King Coal Highway dealt major setback

[seicer]

The settling issue is a problem for West Virginia, it seems. Have you been on the new US 35 closer towards Point Pleasant? One contract called for an asphalt pavement, and I am not for sure if the whole compaction and fill was done properly because it's one of the roughest roads I've been on in years. There was an excessive amount of humps and dips that made driving over 70 MPH uncomfortable. The concrete segment after that (going south) was much smoother and had only a few small dips, but nothing out of the ordinary.

[codyg1985]

If the concrete segment experiences the same settling issues as the asphalt section, then the concrete portion will be crack city in a few years.

[Henry]

If the concrete segment experiences the same settling issues as the asphalt section, then the concrete portion will be crack city in a few years.

Four-wheel-drive owners should have fun with this!

[SP Cook]

The War On Coal causes another setback:

http://dailymail.com/Opinion/Editorials/201211010184

CONSOL Energy said it intends to idle its Miller Creek surface operations near Naugatuck and lay off 145 employees in Mingo County next month because it has been unable to obtain all the needed permits from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The delay in mining also may delay construction of a five-mile stretch of the King Coal Highway, which is to connect Williamson with Bluefield and become part of the Interstate 73/74 corridor.

Pretty much its impossible to get a new mining permit anywhere in Appalachia now.  As the permits expire, the mines shut down.

[NE2]

Good. Fuck coal.

[codyg1985]

Mining permits haven't been a problem in Alabama. In Walker County, AL there has been quite a bit of mining activity. I don't know why it would be different in WV.

[Beltway]

Good. Fuck coal.

Right ... plus 1/2  of the energy production in the U.S.

[vdeane]

We'll need to move on at some point.  We might as well do it now rather than wait for fossil fuels to run out and cause a crisis.

[Beltway]

We'll need to move on at some point.  We might as well do it now rather than wait for fossil fuels to run out and cause a crisis.

There is nothing available to handle even 10% of the requirements.

There's about 200 years of coal available, and there are environmentally sensitive ways to keep the pollution from escaping the plant.

And I don't think that coal and oil come from "fossils".  That's baloney language.

[Alps]

We'll need to move on at some point.  We might as well do it now rather than wait for fossil fuels to run out and cause a crisis.

There is nothing available to handle even 10% of the requirements.

There's about 200 years of coal available, and there are environmentally sensitive ways to keep the pollution from escaping the plant.

And I don't think that coal and oil come from "fossils".  That's baloney language.

Well dead dinosaurs had a choice. They chould choose to preserve their bones and become fossils, or melt into a pressurized pile of goo that we now burn to scoot from cutout to cutout. So call them "pressurized goo fuels." Point is, because they came from a finite number of dead dinosaurs, we have a finite fuel supply. In the not too distant future (all things considered), we'll need to power pretty much everything through other sources. Biodiesel, nuclear, electric, solar, whatever it is, we're doing the right thing by keeping these technologies incubating now. While none of them are particularly viable, let's make sure that they're ready when we need them.

[Beltway]

We'll need to move on at some point.  We might as well do it now rather than wait for fossil fuels to run out and cause a crisis.

There is nothing available to handle even 10% of the requirements.

There's about 200 years of coal available, and there are environmentally sensitive ways to keep the pollution from escaping the plant.

And I don't think that coal and oil come from "fossils".  That's baloney language.

Well dead dinosaurs had a choice. They chould choose to preserve their bones and become fossils, or melt into a pressurized pile of goo that we now burn to scoot from cutout to cutout. So call them "pressurized goo fuels." Point is, because they came from a finite number of dead dinosaurs, we have a finite fuel supply. In the not too distant future (all things considered), we'll need to power pretty much everything through other sources. Biodiesel, nuclear, electric, solar, whatever it is, we're doing the right thing by keeping these technologies incubating now. While none of them are particularly viable, let's make sure that they're ready when we need them.

I don't believe that it came from "dead dinosaurs".
That's baloney language.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

We'll need to move on at some point.  We might as well do it now rather than wait for fossil fuels to run out and cause a crisis.

There is nothing available to handle even 10% of the requirements.

There's about 200 years of coal available, and there are environmentally sensitive ways to keep the pollution from escaping the plant.

And I don't think that coal and oil come from "fossils".  That's baloney language.

Well dead dinosaurs had a choice. They chould choose to preserve their bones and become fossils, or melt into a pressurized pile of goo that we now burn to scoot from cutout to cutout. So call them "pressurized goo fuels." Point is, because they came from a finite number of dead dinosaurs, we have a finite fuel supply. In the not too distant future (all things considered), we'll need to power pretty much everything through other sources. Biodiesel, nuclear, electric, solar, whatever it is, we're doing the right thing by keeping these technologies incubating now. While none of them are particularly viable, let's make sure that they're ready when we need them.

I don't believe that it came from "dead dinosaurs".
That's baloney language.

Not dinosaurs, but dead plant matter.
"A fossil fuel, coal forms when dead plant matter is converted into peat, which in turn is converted into lignite, then sub-bituminous coal, then bituminous coal, and lastly anthracite. This involves biological and geological processes that take place over a long period."

[Beltway]

I don't believe that it came from "dead dinosaurs".
That's baloney language.

Not dinosaurs, but dead plant matter.
"A fossil fuel, coal forms when dead plant matter is converted into peat, which in turn is converted into lignite, then sub-bituminous coal, then bituminous coal, and lastly anthracite. This involves biological and geological processes that take place over a long period."

None of that would explain why some folks say it came from "fossils".

[Alps]

I don't believe that it came from "dead dinosaurs".
That's baloney language.

Not dinosaurs, but dead plant matter.
"A fossil fuel, coal forms when dead plant matter is converted into peat, which in turn is converted into lignite, then sub-bituminous coal, then bituminous coal, and lastly anthracite. This involves biological and geological processes that take place over a long period."

None of that would explain why some folks say it came from "fossils".

If you literally believe the world was created less than 6,000 years ago, then you have far bigger issues than this thread will ever solve.

[Beltway]

I don't believe that it came from "dead dinosaurs".
That's baloney language.

Not dinosaurs, but dead plant matter.
"A fossil fuel, coal forms when dead plant matter is converted into peat, which in turn is converted into lignite, then sub-bituminous coal, then bituminous coal, and lastly anthracite. This involves biological and geological processes that take place over a long period."

None of that would explain why some folks say it came from "fossils".

If you literally believe the world was created less than 6,000 years ago, then you have far bigger issues than this thread will ever solve.

There were not enough dinosaurs to account for even 0.1% of the oil and coal that has been extracted.

[seicer]

Holy butter jesus put oil on this earth for us to rape and pillage for our own selfish endeavors.

[vdeane]

http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/20p19/

[Alps]

I don't believe that it came from "dead dinosaurs".
That's baloney language.

Not dinosaurs, but dead plant matter.
"A fossil fuel, coal forms when dead plant matter is converted into peat, which in turn is converted into lignite, then sub-bituminous coal, then bituminous coal, and lastly anthracite. This involves biological and geological processes that take place over a long period."

None of that would explain why some folks say it came from "fossils".

If you literally believe the world was created less than 6,000 years ago, then you have far bigger issues than this thread will ever solve.

There were not enough dinosaurs to account for even 0.1% of the oil and coal that has been extracted.

Okay, so it turns out it's plant life. We have several hundred million years of plant life covering this Earth. Do some calculations and get back to me.
And let's get back to the topic at hand?

EDIT: Or we can lock it. Your call.

[hbelkins]

I think there is a way around this, although it depends on who owns the property to be mined/used for the road.

WVDOT can advertise for bids for grade and drain, and in the contract can specify that any coal extracted during the course of the construction belongs to the contractor. This serves the same purpose as allowing the coal to be mined and then building the road, but it's a road construction project and not a mining project.

[SP Cook]

I think there is a way around this, although it depends on who owns the property to be mined/used for the road.

WVDOT can advertise for bids for grade and drain, and in the contract can specify that any coal extracted during the course of the construction belongs to the contractor. This serves the same purpose as allowing the coal to be mined and then building the road, but it's a road construction project and not a mining project.

Allowing the contractor to keep any coal that is "accidentally" mined during a road construction is a standard part of every WV road contract.  Contractors are supposed to figure in whatever coal (or whatever else) they might come into and figure that into their bid as a negative. Someday ask me about WV 99.

Unfortunatly in this case, the mining company wants to mine a vast area of coal, leaving behind a road bed that is only as wide as, well, a road bed.   If the state were to acquire the land, it would only acquire a much narrower ROW, and would render the rest of the coal unminable (too close to a road) for which the coal company would have to be paid.  State does not have the money, and the whole point is that this project is being done in this way for this reason.

[vdeane]

Yeah, the point of doing it this way was so that WV could bypass all parts of the process except the laying down of asphalt.