You don't get to vote for anyone at CDOT. SB25-003, the bill to ban almost every semi automatic gun, up for committee 1/28. A piledriver (no, not the wrestling kind)...

You don't get to vote for anyone at CDOT.

You don't get to vote on who sits on their various committees, their enterprises, nor the CDOT commissioners. And yet, despite all this, CDOT gets to set up speed cameras, decide on fines, and slap a fine on you.

How you ask?

I saw a recent CPR article about how CDOT is going to install CDOT cameras in the Floyd Hill construction area up in the mountains along I-70. That is linked first below.

One of the tinier details in the article relates to how it is, per a 2023 bill linked second below, municipal governments and other agencies (CDOT being one) can install traffic cameras, set fines, and then start writing tickets, provided they meet some conditions spelled out in the law.

We could argue the effectiveness, the need, the rationale for speed cameras. We could argue the fee structure, where the cameras go, along with all the other details of any speed camera set up. All of this is reasonable. It's also not the point here.

The point here is that when it comes to this law and CDOT, you don't get a chance to argue it.

Think about it. If your town or county wanted to install speed cameras, you could go to a meeting. You could say something to them. Depending on your community, you could buttonhole a city councilor in the freezer aisle at the grocery and give them your thoughts. If your local government moved ahead despite your concerns, if they did things in a way you didn't like, you could try to convince your fellow residents to fire their butts.

You cannot do this with CDOT because you can't vote on a single person there.

https://www.cpr.org/2025/01/18/cdot-speed-cameras-floyd-hill-i-70-march/

https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb23-200

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SB25-003, the bill to ban almost every semi automatic, up for committee 1/28.

Mark your calendars, the Colorado Democrats' gun grab bill, SB25-003 is up for it's first committee hearing on Tuesday 1/28 at 1:30 PM.

The bill's page is linked first below.

The committee page (it's up in front of the Senate State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee) is linked second below.

To help you in your understanding and advocacy, I also put in a video off YouTube (linked third below). I am not familiar with this gentleman's other work, but I like the extensive detail he goes into on the bill. There is a lot that's not making it into mainstream media articles that makes this bill onerous.

Please join me in contacting your state senator, the senators on the committee, and letting them know what you think about this bill.

If you feel moved to, or it fits better with your schedule, please write an email or sign up to testify.

Speak up for your Second Amendment rights and tell the Democrats to put their time and attention into things that actually reduce violence instead of make life harder for the law-abiding.

https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb25-003

https://leg.colorado.gov/committees/state-veterans-military-affairs/2025-regular-session

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A piledriver (no, not the wrestling kind)...

That time of the week again. Last post til Sunday and thus time for something fun and not related to politics.

For a whole host of reasons, structures might be built on top of piles (poles driven into the earth). There are many ways to do it, but the basic idea is that, instead of excavating down to bedrock and then building your foundation up from there, you put poles into the ground and rely on friction with the earth and the pile to provide the load bearing capacity to support your foundation.

In this way, piles are similar to nails. Nails provide a connection by displacing wood fibers which then push on the side of the nail preventing it from coming out. It's an oversimplification, but a pile driven into the ground doesn't sink further because you'd have to push it deeper and the friction on the side walls prevents movement.

Every nail needs a hammer to drive it, however, and piles are no different. If there is sufficient friction to hold up bridges and buildings, you're not simply going to be able to lightly tap on a pile and get it where it needs to be.

Piledrivers are the name of the equipment we usually use for this operation and there are multiple ways in which they work. I saw a quick YouTube short recently (see the first link below) which had a type I had never seen before and thought I'd share.

If you watch the video you'll note that the pile driver slams down on the pile (hammer on a nail) to drive it into the earth. What makes this driver different is in how you "lift" the hammer. You get a hint by seeing the puff of black smoke every time it lifts up.

The force that lifts the piledriver up is the same force that gives a diesel engine its power: this pile driver burns diesel. If you know diesel engines and watch the short, you'll be able to pretty easily see how the thing works. If you don't, I can give you a sketch of the process.

The operating principle for a diesel engine is that you take a volume of air contained in a cylinder and compress it quickly such that the air's temperature and pressure spike. At that point, you inject diesel fuel. Because the air is so hot, the diesel ignites on its own cretaing a hot, much higher pressure gas of combustion products. This higher pressure pushes the piston back down the barrel of the cylinder.

Translating this over to what you see in the video (and interestingly this is different from a regular diesel engine in that in an engine the piston is the only part that moves), the piston here is the part of the piledriver attached to the pile itself. On top of the piston you'll see a little tip. This is the injector which squirts in the diesel oil. The moving part (the hammer) is actually the cylinder. And the act of this hammer falling on top of the pile puts the cylinder over the piston and compresses the air prior to ignition.

You'll notice too that in between strikes one of the operators squirts on some oil. This not only provides some lubrication, but also helps seal the piston and cylinder.

One last tidbit. This relates more to basic physics than piledrivers or diesels.

Take a second and, before reading on, think about an answer to this question: what kind of blow would result in a bigger transfer of force, a blow where the hammer bounces off the object (per this video), or a blow where the hammer comes to a dead stop when striking?

The answer is that, all other things being equal, a blow where you bounce transfers more force. If you got it wrong, don't feel bad. This is a question I ask my students at all levels of physics and many of them get it wrong the first time.

Why is this so? That's another post for another day. If you want to study on your own, look up the physics concepts of impulse and change in momentum.

Have a good rest of the Friday. Back at it Sunday!