Rebar and Concrete

The boys and I watched an episode of Build it Big tonight that featured the SMART Tunnel in Kuala Lumpur. The tunnel serves to relieve the city from seasonal flooding by diverting it through 20ft high tunnels below the city. This may not seem like that amazing of a project until you learn what SMART stands for.  The SMART Tunnel is the Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel.  Let me repeat that – ROAD TUNNELL.  Under normal operating conditions the tunnel serves as a toll way but when the floodwaters come the tunnel closes to traffic and opens to water.  This is the first ever dual purpose tunnel system. 

So the tunnel is pretty awesome but even more so was watching its construction with my boys.  They got so excited to see the rebar that formed the skeleton of the concrete slabs that formed the structure of the tunnel.  It was like a new discovery for them.  There is metal inside the concrete.  The 1 meter metal rods were cut from longer lengths.  The curved rebar was shaped from straight lengths by a guy at a machine. 

It was awesome to see them realize that the world around them is made out of pieces and that people put those pieces together.  As those pieces are put together problems occur and people search out and solve those problems.  Tonight they saw that the world is made of rebar and concrete and it is made by smart people who work hard.