Contest #612 – Old River Control Structure, Louisiana, USA

Approximate location: 31.076944, -91.597222

Avulsion is a geologic term related to rivers. Rivers tend to find the path of least resistance from source to mouth. If a river “finds” a channel that will provide less level of resistance (shorter distance, steeper slope), that river will often abandon its current channel in favor of the better one. The act of switching channels is avulsion.
The Mississippi River “sees” a shorter, steeper path to the Gulf of Mexico from this location in Central Louisiana in the Atchafalaya River. The problem is that downriver of the Old River Control Structure are things like a HUGE portion of the petrochemical industry for the western hemisphere and the cities of Baton Rouge and New Orleans. If the river avulsed west into the Atchafalaya channel, it would leave those cities and industrial complexes without a stable permanent fresh water source. Whether or not the new path of the river would be navigable is questionable, and there is currently an extensive amount of cargo that relies on the Mississippi to get to and from the Gulf (and by extension, the Atlantic and the World). Finally, the people in the path of the Atchafalaya would undergo extensive flooding, erosion and denial of land.

Geomorphology of Old River.jpg
By United States Army Corps of Engineers – http://www.mvs.usace.army.mil/arec/models_old_html.html[dead link], Public Domain, Link

Thus the Old River Control Structure was born. The ORCS creates a management point, controlling flow into the Atchafalaya, and keeping the river from a catastrophic avulsion.

ORCS

Of course, nature is not letting this go easily. From the inauguration of the ORCS, the river has been undermining it, finding ways around and even under it. The US Army Corps of Engineers works diligently to avoid disaster by constantly upgrading and updating the ORCS, but eventually, the river is going to win.

Those who found this engineering work included:

  • Garfield
  • Paul Voestermans
  • Martin de Bock
  • Nancy Barbato
  • David Kozina
  • Phil Ower
  • Eloy Cano
  • Walter_V_R
  • Lighthouse
  • Farceur
  • Hilde Lambeir

and after the hint:

  • Ashwini Agrawal
  • ANG3L16

Contest #611: Calibration Target, Edwards Air Force Base, California, USA

Approximate location: 34°50’12.89″ N 117°44’34.00″ W

If you are trying to calibrate the lens of, say, a satellite pointing at the earth, or a high-altitude “spy plane”, you need something fairly large to look at, with specific markings that you can resolve and verify.

Hence the existence of a number of calibration targets such as these in the middle of the Mojave desert, part of Edwards Air Force Base.

Those who found this (all before the hint) were:

  • hhgygy
  • Walter_V_R
  • Nancy Barbato
  • Eloy Cano
  • Martin de Bock
  • Paul Voestermans
  • Garfield
  • Lighthouse
  • Phil Ower
  • Farceur

Contest #610 — Gate Tower Building, Osaka, Japan (#611 IS BELOW THIS POST)

(sorry for the late reveal)
Approximate coordinates: 34° 41′ 53.17″ N, 135° 29′ 22.66″ E

Gate Tower Building
By ignisOwn work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

This is a case of an immovable object meeting an irresistible force.

Specifically, the owners of this land received permits to build the building about the same time as the planners of the highway laid out the exit. The immovable object would not agree to let the land go to waste and the highway planners felt that this exit HAD to go here. So, an interesting and fairly unique cooperation formed. The highway is suspended on its own pilings and creates no additional vibration in the building. The tunnel structure keeps the noise and the noxious fumes away from the tenents of the building. The building owner gave up the 5-7th floors

Those who found this location were:

  • Garfield
  • Walter_V_R
  • hhgygy
  • Eloy Cano
  • Lighthouse
  • Phil Ower
  • Paul Voestermans
  • Frank Sinatra Jr. Jr. Jr.
  • Martin de Bock
  • Rob de Wolff
  • Andy McConnell
  • Ashwini Agrawal
  • Hilde Lambeir
  • Farceur
  • David Kozina
  • Chris Nason

All before the hint.

Congrats to Lighthouse with yet another perfect series!!

Contest #609: Alexander Hamilton Birthplace, Charlestown, Nevis

The Museum of Nevis History - Alexander Hamilton birthplace.jpg
By Daniel FarrellOwn work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Alexander Hamilton was born an illegitimate son of a Scottish plantation owner on a Nevis, one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean. I could go on to write a book (or a musical) about the man and end up taking over this site for the rest of my life to fully tell his story, but suffice to say that he is one of the US Founding Fathers — Washington’s Aide-de-camp during the revolution and first Secretary of the Treasury.

Those who found this birthplace of “the $10 Founding Father without a father” (can you tell I really like the musical) include:

  • Frank Sinatra Jr. Jr. Jr.
  • Eloy Cano
  • Lighthouse
  • Phil Ower
  • hhgygy

and after the hint:

  • Paul Voestermans
  • Garfield
  • Walter_V_R
  • Ashwini Agrawal
  • Martin de Bock
  • Rob de Wolff
  • Robin

Contest #608: the now abandoned Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal, across the Hudson from New York

After a very small abandoned railway station last week, this week was a very large abandoned station in New Jersey.

One of 5 transfer points from train to the boats across to New York, this one received from and sent passengers to places like Elizabeth, Lorraine, White House and Bethlehem, NJ.

It operated from 1889 to 1967.

Those who took the right train:

  • Garfield
  • Paul Voestermans
  • Walter_V_R
  • Eloy Cano
  • Martin de Bock
  • Phil Ower
  • Lighthouse
  • Frank Sinatra Jr. Jr. Jr.
  • hhgygy

After the hint:

  • Rob de Wolff

Contest #606: Røst, Norway

Sitting about 100KM north of the Arctic Circle, Røst nevertheless has a mean winter temperature above freezing. A confluence of the Gulf Stream, the North Atlantic Current, and the Norwegian Current are responsible for this little oasis of (relative) warmth.

Those who found this place, all before the hint, were:

  • Walter_V_R
  • Lighthouse
  • hhgygy
  • Rob de Wolff
  • Martin de Bock
  • steve willis
  • Luís Filipe Miguel
  • Paul Voestermans
  • Garfield
  • Eloy Cano
  • Phil Ower
  • Sandworm
  • Chris Nason

Contest #605: Panda Green Energy Solar Plant, Datong, China

Approximate coordinates: 039.9771276 N 113.4862223 E

If you have social media, you’ve likely seen a meme with one of these artist markups of this place:

Built as part of the “Belt and Road Initiative”, this 50MW plant produces about 1/2 the power for the Datong region. There are 100 more panda-shaped plants being planned throughout Asia and the Pacific Islands by Panda Green Energy, with one planned in Fiji as well.

Those who found it without the hint:

  • hhgygy
  • Walter_V_R
  • Paul Voestermans
  • Phil Ower
  • Sandworm
  • Martin de Bock
  • steve willis
  • Ashwini Agrawal
  • Garfield
  • Gillian B
  • Chris Nason
  • Eloy Cano
  • Lighthouse
  • Rob de Wolff
  • Steve Hoge
  • David Kozina

And after the hint:

  • Hilde Lambeir

Contest #604 – “Posankka”, Turku, Finland

Approximate coordinates: 60.458595°, 22.289610°

The concept of Finnish artist Alvar Gullichsen, Posankka has been in its current location since 2001. It started out in 1999, however, as a floating work of art:

Posankka is a hybrid between a marzipan pig and a rubber duck. While Cullichsen has never said so, many believe it to be a statement against genetic engineering.

At Christmas time, the statue wears a Santa hat:

Those who successfully mixed these two species before the hint were:

  • Walter_V_R
  • hhgygy
  • Lighthouse
  • Martin de Bock
  • Paul Voestermans
  • Garfield

And after the hint:

  • Phil Ower
  • Eloy Cano
  • steve willis