s worth discussing nonetheless. My heart goes out to the victims and their families who were affected by this flood. Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/practical-engineering-an-engineers-perspective-on-the-texas-floods…
From Practical Engineering. The fascinating engineering of bubble curtains 🌌Get Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/Practical-Engineering 🏙️Watch Downie Express: https://nebula.tv/downieexpress?ref=practical-engineering You know I love heavy construction. The bigger and louder the machinery, the better. But I think that anything we can do to limit the effect we have on the…
From Practical Engineering. The saga of Auburn Dam and Foresthill Bridge Auburn Dam left a lot of scars, both on the physical landscape and the political one. But it also left this bridge that became more than just an out-of-place oddity. In a sense, it’s become a monument to the end of an era in…