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Weekend


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August 27, 2004

Strange But True!

  • A weekly column of incidental information, off-the-wall observations and other random facts about the world.
    • By BILL SONES and RICH SONES, Ph.D.
    Special to the Journal

    Q. From a Seattle reader:  "The world still uses old buildings, for instance the Urnes stave church (c. 1150) in Sogn og Fjordane County in Norway.  Will our modern buildings last anywhere near this long?"

    A.  Some old buildings survive because people consider them important and pay whatever it costs to renovate them, says Texas A&M professor of civil engineering Lee L. Lowery, Jr.  "Heck, they just tore down our local McDonald's to add a romper room.  In contrast, there are a bunch of Italians who paid $30 million to stop some tower in Pisa from falling over. That edifice will likely last practically forever."


     
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