18020
« on: April 12, 2012, 04:06:42 pm »
Addendum on the bridge:
A hydraulically powered bridge lifter will be quite powerful indeed, however, not particularly fast on reaction time without sacrificing raw force in footpounds.
(See for instance, using a small but heavy gear wheel to turn a much larger one, increasing the velocity of rotation proportional to the loss of torque.)
This also creates an unecessarily complicated mechanism.
A simple counterweight on chains with single pulleys can raise the bridge at 52 feet per second; the rate of accelleration of a large falling body. The hydraulic system is better used to reset the deadfall counterweight bridge raising system, than to raise the bridge in the desired "uncontrolled" manner.
The advantage of the counterweight system is that it is both forcecul and expedient. It should be possible to actually launch any "pedestrians" on the bridge into a nice aereal flight plan, in the opposite direction of the desired egress.
Given the recent failure of our elven euthanasia attempt, I suggest we expand our preparations for the coming elven sieges.
Additional:
Instead of rasing the bridge, consider "spring loaded" bridge, with mechanical latch-down.
Hydraulic winch pulls the bridge down contrary to the giant springs underneath. A cog latch holds the bridge down, until the release pin is pulled.
Bridge blasts off the foundation as spring energy is violently released.
Potential for violent energy release could cause whiplash in crossing pedestrians, and fatal mooshing upon landing.
Possible to send the elves to a very far away plce with bridgeapult type ferocity.
