Fran Scott meets Dr Bernali Gosh, a seismic engineer, who is planning the new underground network needed in Delhi.
India’s capital city is home for 17 million people, it lies on the Himalayan plate boundary and so is at risk of earthquakes. Delhi sits on wet, sandy soil.
Dr Gosh evaluates experimental models of the effect of earthquakes on buildings on this type of soil.
She is specifically concerned about liquefaction - when sandy ground is shaken it can become a liquid, and buildings therefore sink into it.
Some of the engineering strategies she will use are discussed.
This clip is from the series The Imagineers.
Teacher Notes
This clip could be used in a unit looking at how forces affect different objects in different ways.
Students could carry out a practical where they investigate how different objects float or sink based upon the type of material they are placed upon, for example sand with different amounts of water added to it.
Curriculum Notes
This clip will be relevant for teaching Design & Technology and Physics at KS3 and GCSE in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 3rd and 4th Level in Scotland. Appears in AQA, OCR, EDEXCEL, CCEA, WJEC, SQA.
More from The Imagineers:
Inventing clothes inspired by nature. video
Fran Scott describes how Dr Veronika Kapsali from Northumbria University is researching fabrics with several uses and touches upon the development of multi-functional clothing inspired by nature.
Inventing DIY wind turbines. video
Fran Scott describes how PhD student Jon Sumanik-Leary from the University of Sheffield is developing a DIY wind turbine for isolated Third World communities.
Inventing future fabrics. video
Engineer Dr Manel Torres from Imperial College in London invented Fabrican – a fabric sprayed from a can that can be used in fashion, healthcare and even to help clear up an oil slick.
Inventing smoke-free stoves. video
Two students from the University of Nottingham are working to develop a smoke-free stove. Their stove creates sound waves which move a magnetic in a coiled wire to make an electric current.
Nano-bubbles and drug delivery. video
Dr Eleanor Stride is using engineering to tackle a major challenge for medicine. She is using nano-technology to explore how to give cancer medication which are less poisonous than current treatments.
