Have you ever wondered where things come from that are really big? Things like giant cell phone tower framework, or huge tires that they put on tractors, or the parts that go into making spacecraft? It might not be a common thought that runs through your mind, but it still is something to consider if you’re trying to broaden your perspective on life in general. And the answer to where big things come from usually has to do with heavy industry.
There are materials from foundries, parts for aircraft, components for sewer systems, and the materials that are required to build roads and bridges – these all come from heavy industry complexes and businesses, and it’s fascinating to study how everything works together to create these monstrous items.
Materials from a Foundry
A lot of big things get their strength from heat treatment. And the best kind of an environment to do large-scale heat treatment, stress testing, and large-format industrial work is going to be at a factory. You’ve probably seen short video clips of metal being smelted at foundries. There’s slushy material that looks like lava coming out of a big cauldron and lots of people with hardhats and safety gear standing around. The more you look into materials produced at a foundry, the more you’ll be amazed at how far the technology is come.
Parts for Aircraft
There are some spectacularly large airplanes, especially as associated with the military. With that in mind, have you ever thought about how large parts of aircraft are made? The engineering has to be extremely specific, and because people are going to be flying in these airplanes, any mistakes are literally considered a matter of life and death. Some of the most prominent parts of an airplane would be the propellers or the engine parts, so it’s truly intriguing to think about how those get put together and constructed.
Sewer System Infrastructure and Components
When you think of a large city, usually you think of the infrastructure above ground. But, some of the biggest things in play are actually underground. That is, there’s a massive sewer system underneath the city that performs the function of taking all of the drainage and liquid waste of the entire place to a treatment plan of some sort. The engineering, construction, operation, and maintenance of a large-scale sewer system is truly something to behold.
Building Roads and Bridges
If you’ve ever seen the construction of roads and bridges, it’s intense looking at how big the machines are that perform all of the road-building or bridge construction processes. Especially when you see highways being built or repaired, some of the machines look absolutely bizarre, and they’re often made of gigantic metal structures in order to provide all the power, heat, and strength required to work with the materials at hand.