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RE: starship-design: Mean Time Between Failure



> ----------
> From: 	kuo@bit.csc.lsu.edu[SMTP:kuo@bit.csc.lsu.edu]
> Subject: 	Re: starship-design: Mean Time Between Failure
> 
> The question is--why?  Why would you build something designed to last
> 1000 years without maintainance?  Well, Hoover Dam's massive turbines
> are an example of this.  There simply isn't any practical way to
> perform maintainance on them, so they and their bearings were designed
> to last 1000 years (this is undoubtably optimistic, and extrapolating
> far beyond any reasonable bounds, but at least they've done well for
> the larger part of a century).
> 
All of Hoover Dam's 17 original turbines were replaced between 1986 and
1993 - only fifty years after being installed.  Maintenance WAS
performed on them many times before their replacement.  It is, in fact,
very easy to perform maintenance on them, as shutting off the flow of
water to the turbine is a simple matter.
------------------------------------------------------
David Levine                     david@actionworld.com
Director of Development    http://www.actionworld.com/
ActionWorld, Inc.                       (212) 387-8200
Professional Driver.  Closed Track.  Do not attempt.