Some stories are worth telling again. This article was printed in The Weekly Adirondack almost four years ago. A couple of people asked that it be printed again, because they felt it was fascinating and interesting.
When and how did building codes begin?
Over the years, while attending various schools for the different building and fire safety codes, some of the first and most original codes were discussed.
Well over two thousand years ago, if you were a master builder, the most important “code” to remember was that the structure had to stand and not collapse.
If it collapsed, then your home would be destroyed. If it collapsed and killed the building owner’s family, well then your family would be killed.
That may be why some of those old temples and cathedrals are still standing today.
The point is that many codes are derived from common sense and past experiences, even if the code was not in writing.
Those old “codes” have turned into good engineering practices, well tested by time, and well documented in writing.
Have you ever wondered where the width of railroad tracks came from? Probably not, but here you go…
The U.S. standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That’s an exceedingly odd number.
Why was that gauge used?
Because that’s the way they built them in England and English expatriates designed the U.S. railroads.
Why did the English build them like that?
Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that’s the gauge they used.
Why did they use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they had used for building wagons… which used that wheel spacing.
Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing?
Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old long distance roads in England, because that’s the spacing of the road ruts from the wheels.
So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (including England) for their legions. Those roads have been used ever since.
And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels.
Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing… and because the English designed the first trains and railroads in the U.S., the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot.
Bureaucracies live forever.
So the next time you are handed a specification, a procedure, a code standard and wonder what horse’s ass came up with this idea… You may be exactly right, a horse’s ass.
Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses (two horses’ asses).
Now, another twist to the story. When you saw the Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there were two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs were made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah.
The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site.
The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains, and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horse’s behinds.
So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world’s most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of twice a horse’s ass.
And you thought being a horse’s ass wasn’t important?