Life After People

[ricksegers]

I have been watching this on History Channel. It's certainly intriguing. Apparently I have missed one piece of information and that is the premise for the loss of humans. Animals survive but not humans. Is there a reason given for this or you just have to accept the premise?

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Seems like you just have to accept the premise.

Makes me wonder: If we still see Roman Ruins after what was likely a millennium of no maintenance, could we really expect our structures to fail after only a couple centuries? I hope not!

 

[LKellerIII]

Seems like you just have to accept the premise.

Makes me wonder: If we still see Roman Ruins after what was likely a millennium of no maintenance, could we really expect our structures to fail after only a couple centuries? I hope not!

According to what I've read - rebar (used to reinforce concrete) wasn't invented until the mid 1800s. So I'd speculate that buildings built in recent times after reinforced concrete became common - would last far longer than anything built before that, including ancient ruins. Wood framed buildings? Probably not, thanks to termites and dry-rot.

 

[sack]

In the beginning of the program they say something about people disapearing and that the show only deals with what happens "after people".
Great concept and really good graphics, but every show is similar. Last night they showed DC and LA, which was similar to what would happen in NY and Chicago. Shows like this would make a great 2 hour special, but as a weekly thing they fall flat after a few episodes. Same thing with the logging show, the crabbing show,,, good as specials but not enough for a weekly series.

 

[notalkallstatic]

In the beginning of the program they say something about people disapearing and that the show only deals with what happens "after people".
Great concept and really good graphics, but every show is similar. Last night they showed DC and LA, which was similar to what would happen in NY and Chicago. Shows like this would make a great 2 hour special, but as a weekly thing they fall flat after a few episodes. Same thing with the logging show, the crabbing show,,, good as specials but not enough for a weekly series.

Also, they showed Atlanta for the first time. I live in Atlanta, and was kind of amazed at what would happen. Kudzu would kick Atlanta's a$$!

I find the show very enjoyable, and the graphics are really well done. This show was a two hour special about 3-6 months ago.

 

[BRNout]

According to what I've read - rebar (used to reinforce concrete) wasn't invented until the mid 1800s. So I'd speculate that buildings built in recent times after reinforced concrete became common - would last far longer than anything built before that, including ancient ruins. Wood framed buildings? Probably not, thanks to termites and dry-rot.

I would have to disagree with part of this: reinforced concrete would not last longer than most of the old ruins. That's because (without maintenance) the concrete tends to weather and expose the rebar which, ends up rusting. Within one to two hundred years, the reinforced concrete stuff falls apart. Those old Roman and Greek ruins that you may be thinking of were constructed of some sort of stone (marble, granite or miscellaneous blocks). Those things will last for thousands of years. When you're talking about abandoned cities, the ancient ones that used low-tech building products will vastly outlast the newer cities. All of our stuff requires some form of maintenance.

Yes, anything that's wooden would rot and/or be eaten within 100 years if not maintained.

The series is interesting; however, it would also need to be pretty short. That's because, after a number of episodes, it starts to become redundant to a degree. The material that they have to work with is more limited. Once you've seen a few episodes, you've seen them all.

On a different note, what's up with the History Channel over-programming Gangland? That show seems like it's always on. Seriously, how many nights of the week is it plugged into prime-time?

Most recently, they've stuck it into the Monday night slot before Ax Men in place of the previous week's episode. Bad for me because I generally have to keep up with the series one week behind - the 9 to 10 CT hour is a bad one in our household. By sticking yet another episode of Gangland in there, I'm missing Ax Men. Gangland doesn't really fit the channel's format that well anyhow. Sure, you could argue that some episodes delve into gang history - but the focus is that of a modern true-crime series. It's more of an A&E type series, or at least Nat Geo.

 

[mleach]

Yes, anything that's wooden would rot and/or be eaten within 100 years if not maintained.

Such as that abandoned amusement park not far from Cleveland. Even though the last time their wooden roller coaster ran was back in 1974 , the thing is still standing today and has been sitting in the woods ( along with other rides and old buildings ) just rotting away over the years..actually the coaster itself is so rotted out now parts of it had collapsed over the years. Still though it doesn't stop the curious from visiting and taking walks on whats left of the tracks and hills. I think it was only within the last few weeks it was announced the remains of the park including the coaster would be torn down. Not really a bad thing, kinda surprised somebody hadn't got themselves killed there over the years.

 

[azumanga]

It seems that ever since "The World Without Us" (both the book and the documentary), there have been several series, docs and books that deal with the same subject, like it's become a new fad.

If you really want "Life After People", go to the magazine section of your local library. (You know where I'm going with this.)

 

[LKellerIII]

According to what I've read - rebar (used to reinforce concrete) wasn't invented until the mid 1800s. So I'd speculate that buildings built in recent times after reinforced concrete became common - would last far longer than anything built before that, including ancient ruins. Wood framed buildings? Probably not, thanks to termites and dry-rot.

I would have to disagree with part of this: reinforced concrete would not last longer than most of the old ruins. That's because (without maintenance) the concrete tends to weather and expose the rebar which, ends up rusting. Within one to two hundred years, the reinforced concrete stuff falls apart. Those old Roman and Greek ruins that you may be thinking of were constructed of some sort of stone (marble, granite or miscellaneous blocks). Those things will last for thousands of years. When you're talking about abandoned cities, the ancient ones that used low-tech building products will vastly outlast the newer cities. All of our stuff requires some form of maintenance.

Yes, anything that's wooden would rot and/or be eaten within 100 years if not maintained.

You could be right - I'm certainly no expert on construction. But I live in earthquake country, and watched a number of large damaged buildings being reinforced after the 7.0 1989 San Francisco earthquake. For one 5 story building, they drilled many yards underground to put in a new underground foundation, then surrounded the entire outside of the building in a lattice-type criss-cross structure of enormous I-beams. It looked like a giant steel tic-tac-toe board. Then they put a false-front on the building to hide the I-beams. It's hard to imagine that building not still standing in some form in a couple of thousand years.

 

[BRNout]

You could be right - I'm certainly no expert on construction. But I live in earthquake country, and watched a number of large damaged buildings being reinforced after the 7.0 1989 San Francisco earthquake. For one 5 story building, they drilled many yards underground to put in a new underground foundation, then surrounded the entire outside of the building in a lattice-type criss-cross structure of enormous I-beams. It looked like a giant steel tic-tac-toe board. Then they put a false-front on the building to hide the I-beams. It's hard to imagine that building not still standing in some form in a couple of thousand years.

There's a difference between having great structural support and durability over time. Those two things don't always go together. Yes, reinforced concrete is very durable and is a great construction media. The problem is that, over time, it still needs to be maintained as do the rest of the building systems.

Buildings aren't designed to allow roofs to leak water throughout the structure or to sit there with broken windows over an extended period. If maintained, those big structures can last for hundreds and hundreds of years. But that requires a new roof every 30 years, fresh window caulking every 10 or so years and repair of damage should it occur (like from severe storms or earthquakes). When those things are neglected, water eventually gets into the concrete causing it to crack and break and the rebar to rust. The structure ends up being little more than rust and crumbling stones (eventually dust) over time. It happens even faster in places where there is a freeze and thaw climate.

Sorry for wandering way off topic, but perhaps it may enhance your viewing enjoyment of LWP. At least that's what I'm selling to our dear moderator.