First of all I would like to state that I am writing this blog on the basis of my personal observations. I am no scientist but I studied science and have keen interest in science in everyday life. I can not help observe the construction work going on at Qurm Heights, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. There are two construction sites, one is near Lulu Darsait and the other one along the winding road that leads to Qurm. At the Lulu side the construction is basically targeted at widening the over-bridge by constructing an extra lane to ease traffic. Whereas at the Qurm heights side, the construction is to extend the road by adding an extra lane, which is possible only on the outside which is along the mountain. The mountain had already been chiselled to make the current road and is being further carved in order to accommodate the new lane.
The mountains on both sides of the road are very high and there are two distinct parts to these, one is the top portion, that is pale yellow colour which seems to be porous earth rock and the base is a more metallic solid rock structure which is dark grey brown in colour. The same colour are the mountain in and around Darsait, Darsait Beach area and Mutrah. If observed closely it seems as if the yellow mountains were pushed upwards by the grey brown rock from beneath due to tectonic activity. The grey rock looks as strong as metal and one can trust it is not going to crumble down itself, on the other hand the yellow rocks seem to be not so solid and the mountains have lost considerable chunks of these rocks gradually. There are small landslides, if one may call these that, all over the mountains.
Now comes the disturbing part, I am not a geologist but I can not help observe that the mountain structure is such that the top brittle mountain seems have a solid rock structure. The engineers presently are planning to cut at the same grey brown solid rock in order to accommodate an extra lane. It is equivalent to carving out a building's foundation. The angles at which the mountain had been carved previously are precarious to say the least. Adding to that if the engineers are going to cut more, it is going to leave a sheer drop from high up the mountain right till the road. This may look interesting to a rock-climber as a challenging task but for a road user, it would mean more "falling rocks" signs and worse. Second things that is causing trouble in my mind is that there is the resonance factor. For the uninitiated reader, resonance is when vibration of one thing causes another to vibrate in unison with the first. We observe sometimes that the window ACs sometimes cause a very disturbing hum if there are a number of these working at the same time, that is due to resonance. Another example is sometimes two vehicles travelling neck to neck start to resonate and you seem to hear two engine sounds. If given to a scientist, she can bring down a building or a bridge with something as little as a tuning fork!! The vehicles moving on the mountain road at Qurm heights create resonance and the mountain vibrates with that, though very little. But the effects are clearly visible for all to see. There are loose rocks which seem to have crumbled from the top through the crevices. It creates stir in me when I observe these rocks imagining if some more were to follow from the top where already the tips are forming wicked shapes.
Where I live in Darsait I have a building size brown rock next to my building and a towering yellow mountain in the west, the brae of which is very steep. My building is located right below the highest point at Qurm Darsait road just below the parking & a small park. The mountain is daunting but again made of the yellow stone and it certainly has some portions which have crumbled in the past. I observed all this in the last few days and today as I drove back from work. The traffic was thick and I had the chance to have a long hard look at what is going on. As I woke up in the middle of the night to have a drink of water, I felt suddenly afraid for my family and all the other families those are staying in the vicinity. I know my heart might be exaggerating but a wise person once said that is it better to be afraid. I am afraid and I will not sit quietly until these are allayed.
The mountains on both sides of the road are very high and there are two distinct parts to these, one is the top portion, that is pale yellow colour which seems to be porous earth rock and the base is a more metallic solid rock structure which is dark grey brown in colour. The same colour are the mountain in and around Darsait, Darsait Beach area and Mutrah. If observed closely it seems as if the yellow mountains were pushed upwards by the grey brown rock from beneath due to tectonic activity. The grey rock looks as strong as metal and one can trust it is not going to crumble down itself, on the other hand the yellow rocks seem to be not so solid and the mountains have lost considerable chunks of these rocks gradually. There are small landslides, if one may call these that, all over the mountains.
Now comes the disturbing part, I am not a geologist but I can not help observe that the mountain structure is such that the top brittle mountain seems have a solid rock structure. The engineers presently are planning to cut at the same grey brown solid rock in order to accommodate an extra lane. It is equivalent to carving out a building's foundation. The angles at which the mountain had been carved previously are precarious to say the least. Adding to that if the engineers are going to cut more, it is going to leave a sheer drop from high up the mountain right till the road. This may look interesting to a rock-climber as a challenging task but for a road user, it would mean more "falling rocks" signs and worse. Second things that is causing trouble in my mind is that there is the resonance factor. For the uninitiated reader, resonance is when vibration of one thing causes another to vibrate in unison with the first. We observe sometimes that the window ACs sometimes cause a very disturbing hum if there are a number of these working at the same time, that is due to resonance. Another example is sometimes two vehicles travelling neck to neck start to resonate and you seem to hear two engine sounds. If given to a scientist, she can bring down a building or a bridge with something as little as a tuning fork!! The vehicles moving on the mountain road at Qurm heights create resonance and the mountain vibrates with that, though very little. But the effects are clearly visible for all to see. There are loose rocks which seem to have crumbled from the top through the crevices. It creates stir in me when I observe these rocks imagining if some more were to follow from the top where already the tips are forming wicked shapes.
Where I live in Darsait I have a building size brown rock next to my building and a towering yellow mountain in the west, the brae of which is very steep. My building is located right below the highest point at Qurm Darsait road just below the parking & a small park. The mountain is daunting but again made of the yellow stone and it certainly has some portions which have crumbled in the past. I observed all this in the last few days and today as I drove back from work. The traffic was thick and I had the chance to have a long hard look at what is going on. As I woke up in the middle of the night to have a drink of water, I felt suddenly afraid for my family and all the other families those are staying in the vicinity. I know my heart might be exaggerating but a wise person once said that is it better to be afraid. I am afraid and I will not sit quietly until these are allayed.
