THE JURASSIC (GEOLOGICAL) IMAGINATIONS

The word ‘Jurassic’ is the most popular Geological term in the world, I believe. Credit goes to the academy awards winning director, Steven Spielberg and his team for their tri-sequels of movies - ‘Jurassic Park’, which received overwhelming appreciation from viewers of all age groups, across the continents. There were about 1000+ products, promoted in line with this hyped movie, almost all containing the word ‘Jurassic’. But it is very interesting to note that the majority is not aware of the fact – JURASSIC is infact a geological term / period which denotes about 145 to 195 million years ago during which the life of the unique Dinosaurs, flourished and dominated the (Flora and) Fauna of Earth. There were about 700 species of Dinosaurs and all of them became extinct during ‘Cretaceous’ (about 145 to 65 million years), the geological period which followed the Jurassic. As per the fossil records, this era also had few species of dinosaurs with feathers (Archaeopteryx), considered as the first birds, in the ladder of evolution. Obviously the word ‘Jurassic’ is well known, far more than any other geological terms including the word ‘Geology’ by itself.

I always wonder, how people imagine and visualize about what they have never come across. We, humans are often trying for overcoming the state of not knowing about certain things of what we see, we learn and all above that, what we IMAGINE! We do have many imaginations for which the reasons are usually not made available, even if we try. We neither keep any records nor discuss about these imaginations. As per neuroscience studies, some people possess the ability to let their minds, imaginations integrated so well, with which they can acquire the skills to look things in a different view and create something new be it an art or an invention or even an idea, whatever. They can as well explain to what they have mentally explored with their imaginations.

On March 6, 2012, the self fuelled, just 4.5 billion years old, self firing power engine of our solar system, the SUN erupted with one of the largest solar flares. This flares are like an outburst of its own power which are categorized as the second largest flare, ever recorded by space scientists. Just to imagine… The Sun is a star at the center of our solar system that powers entirely the space environment of all celestial bodies around it, including our tiny home, the Earth. The approximate distance of the Sun from the Earth is 148 to 150 million kilometers. The light, with a speed of about 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles) per second, repeat 1 Second, travels from the Sun to reach Earth in about 8 minutes and 19 seconds. If we imagine the sun light as a beam of light, being switched on from a giant torch, the light that we get on the Earth has infact started travelling from the Sun, about 8 minutes and 19 seconds ago. And the imagination can only have a beginning here…

The Sun is about 109 times bigger is size that of Earth and has a diameter of about 860,000 miles. The Sun fuses about 500–600 million tons of hydrogen each second and generates its energy by converting hydrogen into helium [nuclear fusion]. It is actually plasma which is neither a solid nor a gas. The energy produced through this process of nuclear fusion by the Sun, produces all of the heat and light that we receive here on Earth. Modern technologies have continued to prove that there are millions of star systems out there in the space, like the Sun and the 8 planets (not 9 now) that we know – Pluto has been taken out of the planets list and is no longer a planet of our solar system.

Imagine a disk, around which there are several of such star systems with millions of stars (each one is like The Sun or even bigger) which can form a Galaxy. The closest  star system that we can see is about 4.4 light years away from Earth. One light year (about 10 trillion kilometers) is an astronomical unit of length, the distance that light can travel in one year - imagine 365 X 24 X 60 X 60 X 300,000 kilometers.

The picture above is of one such galaxies, known as NGC 628, it is between 30 and 36 million light-years away from us and has a diameter of about 100,000 light-years. It is estimated that this galaxy is home to about 100 billion stars, imagine about 100 billion Suns.

And the imagination does not end there, such galaxy is just one of around 200 billion galaxies in the whole universe, as per observations made so far. It may not be an exaggeration to say that looking the planet Earth from another galaxy is like seeing one particle of sand at the boundary while standing in a middle of a desert.

“Ask yourself whether the dream of heaven and greatness should be waiting for us in our graves - or whether it should be ours here and now and on this earth.” - Ayn Rand, Novelist

The planet Earth by herself has many mysterious beauties which would trigger some wild imaginations. The open wound made by Meteors crashing onto earth, altering the landscape forever, wind and rivers blowing and flowing for millions of years, changing the topography of Earth and each one of them would give some appealing and inspiring imaginations. Being a Geologist by graduation, I had several opportunities to visit some unusual places of geological importance, in India. It is ecstatic to eye-witness the serenity of mother nature, the supernatural calmness of forests, the batholithic range of mountains, the relict mass of twisted, rocky outcrops standing proud at the empty horizons, crowned by another boulder with an unusual design... The mother Nature never missed to give a series of explosions of imaginations without any warrant, for me. I am blessed...

B.Mannan

Dubai, UAE

THE ART OF HEAVY LIFTING AND HAULAGE

Despite my strong quest for good (music) sounds, the spine chilling, rhythmic sounds made by a configured set of slow moving, heavy lifting modular platforms, commonly known as hydraulic axles, loaded with a mammoth single load weighing hundreds of metric tons, have always mesmerized me. By virtue of my occupation, I was privileged to be part of some highly skilled heavy lift project engineering teams, managing the whole events right from receiving the super heavy lifts or over dimensional loads under the ship’s hook to delivery upto the designated project site including placement onto the foundation. These deliveries getting executed within a stipulated period of time would eventually transform the construction of any project to attain its shape, as to what we see any industrial plant.

I was reluctantly compelled, at times, to spend few consecutive days & nights at major seaports in India, waiting for the nominated heavy cargo to come out of the performing vessel’s deck. It used to be a competitive test for my patience. But the subsequent challenging journey alongwith the haulage team, traversing through hundreds of kilometers, had always been a tiring delight. The whole team had to literally jog in pace with the moving mass of machinery. Whenever the heavy lift specialists team performed a critical maneuvering enroute, I repeatedly managed to ensure myself to be standing near the load, not only to learn the tactics of heavy lift haulage but also to hear that mesmerizing, rejuvenating sound. Each and everyone of the technical crew had to play their part of responsibility in making the heavy load to be on the move. The actions also included lifting of live electric wires with high levels of accuracy to get the heavy load pass through. The support teams had to preplan and arrange necessary permissions from concerned authorities for removal & refixing of overhead signboards, block the traffic on a national highway, delay a train for while at the nearby station, shut down H.T electricity, reinforce the roads wherever needed and at times construct bye-pass to avoid going over a weak bridge, all for allowing the heavy load to reach its designated destination. These set of actions usually done with a very minimal verbal communication, reminded me of seeing a war movie, sequencing the mobilization of military equipments to the frontlines, always with an element of surprise…

The concept of Heavy Lift Project Logistics has been relatively perceived as simple but in contrary is highly complex. In Heavy lift logistics, every single movement is regarded as a project which is unique on its own requirement and it is an every time challenge with a difference. It demands precise pre-planning, highly specialized information, personnel and equipments. It stipulates designing & execution of innovative transport solutions to perform complex tasks, possibly in a remote and volatile terrain.


Whatever the man made objects fabricated on this world, be it a massive reactor, oil field jackets, rig modules, mid section of a ship, each weighing about several hundreds or even thousands of metric tonnes, the project logistics team lifts and shifts them exactly to the place, where it is expected to be, as per the engineering design of the project.

While there could be hundreds of project shipments getting executed around the world by fellow professionals, would like to recall here, the unprecedented events happened, when "Kursk"- sank in the Barents Sea[2000 A.D]. "Kursk", the largest attack submarine ever built, lost herself under the sea due to an unexpected and unauthorized explosion. The disaster response system of the mighty Russian Navy by itself launched a Rescue Mission to save 118 sailors, reportedly manned the submarine. Unfortunately no progress was made available. Within few days of the accident, the mission status was changed. A Salvage Mission was ordered by the high command. The nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine, equivalent to a four storied high building, with displacement of about 13,500 to 16,500 tonnes as per her design, slept under the sea at a depth of about 108 metres. She was kept safely guarded by another armed submarine. 

The Russian Navy politely declined to accept any technical assistance offered by other nations and contracted two Dutch based Heavy Lifting, Haulage, Salvage companies (Mammoet and Smit International) to perform the salvage. What happened after that was a carefully monitored and recorded history of military logistics. Equipped with several months of precise planning and preparations in consultations with the Navy, the Heavy Lifting Engineering teams arrived, positioned their equipments at the place of the accident, executed their plans, lifted "Kursk" from the bottom of the sea and handed her over to the Navy. The mission was accomplished = The Art of Heavy Lifting and Haulage.

Note: The Kursk Salvage project is taken just to compliment the heavy lift professionals. The expertise and powers of the Navy are unquestionably supreme and to be respected.

For academic interest - [Project]Logistics was originally a military term used to describe the organization of moving, lodging and supplying troops and equipments. It was clearly somewhat broader in scope than transport, since it covered everything needed to deliver the troops and equipments to the right place, at the right time, and the right condition. Modern business [Project] logistics is based exactly on the same concept, aims at delivery of what the customer / project owner wants – providing the cargo at the right time [Time Utility], at the right place [Place Utility] and in the right quantity [Possession Utility] and ofcourse at the right price [Cost Utility]. To make it complete, the sequential cyclicality of the multi modal transport system is inescapably needed with perfection. Any failure will make even a very well established, strong organization, unwittingly, become embroiled in situations of irreversible commercial and reputation loses. Ofcourse, the element of risk bearing is commonly out of proportion due to the multiplying uncertainties in the present economic scenario. 

B.Mannan
Dubai, UAE