I've been up to the plains of despair this week, and to a part of them that I hadn't yet been to, which was exciting in its own little way. Anyway, rather than a lengthy explanation, here is a map.

The scenery out here is quite a bit different to a lot of the P.O.D, in that there is not a sand dune in sight. The terrain consists of vast gibber plains, indispersed with giant mesas, which are essentially ancient mountains worn down flat by millions of years. I haven't researched that last fact actually, so if a geologist wants to correct me, go ahead, I can't be buggered googling it myself.
Aside from having a two day paid 4 wheel driving holiday, the reason for heading out this way was to have a look at a pipeline I designed. One of the great things about being an engineer is that you get to build big things, and there is nothing quite like the satisfaction of standing and admiring an installation that you were responsible for. You get to leave your mark on the world in a way few other professions do.

So here it is, sure its not the Harbour Bridge, but....


It is actually more of an engineering feat than it looks, because it is actually 8km long and, as most people know, steel expands in the heat. Normally pipelines are buried so its not a problem, but due to all the rock out this way burial isn't an option. So the trick of course is to design it such that it doesn't turn into a big wiggly snake in the heat. How do you do that? Well, I'm glad you asked.

An expansion loop is the answer. You put these little kinks in the pipe every know and then to take up the expansion. This pipeline has 4, which the naysayers were saying wasn't going to be enough. As you can see from the photo above, the pipeline is still pretty straight. Not to be smug, but sometimes its great to be right.