Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Photos from Wagner (west of town)

 
Who says that Michigan doesn't have solar power? A laughably small array of solar panels. This is right next to the anonymous 1901 South Wagner property. As you can see from the map, there isn't much of the property that is covered with solar panels. The terrain at that point slopes slightly to the south and east, and there aren't tall trees on the opposite side of the road, meaning that this solar array could be much bigger than it is presently.
  
One thing I really like about the Midwest are all of these big red barns that still dot the countryside. This one is located right next to the Washtenaw Intermediate School District buildings. Although it is located across the street from farm fields, and there are tire tracks leading up to and through the barn doors, I don't think there's a lot of farm equipment in there; perhaps some lawn-care equipment (e.g., riding mowers) and the like for the soccer field next to the WISD buildings.
  
Some erosion of the Quaternary geology that forms much of Michigan's lower peninsula, hiding the bedrock under meters of glacial deposits. However, this quarry (behind the Fendt Builders Supply) seems, for now at least, to be not in operation.
  
 Another shot from the quarry site. Here, though, it looks like there is a lot of discarded concrete that is scattered about. One wonders whether these are being stored here for eventual recycling, or if this is the quarry slowly being re-filled with concrete from demolitions in the city. If the former, then there is a lot of concrete that can potentially be re-used. If it's the latter, then it is at least a good thing to put all the concrete in one place so that in the future, if concrete recycling becomes much cheaper, this quarry can shift from a storage site to a processing facility.

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