Sunday, May 27, 2007


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GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE TO HONOR 70TH ANNIVERSARY

WITH RELEASE OF NEW BOOK
The Golden Gate Bridge, Report of the Chief Engineer,

Volume II

Monday, May 28, 2007, marks the 70th Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge (Bridge).

After 2 pm on Thursday, May 10, 2007, a new limited edition (1,000 copies only) collectible hardcover book, The Golden Gate Bridge, Report of the Chief Engineer, Volume II, May 2007, by Mr. Frank L. Stahl, P.E., Mr. Daniel E. Mohn, P.E., and Ms. Mary C. Currie will be available for the purchase price of $70 plus tax/shipping. The book will be available through Bridge Gift Center (on the southeast side) and through the on-line store at www.goldengate.org.

Volume II is the narrative of the many technical, political and financial challenges faced from the late 1940s through the turn of the twenty-first century. It chronicles the most crucial engineering and design challenges met since the Bridge opened. It is an accounting of growth of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District from its singular responsibility of operating the Bridge for more than three decades to its added responsibility for providing regional public bus and ferry transit services in the Highway 101/Golden Gate Corridor starting in the early 1970s.

Also, by mid-May 2007, the 5th annual Golden Gate Bridge Collectible Holiday Ornament will debut at the Bridge Gift Center and on-line at www.goldengate.org.

Golden Gate Bridge Turns 70 Years Old

The Golden Gate Bridge (Bridge), San Francisco, CA, is widely recognized as one of the greatest construction achievements in the twentieth century. Once the longest suspension span ever built, the Bridge is considered an international icon, a structure of grace and beauty, and a lasting symbol of American progress and ingenuity.

The Bridge was constructed as a vital transportation link between the growing urban center of the City and County of San Francisco and the vast Redwood Empire to the north. Since opening, it has served as a critical link in California’s highway system and as an engine of economic vitality, supporting the San Francisco Bay Area’s commerce and tourism. In 1937, it could not have been imagined that this magnificent span, now one of the most recognized symbols in the world, would be visited by millions each year and crossed by 40 million vehicles annually. Since opening to traffic on May 28, 1937, more than 1,769,579,433 have crossed the span.

Initially, the idea of a bridge to span the Golden Gate Strait at the entrance to the San Francisco Bay was one that was met with extreme skepticism and dubbed “the bridge that couldn’t be built.” But the idea of a bridge prevailed, and in December 1928, California Legislature designated the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District as the entity to design, construct, and finance the Bridge. The District was comprised of six-member counties: San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, Napa and portions of Del Norte and Mendocino.

Overcoming seemingly insurmountable political, technical, and financial challenges, under the leadership of Chief Engineer Joseph B. Strauss, the now famed span opened to pedestrians on May 27, 1937, and to vehicular traffic on May 28, 1937, at twelve o’clock noon when President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a telegraph key in the White House to announce the event to the world. The Bridge, with a main span of 4,200 feet, remained the longest suspension span ever built until the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York open in 1964 with a main span of 4,260 feet.

The 1.7 mile long bridge, under construction from January 1933 to April 1937, became a reality only because of the will of the people who went to the polls on November 4, 1930, and voted to back the $35 million bond issue to finance construction of the Bridge. On July 1, 1971, the original construction bonds were retired—$35 million in principal and nearly $39 million in interest all financed entirely from tolls.

The Bridge is commonly considered one of the most beautiful examples of bridge engineering. It is distinctive because of its striking design, its unique aesthetics that emphasize light and simplicity, rather than solidity and complexity along with its shapes and forms that heighten its tremendous scale and beauty. Its detailed Art Deco styling, International Orange color, extraordinary illumination, the arch over Historic Fort Point all set the Bridge apart from all other suspension spans of the era as both an architectural masterpiece and environmental sculpture.

With four funding sources available to fund operations—Bridge tolls, transit fares, government grants, and concessions and advertising— the structural integrity of the span is held as the highest priority. The Bridge stands today as a testament to its past and present Board members; managers and staff; elected officials; engineers; consultants; geologists; seismologists; planners; contractors; bridge workers; and the many, many hundreds of others who have contributed to making the Bridge the revered and beloved structure that it remains today.

Recognitions and Distinctions
Over the decades, the Golden Gate Bridge has earned numerous recognitions and distinctions. In 1980, the Bridge was determined to be eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The Bridge was also designated as California Historical Landmark No. 974. The American Society of Civil Engineers has honored the span three times by naming it as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1984, one of Seven Civil Engineering Wonders of the United States in 1997, and as one of the Civil Engineering Monuments of the Millennium in 2001.

In 1993, the Society of American Registered Architects’ gave it the Distinguished Building Award in recognition of enduring excellence in design. In 1999, the Bridge was designated as a San Francisco Landmark and it was ranked number two in the list of the Top 10 Construction Achievements of the 20th Century. In 2000, the Bridge was named the winner of the second annual Gustav Lindenthal Medal as the most significant engineering project of the twentieth century. The span has also been recognized twice by the U.S. Postal Service, with the release of two postcards featuring the Golden Gate Bridge on June 2, 1997, and the release of the ‘Turn of the Century’ series Golden Gate Bridge stamp, on September 3, 1998.

Key Preservation Projects
Since its completion in 1937, a number of major rehabilitation projects have been undertaken to preserve, protect and extend the life of the Bridge. The Bridge has been the scene of many “firsts,” with an unprecedented number of breakthrough projects occurring on a single structure. The culmination of these successes has set the stage for the Bridge to not only be recognized around the world as a magnificent engineering structure, but as a leading institution of innovation and achievement.

The Bridge structure itself played a leading role in the investigation of long span suspension bridge behavior, in the development of modern design theories, and in the application of modern bridge maintenance methods. Stellar examples of these include the first-ever total replacement of all 250 pairs of vertical suspender ropes completed in 1976; the successful replacement of the original concrete roadway deck with a lighter, stronger, orthotropic steel deck in 1986; and a comprehensive seismic retrofit of the entire span which is underway today with two of three construction phases now completed. Other notable projects include the 1954 addition of a lower lateral bracing system to increase the stability of the Bridge and the 1982 earthquake retrofit of the approaches to the Bridge.

Traffic Management Innovations
By the 1960s, with the public’s growing automobile obsession which resulted in a significant increase in traffic congestion, the Bridge became the setting of several significant traffic management innovations. On October 29, 1963, the use of reversible lanes to improve commute period traffic was inaugurated and on October 19, 1968, the world’s first one-way toll system. In the early 1970s, the Bridge ventured into then uncharted territory when it launched public bus and ferry transit system. On November 10, 1969, California Legislature expanded the District’s authority allowing the development of a mass transportation system in the Golden Gate Highway U.S. 101 Corridor. It was then that the agency name was changed from the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District to the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District. The most recent advancement in the improvement of traffic flow across the span was the July 2000 launch of the FasTrak® electronic toll collection system—now with 70% of commuters using the system.

Bridge Stats
Total length including approaches: 1.7 miles or 8,981 feet
Length of main span of suspended structure (distance between main towers): 4,200 feet
Width: 90 feet
Width roadway between curbs: 62 feet
Clearance above mean higher high water: 220 feet
Total weight including anchorages and approaches: 887,000 tons
Maximum transverse deflection at center span: 27.7 feet
Maximum downward deflection at center span: 10.8 feet
Maximum upward deflection at center span: 5.8 feet

Height of main towers above water: 746 feet
Height of main tower above roadway: 500 feet
Weight of one main tower: 22,000 tons

Diameter of one main cable with wrapping: 36 and 3/8 inches
Length of one main cable: 7,650 feet
Total length of wire used in both main cables: 80,000 miles
Number of galvanized wires in one main cable: 27,572

Dont relay on this type of mail


The Bank Of East Asia Ltd
137 Market Street
Bank of East Asia Building
Singapore 048943


Hello Kabir, Thank you for your reply to my letter. My
tel/fax number is +65-9896-7486. Note, my letter to
you did not say that monies have been left to you.
What I said was that a late investor (DAVID MAMUN),who
may or may not be related to your family left behind
$18,900,000.00 (Eighteen million, Nine hundred
thousand United State dollars) in an investment
account with the bank I work for The Bank Of East Asia
Ltd (BEA). With your collaboration, we can acquire the
funds for ourselves (you included) instead of allowing
it to be passed onto the Singapore government who is
not any qualified than you and I in benefiting from
such a once in a life time opportunity. Beside, the
funds will be shared amongst top government officials.
Since the bank private search for possible beneficiary
for the decease (DAVID MAMUN) which your name and
contact came in with nine others it will be very
possible for this monies to be release to you as the
only surviving beneficiary since the rest of them are
not aware of the claim, officially the bank did not
make any contact with anybody regarding this claim,
that is why we are making contact with you privately
and you must be confidential about this claim not to
put us into problem.

As you would agree with me, we do not know you well.
We are making this proposition to you because of the
relevance of your surname in actualizing this
transaction. Can you in your reply tell us a bit about
yourself to reassure us; FULL NAME, DATE OF BIRTH,
TELEPHONE NUMBER, FAX NUMBER, PRIVATE EMAIL ADDRESS
AND POSTAL ADDRESS (what you do for a living, married
or single, your age, your interest) anything to assure
us that you are a gentle person and that you Would not
disappear with the whole funds once the business is
completed. I called but my English speaking is not
good to explain further details I hope you do
understand me on email, please read this explanation
about the business for better understanding. We are
delighted to find you with a matching surname as the
late investor. However, we will need your continuous
reassurance that after we approve your application and
BEA transfer the funds to your bank account in your
country, you MUST RETURN by way of bank transfer OUR
AGREED percentage (40%/60%, $7,560,000.00 for you and
$$11,340,000.00 for me and my colleagues) and that you
will not disappoint us in this regards. Because once
we approve the payment of the funds to your bank
account, we cannot disapprove it. Our faiths are
virtually in your hands and we hope that you will not
take advantage of this fact. If you and we are both
happy to proceed after you receive this communication,
the following is how this transaction can be best
achieved. According to the banking and the Singapore
laws, to make an inheritance claim of this magnitude,
you must do so through a Singapore based
lawyer/solicitor. If you already have a trusted lawyer
here in Singapore whom you would like to use for this
transaction, you should give us his information for us
to first approve of him before you appoint him/her. On
the other hand, if you do not have a trusted Singapore
based lawyer, we can source for one and relay such
lawyer’s details
to you for you to appoint him/her to act on your
behalf in applying and submitting all the necessary
applications to the relevant departments including BEA
and the courts here in Singapore for the release of
the said funds by wire transfer into your nominated
bank account. For clarity, here are your role and our
role after we have agreed on the lawyer you are to use
for the claim process. These instructions are the only
way we can succeed with this transaction without any
present or future consequences. Bear in mind that I
work with a bank and I know all it take for a
beneficiary to receive inheritance money.
Your Role:
1. We will give you the reference number relating to
the inheritance claim/investment deposit account
reference in BEA.
2. You make contact with the solicitor/lawyer and
instruct him to act on your behalf in the pursuit of
your inheritance claim by giving the Solicitor/lawyer
the inheritance reference number that we will give
you.
3. You must never inform the solicitor/lawyer that you
are working with my colleague and me.
4. Once the solicitor/lawyer put in the claim on your
behalf, your role stops and our role begins.
Our Role:
1. The application goes through the normal application
process for verification and approval with the BEA and
end up with me and my colleagues for final approval.
2. My colleagues and I have people at these
departments to verify and approve the application.
3. After application is approved, payment is issued
out to your nominated bank account and notification
and all relevant papers and certifications stating
that these funds have been released to your bank
account will be forwarded to you via the solicitor who
acted on your behalf. And that is the end of the claim
process. This whole process would take between 7 to 14
working days from start to finish. Once the funds
arrive in your nominated bank account, we (my
colleagues and I) will give you our banking
particulars for you to transfer our share of this
business to, while you retain your share, less any
expenses incurred by both parties. We then shake hands
and part ways and everybody will be happy. If the
above procedures are acceptable to you, say so by
return email. You can also call me to say so too and
we will proceed immediately and the said money
($18.9M) can be release to you in less than 14 days
from now. Note that we all including you is 100% safe
in this inheritance claim because there will be an
Attorney who will perform the entire requirement
legitimately under your control. Thank you, Cheng Koh.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Be aware of scamp like this

Hello Mamun, though my manner of contacting you is
unlawful that is why I will not just give all my
information freely. I work with the bank of East Asia
ltd Singapore. I will be able to reply you and provide
you with more information after you have replied me
and promise to keep my information confidential. The
information I have are authentic and accurate for you
to receive this claim but before I let out such huge
information I must be sure that I am dealing with the
right person and you will not cut us out when I
provide you with the deceased information that is of
beneficial to you and your family. Your contact came
in some few days ago as possible beneficiary to the
late gentle man who died without a WILL. Before we
proceed furnish me FULL NAME, DATE OF BIRTH, TELEPHONE
NUMBER, FAX NUMBER, PRIVATE EMAIL ADDRESS AND POSTAL
ADDRESS. In this way I will have some confidence in
dealing with you, There is need for us to discus our
terms before we provide you with all the late person
information. Thank you in anticipation of your reply,
Cheng Koh.

Monday, May 21, 2007

How to Eliminate Anxiety and Panic … Forever!


Revealed! Little-Known, Safe, Yet Powerful Techniques to Totally Eliminate Panic & Anxiety Out of Your Life, Even If the
Doctors Have Given Up

Dear Anxiety and Panic Sufferer,

Does the above scenario sound familiar to you? Sounds kind of scary but anyone can be a victim of anxiety and panic attacks.

If you often experience intense feelings of fear, restlessness, dizziness, and difficulty in breathing, then you need to pay attention right away.

Anxiety/Panic Disorder can be nasty and devastating. It can rob you of much needed confidence and happiness. It can also result to physical exhaustion and fatigue.

Other people will become affected as well, because you are always worried and irritated by petty matters. Due to panic attacks, you won't be able to get out of the house without fearing the worst. Panic can make your career, love life, social life, and personal life suffer tremendously.To get more details please click here.

Affilation programme