London Underground

It is unlikely that the terrorists who, in July 2005, attempted to cause explosions on the London Underground by using a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and flour, obtained the idea of this explosive mixture from a knowledge of the biology of the Bombardier beetle. The mixture failed to explode through failure of the detonators. The secretion of enzymes with their enormous catalytic potential ensures no such failure in the beetle. 

As in the case of any spatial map, the visualisation is only an aid to navigation and need not represent reality. One of the most famous and influential maps, Harry Beck s London Underground, provides an excellent conceptual model by abandoning physical reality. It is interesting that some metaboUc pathway maps are drawn in a way that is remarkably like Beck s elegant style. 

Audrey Woods (2002). 1960s germ tests carried out in London Underground, Associated Press February 26, 2002, Available from URL http //www.nti.org/d newswire/ issues/2002/2/27/13s.html. 

London Bombings (7 July 2005) Public Transit (Road and Rail) The 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of coordinated terrorist bomb blasts that hit London s public transport system during the morning rush hour. Three bombs exploded on three London underground trains while a fourth bomb exploded on a bus. The bombings killed 52 commuters and the four suicide bombers, injured 700, and oaused a severe daylong disruption of the city s transport and mobile telecommunications infrastruoture. 

Seaton A, Cherrie J, Dennekamp M, Donaldson K, Hurley JF, Tran CL (2005) The London underground dust and hazards to health. Occup Environ Med 62 355-362 Sitzmann B, Kendal M, Williams I (1999) Characterisation of airborne particles in London by computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy. Sci Total Environ 241 63-73 Vekemans B, Janssens K, Vincze L, Adams F, Van Espen P (1994) Analysis of X-ray spectra by iterative least squares (AXIL) new developments. X-Ray Spectrom 23 278-285 Zimmer AT, Biswas P (2001) Characterization of the aerosols resulting from arc welding processes. J Aerosol Sci 32 993-1008... 

Portland cement, invented in 1892 by Joseph Aspdin of Leeds, was so called because it resembled expensive Portland stone (at least to the eye of the inventor). It is made from about 80 % limestone and about 20 % clay. It was widely adopted because it possessed superior qualities to the older quicklime-based material, including the especially important property of being able to harden in damp conditions. This latter property was especially valuable at a time when tunnel constmction was widespread, including amongst other projects, the London underground system. 

DAD was released 14 months following the September 11 attacks. However, aside from a throwaway line in a disused London Underground... 

It should be noted that the Herald of Free Enterprise was not the only event of this period which influenced the emergence of the idea of corporate manslaughter. A number of disasters within a short period of time, including the King s Cross London Underground fire in 1987... 

Carbon fiber reinforced composites have been used for structural upgrade and life extension of cast iron struts [101] and cfrp has been used for strengthening of tunnel supports in the London Underground [102], where a 0.5 ton carbon fiber beam carries the same load as a 9 ton steel beam. 

Moriarty J, Barnes F, The use of carbon fiber composites in the London Underground Ltd, Civil Infrastructure Rehabilitation Program, SAMPE J, 34(2), 23-28, 1998. 

Image 35 Powder box used in the London Underground ventilation trial, 1963 Sowrce TNA,WOi95/i575i, VentilationTrial in the London Underground , MRE ReportVT/i, 1964. 

TNA, WO195/15751, BRAB, Ventilation Trial in the London Underground , MRE Report VT/1,1964 Hammond, Carter 2002, p. 117. 

Hill, P. S., Smith, S. and Barnes, F. J. (1999), Use of high modulus carbon fibres for reinforcement of cast iron compression struts within London Underground project details , Conference on Composites and Plastics in Construction, November 1999, BRE, Watford, UK. RAPRA Technology, Shawbury, Shrewsbury, UK, paper 16 1-6. 

Full privatization did not actually come until 1993 (see Ch. 11) but the threat of it and preparation for it overshadowed the company during the fieldwork period and this should be taken into account. Meanwhile other events were throwing the spotlight onto safety. During the run-up to privatization, but completely unconnected with it, there were two major accidents, one involving a fire on the London Underground and the second a collision at Clapham Junction. These events, as we will discuss in Chapter 3, led to a major re-evaluation of safety on the railways. 

There are a number of important features of the relationship between the Railway Inspectorate and BR which help us to understand the Inspectorate s interpretative framework. The population regulated by the Inspectorate was very closely defined. At the time of this research it comprised BR as the company holding the monopoly of the overwhelming majority of the railway network in Britain. Apart from this, there were a number of locally based railway systems such as the London Underground and the minor railways, many of which were run by volunteer railway enthusiasts. A very large proportion of the Inspectorate s time was therefore spent with BR officials and this had a number of significant implications for the way in which the Inspectorate approached its work and interpreted the action (or lack of action) of the regulated population. The most obvious implication is that the Inspectorate knew some members of BR very well and that this was socially structured as they tended to have most contact with those in more senior positions (Hutter, 1993). 

This accident plus the aftermath of the King s Cross fire on the London Underground prompted a move towards more sophisticated risk management systems and safety audits and the publication of an annually updated Safety Plan ... 

Under the terms of this Act, statutory undertakers (in general companies or public bodies supplying gas, water, electricity, telecommunications, as well as bodies such as London Underground) have the legal right to dig up roads to either maintain or repair their existing pipes and cables or in order to install additional ones to provide service to new customers. 

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