Z-Exit Fire Escape Design
In response to the article "Introduction of Frictional and Turning Function for Pedestrian Outflow with an Obstacle" I have designed an alternative to the standard "double doors" emergency exit found in most locations.
What was interesting in that article is how building occupants vacate a building faster with an obstacle (in this case, polls) directly in the path of the fire exit rather than just having the fire exit unencumbered. Unfortunately, there are rather large issues with having objects in the path of emergency exits; would people see them? Could individuals be trapped trying to avoid the obstacle? Would people still be able to see the exit? Plus, having any object in front of an emergency point of egress is in violation of building codes (NYS Fire Code [ICC Based] 1014.2).
The possible solution?
As you can see, there isn't a drastic change to the emergency exit, however, there is a wall separating the two paths of traffic flow - increasing exit speed. Obviously, this is a variation on the idea of having an object in the path of human traffic, but this appears to be complaint with the current code implementation.
You may also notice a complete lack of dimensions on this drawing - that was intentional. Everything was code compliant (read: the doors are at least 32" wide, etc) however, I don't know how a variation of the width of the hallway, doors, or the wall separating the two paths would affect the flow of traffic outside. This is because that wasn't part of the study which this is based on and further research is necessary.
Nuclear Power, because why not?
Well actually because you're building a series of autonomous lighthouses across the North Coast of the Soviet Union, that's why.
Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, leaders of the Communist Party had a problem to solve: how to guide ships through the arctic ocean along its unpopulated northern coast - where polar night envelopes the region for 100 days of the year. Obviously, Solar energy wasn't an option so the Soviets developed an RTG system to power the lights for years at a time - without the need for human interaction!
In an engineering feet, the Soviets building well over 100 of these nuclear lighthouses to safely guide the ships - and their cargo - safely to their destination. Not only would they provide a visual warning to cargo ships but they would also (and this is the cool part) transmit a radio warning of the impending danger captains faced.
After the collapse of the USSR these engineering marvels fell into disrepair, leaking radioactive material into the surrounding areas. Brave (or rather moronic) raiders have also looted the lighthouses for precious metals; apparently unaware of the meaning of "Radioactive Danger."
