Short 🧵 about the structural virtuosity of an anonymous builder in a traditional Maltese courtyard house:

BoM165: The bridge at Semer Water is classic Yorkshire: simple, solid, and a fundamental part of the landscape. Sound in general, but for cement mortar pointing, cumulative damage from negligent driving is compounded by trees growing in the cracks. www.billharveyassociates.com/bom/165-seme...

xkcd nails car bloat xkcd: Car Size xkcd.com/3167/

Tories scrapped half of HS2, which without the other half would actually make many train times worse. People said “why don’t you focus on electrification of existing lines then” so now Labour, eager to proven they’re different from Tories, have scrapped all of that too.

A wonderfully complex piece of masonry, lost in Reading.

There seems to be a big deal about 'eco-bricks' made from stone in the UK..., meanwhile in Italy, almost every building supplies outlet sells these.

It's 2025. I could buy a multifunction printer without wifi. Or one with wifi and a fax machine.

And the flip-side to the lintel that wants to pass as an arch is the hidden key. Where the limitations of the stone call for an arch, but the appearance of an arch is unwanted, we get an arch in denial, with flat soffit and apparently vertical—not radial—joints.

For thousands of years we’ve been building with trabeated stone. For thousands of years it’s been chewed at, chased to abstraction. Repeatedly exhumed and revived, even after Roman concrete, even after Gothic vaults, after Rundbogenstil and Candela’s shells. Keeps coming back from the dead. a 🧵:

And yes, getting past the random giant picture of three happy students laughing at a salad at the top of the course page counts as one of those swipes.

Bridge of the Month 164: We found Fatherford Viaduct on a walk around Okehampton, after following the East Oakment river down through a beautiful wooded valley. The heavy crusting of calcium carbonate tells some interesting stories. www.billharveyassociates.com/bom/164-fath...

Lovely evening.

I’ve mulled over posting this for months now. But yesterday it came to a head. And I’m aware that the people who need to see it will either not be here, or will suggest that I’m lying. I live near an asylum hotel. The reason I didn’t post earlier is that I didn’t want to raise undue attention

This is a thought provoking, bite sized little piece that boils down to, "don't give feedback on EVERYTHING, because not everything matters! give feedback on things that have impact." I think it's a *great* exercise for the feedback-giver to think through the impact they want their advice to have.

Imagine thinking wind turbines are ecocide where over five years fossil fuel tankers create 90,411 oil spills *and only bother to report 474 of them* - satellite analysis exposes high density "slick belts" coinciding with shipping lanes. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Every UK petition is like this

In "Legitimate Concerns" news. 41% of the 899 arrested for taking part in Farage Riots last year had been reported for crimes associated with intimate partner violence. For those arrested by one police force, this figure was 68%. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

when i have 6 to 8 enemies coming by the house

Most days, when im out filming, I come across a little joy or two. Todays was this gorgeous Packhorse looking bridge along the fosse way.

A bridge widened. Underneath Laverock Bridge, Mealbank, Cumbria. The left side once good for pack horses but then cars were invented. #BridgesThursday

Heidi Alexander's decision to remove the safeguarding of HS2's route from Birmingham to Leeds is short-sighted in the extreme. This is the most beneficial part of the whole HS2 scheme - as we said at the time that the construction of the leg was cancelled. www.placeyorkshire.co.uk/govt-axes-de...

🧵Learning to build by taking things apart: Some 19th c theorists like Viollet-le-Duc were fond of banging on about the structural and constructional logic of the Gothic style, terms that feel inappropriate when applied to elements that seem purely aesthetic, like the cusps & featherings of tracery.

Same, medieval dudes. Same.

i like my mid-to-late 12thc Anglo-Norman Romanesque S doors like I like my coffee. Well actually I prefer them freely accessible primarily, but covered in bees is fun too

I think of Bill Harvey working on its build whenever I see anything of the Humber Bridge, @hamishharvey.bsky.social, including the comments in this case! everythingisamazing.substack.com/p/breakfast-... Thanks @mikeachim.bsky.social

Grr. Originally a James Brindley structure. Several generations of masonry replacement visible, the original stone only in the abutments. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

From 1911 Materials influence design and application. Here concrete is reducing the detail achievable, in this instance, it refers to concrete cast in-situ.

The metal frame acts like straps around a wooden beer barrel to prevent further separation of the stone.

In 1988, IBM tried to seize the whole PC market back and make it proprietary again. Everyone KNEW you couldn't win against IBM. Compaq, and founding CEO Rod Canion, decided to try. Read my latest #history longform on the fight for the soul of the PC. And how Compaq won. every.to/the-crazy-on...

A wonderful story about open standards tech, but more so about the benefits of being trustworthy and treating people well. Well worth the time to read.

I really resent it when motor lobbyists claim to speak on behalf of "drivers". I'm a driver myself: that doesn't mean I don't support building more bike lanes, ped crossings and investing in public transport - yes, even if that's at the expense of driving space/time. There are many people like me!

BoM 163: A return visit to the old crossing at Alikianos, Crete, destroyed by floods in 2019. A new bridge is nearly complete next door. The old one is still more interesting. www.billharveyassociates.com/bom/163-alik...

Blocks of stone laid protruding from the wall, meant to be carved at a later date, are known as ‘bossage’. The Centre Block is full of them; the plan all along was to execute the carvings slowly, over hundreds of years, so that the iconography would reflect the evolving polity.

A 🧵 about stonecutting: A few weeks ago, around the same time that I read the piece by the incomparable @katewagner.bsky.social‬ about the Regional Car Dealership Rococo of the present White House I noticed this little pecked spandrel beside the entry arch of the old Carleton County Courthouse…

"the main cables are deteriorating and not as strong" as what? As strong as they were? As they need to be? As spaghetti? As vintage cheddar?

BoM 162: Rubira Bridge in Rwanda is the first masonry bridge built under the auspices of Bridges to Prosperity (B2P). B2P kindly shared the weekly progress photos, and I've picked out key steps and added a little* commentary. www.billharveyassociates.com/bom/162-rubi...

Someone bit the sun.

Call for moon power (tidal energy) to be exploited. apple.news/A2_MRemmQTye...

Various gauges of mason were available for different tasks.

I suppose the "196 pound mason" is a standard size like a 14 pound sledge?

Funny what you stumble upon when you ain’t looking for it.

Not as seen here, it wasn’t necessary. There would have been a loadbearing wood lintel behind the arch. These were often used in low load situations.

I would like to remind you of the Dutch Arch.

Nice piece from PHEW on the Brig o’ Doon www.ice.org.uk/what-is-civi...

Never forget that water was privatised by the Thatcher government based on nothing more than vibes...

Lines.

This is leachate, not efflorescence. It’s more or less the same process as that which forms stalactites. It occurs when water carries calcium or magnesium particles with it, and leaves them behind as it evaporates. (Not professional geology advice)

Apparently there's the skeleton of a giant in every flying buttress.

Bridge of the Month 161: A treasure trove of industrial heritage from the Baledgarno Den just west of Dundee. Much of it in concrete, some dated 1892 but surely continuing well into the 20th century. www.billharveyassociates.com/bom/161-bale...