A year after rising floodwaters battered the levees along the Susquehanna River in Luzerne County, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is gearing up to repair the damage.
The Army Corps actually started the repair job last month by replacing four relief wells along a levee in Wilkes-Barre. More significant repair work to fix sand boils, cracks in concrete and damaged flood gates will start after contracts from bids are awarded by the end of the month, Army Corps spokesman Christopher J. Augsburger said.
A week after last year's flood, the Army Corps determined damage to the 15-mile levee system was minor and the levees could still hold back floodwaters. The federal government is providing all funding for the repairs, which are expected to cost between $2 million and $3 million.
"All relief wells are installed and in working condition," Augsburger said.
The levee system currently has 128 relief wells. A relief well allows for the orderly discharge of seep water through a controlled mechanism without the displacement of material from under the levee.
"Efforts on the levee will be complete by the end of March 2013, if not sooner," Augsburger said.
The flood put intense pressure on the levees, and the stress caused some damage and forced emergency reinforcement measures to stop water from seeping underneath. Various county employees were involved in "flood fighting," which cost about $200,000 in wages and equipment, said Jim Brozena, director of the county flood protection authority.
The flood authority is seeking reimbursements of the "flood fighting" cost from Tropical Storm Lee disaster assistance. The authority expects to get almost $600,000 in reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency to cover costs of the emergency response, clean-up efforts and property repairs.
The authority has received $240,000 in reimbursements to date, including $10,000 to cover the cost of repairing the fountain in the River Common recreation area, Brozena said.
The floodwaters damaged the lighting system along the pedestrian trail atop levees in Kirby Park and Nesbitt Park, Brozena said. Those repairs will cost about $100,000.
Some of the disaster assistance provided to the flood authority is going to the county to cover county personnel costs. The county is also expecting about $1 million in Lee disaster reimbursements to pay for repairs to two county bridges - one in Lake Township and the other in New Columbus, Luzerne County engineer Joe Gibbons said.
Repairs to damaged county properties along the river, including the courthouse, parkade and domestic relations building, cost more than $750,000, Gibbons said. The county is waiting to see how much flood insurance policies will provide, and the balance will come from disaster assistance, Gibbons said, adding that property insurance coverage provided $115,000.
"I requested the meeting because I wasn't getting any reimbursements," he said. "It's like pulling teeth. You need to keep good records. I have it spelled out on spreadsheets."
Repairing damages associated with the county redevelopment authority's office building on Luzerne Avenue in West Pittston exceeded $750,000. Flood insurance provided about $440,000, and the balance will come from disaster assistance, said Andrew Reilly, director of the county office of community development and the redevelopment authority director.
2012年9月27日 星期四
Litepanels Croma
You might not have heard of Litepanels, unless you happen to be a professional videographer or photographer. The firm specialises in all manner of lighting systems, but for most people these solutions are far too expensive. But now, the firm is launching some entry level devices that should appeal to a broader audience.
For a bit less than 400 you get an LED light, with some handy accessories. Of course, 400 is quite a lot of money, and this does sit quite firmly in the entry-level and prosumer categories of LED lighting. The question is, does it do enough, well enough, to warrant this price tag?
In the old days, simple lighting for video cameras was done with a halogen light, and a massive battery. These arrangements were heavy, drank power and didn't produce evenly lit results. Happily, technology has moved on, and LEDs allow a lot more flexibility.
Crucially though, this is about more than power consumption. LEDs are a lot more flexible, especially when it comes to colour. LEDs allow you to mimic either sunlight, with its more blue tint, or indoor, artificial lighting with its orange hue.
In the case of the Croma, it's even better, because on the side is a dial that allows you to select the colour light you want, and even mix the two different tones. This means, with a sharp eye, you can match the light in your shooting environment very precisely. So outdoor shoots look natural, but so too do those indoors.
In the box in which the Croma comes, you'll find a soft bag, in which you can carry the light without having to worry about it getting broken. There are also two mounts, one which allows you to attach the light to the camera, and another which allows connection to a light stand or other pole.
Happily, on the hot shoe mount there's also the option to screw the light on to a standard tripod mount. This is incredibly handy, as it allows you to set the light up just about anywhere.
There's also a power adaptor, which is a very welcome addition when you get sick of putting six AA batteries into the light. They don't last an especially long time, and if you're using non-rechargeable cells, you'll spend a lot of cash keeping it juiced-up.
Also provided is a diffusing filter. This is critical, because LED lights are, somewhat obviously, made up of a lot of LEDs. This can mean that you get bright spots on close-up shots. The diffuser should help with that, at least a little bit, while meaning you don't have to go further away from your subject.
Litepanels says the power output of this light is equivalent to 50 watts. It's not super-bright, but for close up work it will make a real difference. For photos, this can make a handy fill light in normal light, or a full-on source of illumination in darker conditions.
The single best accessory you can buy for a camera is a decent flash. Everything you know about the flashes, based on those dreadful built-in things, is wrong and you soon see that when you use a proper speedlight or similar. The Croma can't replace a flash, and isn't really designed to, but what it does do is give you some options.
For example, if you're shooting in very dark conditions, but close up, a flash can be a little overwhelming - most are adjustable, but even so it is a very harsh light that comes from a flash gun. So the Croma allows you to easily, and quickly adjust the amount of light to suit your environment.
But more useful, when photographing or videoing people, is that the light from the Croma is constant. That should mean no red-eye effect, as the subject's pupils will be more dilated, which prevents the effect from being as much of a problem.
For a bit less than 400 you get an LED light, with some handy accessories. Of course, 400 is quite a lot of money, and this does sit quite firmly in the entry-level and prosumer categories of LED lighting. The question is, does it do enough, well enough, to warrant this price tag?
In the old days, simple lighting for video cameras was done with a halogen light, and a massive battery. These arrangements were heavy, drank power and didn't produce evenly lit results. Happily, technology has moved on, and LEDs allow a lot more flexibility.
Crucially though, this is about more than power consumption. LEDs are a lot more flexible, especially when it comes to colour. LEDs allow you to mimic either sunlight, with its more blue tint, or indoor, artificial lighting with its orange hue.
In the case of the Croma, it's even better, because on the side is a dial that allows you to select the colour light you want, and even mix the two different tones. This means, with a sharp eye, you can match the light in your shooting environment very precisely. So outdoor shoots look natural, but so too do those indoors.
In the box in which the Croma comes, you'll find a soft bag, in which you can carry the light without having to worry about it getting broken. There are also two mounts, one which allows you to attach the light to the camera, and another which allows connection to a light stand or other pole.
Happily, on the hot shoe mount there's also the option to screw the light on to a standard tripod mount. This is incredibly handy, as it allows you to set the light up just about anywhere.
There's also a power adaptor, which is a very welcome addition when you get sick of putting six AA batteries into the light. They don't last an especially long time, and if you're using non-rechargeable cells, you'll spend a lot of cash keeping it juiced-up.
Also provided is a diffusing filter. This is critical, because LED lights are, somewhat obviously, made up of a lot of LEDs. This can mean that you get bright spots on close-up shots. The diffuser should help with that, at least a little bit, while meaning you don't have to go further away from your subject.
Litepanels says the power output of this light is equivalent to 50 watts. It's not super-bright, but for close up work it will make a real difference. For photos, this can make a handy fill light in normal light, or a full-on source of illumination in darker conditions.
The single best accessory you can buy for a camera is a decent flash. Everything you know about the flashes, based on those dreadful built-in things, is wrong and you soon see that when you use a proper speedlight or similar. The Croma can't replace a flash, and isn't really designed to, but what it does do is give you some options.
For example, if you're shooting in very dark conditions, but close up, a flash can be a little overwhelming - most are adjustable, but even so it is a very harsh light that comes from a flash gun. So the Croma allows you to easily, and quickly adjust the amount of light to suit your environment.
But more useful, when photographing or videoing people, is that the light from the Croma is constant. That should mean no red-eye effect, as the subject's pupils will be more dilated, which prevents the effect from being as much of a problem.
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