Friday, June 19, 1987AThe Battalion/Page 5
Airport uses
old materials
for new runway
HOUSTON (AP) — Engineers
putting the finishing touches on a
new runway at Houston Intercon
tinental Airport are using ancient
roadbuilding materials to upgrade
Texas’ second-busiest airport.
The $65 million project, to be in
augurated Friday when top Houston
city officials make a ceremonial land
ing in a jetliner, is a variation of the
same technique the Romans used
about 2,000 years ago to build roads
still in use today, said Alan Jefts, de
sign manager for the new Runway 9-
27.
“As an engineer, this is an old
technology being applied to a new
system,” Jefts said.
The 10,000-foot runway is unlike
conventional airport runways in that
contractors shunned the use of con
crete and instead used natural
materials found in the area.
“The unique feature is it is ex
tremely cost effective,” Jefts said.
Savings of up to $10 million in
runway expenses allowed the city to
build a highway interchange and a
new airport fire station essentially
for free. And they still had money
left over.
The local materials included
gravel from the nearby San Jacinto
River, sand from land just north of
the airport, lime that is readily avail
able in the Houston area and flyash
produced from a Houston Lighting
& Power Co. generating plant. The
Romans used gravel, sand, lime and
volcanic ash.
“It’s probably one of the oldest
processes,” Jefts said. “We use the
example of the Romans and the Ap-
pian Way. They were using natural
materials they found and built roads
out of it.”
Houston engineers added a small
amount of cement to the mixture,
known as LCF (lime-concrete-flyash)
but only so it could be hard enough
initially to carry construction equip
ment.
“It’s going to get stronger and
stronger and stronger,” he said. “In
reality, this thing will last as long as
the airport is here.”
Only two other airports — New
ark, N.J. and Portland, Ore. — have
used LCF. Sample cores pulled by
engineers from the Newark runway,
now in use for more than 15 years,
show it is continuing to gain
strength.
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Texas with Hoods
pert: Rain will increase population
disease-carrying Asian mosquitoes
By Teresa Fostere
Reporter
that already have
and humidity
deluged
also are ex-
I happen to increase the population of Asian mos-
enfilni ( l u ’ los > which are carriers of the dengue virus.
professor of entomology at
wh
t)r. Jim Olson,
n the said dengue is a flu-like virus that
is prop«B^ nate< ^ ' n t ^ e colonial era. A resur-
vs ” Bee of the virus is occuring in Mexico, Central
j he w ouldi" mer ‘ ca > South America and the Caribbean area.
ler by wBMthough the virus hasn’t been reported in the
Departiw lUhited States, public health concern centers
lentali around the possibility of dengue establishing it-
seli in the this country through the Asian mosqui
toes, Olson said.
■put Olson said the local area won’t be affected
makettifjis much as other parts of the state. Houston and
empt,”tit.Bstal areas will be the hardest hit, he said,
by thestf|rhe dengue virus, also known as “break-bone
fever,” is like a severe case of the flu, said David
Jefferson, a sanitarian at the Brazos County
Health Department.
“It hurts deep down in your bones,” he said.
The virus causes a fever that lasts five to seven
days and often occurs in separate periods of
three- or four-day durations, he said. Recovery
from the virus is associated with prolonged fa
tigue and depression, he said.
Olson said tourists and immigrants who are in
fected with dengue while in the United States
may expose themselves to the mosquitoes, which
pick up and spread the virus.
Asian mosquitoes lay their eggs out of water in
places such as old tires, he said. When rain floods
the tires, the mosquitoes hatch.
The mosquitoes probably were brought to
Texas in imported Asian tires, he said, and these
tires, which may be transported throughout the
country, potentially carry eggs.
Since the Asian mosquito was first discovered
in the United States two years ago in Harris
County, the species has spread to more than 11
states. The insect has been found as far north as
Tennessee and has the ability to spread farther
and live in colder temperatures than most mos
quitoes, Olson said. This trait strengthens the po
tential for dengue in the United States, he said.
Other types of mosquitoes, such as Aedes mos
quitoes, also may carry the virus, Jefferson said,
but they can’t survive in cold areas.
Olson said the best protection against the
Asian mosquito is to dispose of or empty any
thing that holds water when it rains.
“Since they breed in refuse, get rid of the refu
se,” he said.
The Center for Disease Control is the lead
agency researching the mosquito’s activity, along
with several universities and mosquito control
districts.
Currently, little is known about the survival or
the activities of the mosquito, Olson said.
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Defense rests
case for officer
in murder trial
I SAN ANTONIO (AR) — At
torneys for a patrolman charged
with slaying a fellow officer
rested their case Thursday with-
pit calling the defendant to the
Stand, saying the state did not
ust proif f P rove ^se.
ver inosT F arre H I ucker, 36, is charged
i witli killing his best, friend Ste-
'ted offti® 1611 Stnitb 1 ’ 31, last Aug. 18.
'tiontcfBucker claims Smith was holding
|( nv , a .45-caliber pistol on him and
that he had to shoot Smith in self-
defense with a .357-caliber Mag
num revolver.
H After a noon recess, prosecu
tors and defense attorneys gath-
Red for a conference in the
chambers of State District Judge
Phil Chavarria Jr. Tucker’s attor
ney, Terry McDonald, rested the
defense’s case shortly afterwards.
H“I just don’t believe a jury’s
going to believe beyond a rea
sonable doubt that Farrell Tucker
Went out there and intentionally
murdered Stephen Smith,” he
said.
K Special prosecutor Sid Harle,
however, disagreed,
*‘Tm satisfied with the case,” he
said. “As far as showing an inten
tional killing, there’s no question
about it.”
P The jury will return at 9 a.m.
Friday for closing arguments,
p lf convicted, Tucker could be
sentenced to up to life in prison
Ihd a $10,000 fine.
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Meter readers fight dogs, insects
as part of normal work conditions
ODESSA (AP) — Cathy Wallace
swiftly moved from house to house
through fields of weeds and swarm
ing hordes of insects.
The TU Electric meter reader
calmly stopped at one south-side res
idence to console Butch, an un
chained dog that was barking and
snarling.
For Wallace, it’s all in a day’s work
that involves more than recording
electricity meter readings.
Sometimes “you gotta tough it
out,” she says.
Wallace carries a small computer
terminal used to record the read
ings, and her only defense against vi
cious animals, rough customers and
locked gates is a telescope. With the
scope, Wallace can read hard-to-
reach meters from long distances.
She said the job took some getting
used to at first but now she feels
lucky to have it.
Wallace, with the 10 other readers
who work for TU Electric, begins
work at 7 each morning to beat the
heat of the day.
She has been at her job for two
years, she said, and finds the exten
sive miles of walking most difficult
when it is too hot or too cold.
“Other than that, it keeps you in
shape,” she said.
Wallace also likes the idea that the
company provides her work pants —
the dog bites and trudging through
mazes of mud and weeds can take
their toll on clothes.
“T here was one time it was rain
ing all day long,” she said.
On one occasion, a meter had to
be read at a house with a large Ger
man shepard that was bent on get
ting out of the yard.
The dog ran over Wallace in its at
tempt to escape.
“It was like a mud wrestling con
test,” she said, “but I finally got him
back in the yard.
“Then you have all the dogs in the
neighborhood barking at you at
once. That can be a real headache.”
Wallace says human beings can be
just as dangerous as any animal.
“My feet will tell you. We
read all the meters. We
have to pay our bill, too.
We want our meter read
right.. .”
— Cathy Wallace, meter
reader
“I had a gun pulled on me once,”
she said, adding that such things
hardly ever happen.
She said the gun-toting customer
had been robbed three times and ad
vised her to identify herself next
time she needed to read the meter.
Wallace also wants to set the re
cord straight on whether meters are
read every month.
“My feet will tell you,” she said.
“We read all the meters. We have to
pay our bill, too. We want our meter
read right. . .”
She said another hazard on the
job is getting to meters even after the
reader has access to the yard. Point
ing to a meter with a wasp nest hang
ing from the bottom, Wallace talked
about a co-worker who was stung
several times by a group of hornets.
“He was reaching in there to move
the bushes to read the meter,” she
said, when the hornets attacked.
The reader was allergic to the
stings and had to be taken to the hos
pital, she said.
The handheld terminals used by
meter readers replace the older way
of writing the readings on computer
cards, Justin Johnson, customer
service manager, said.
TU Electric was the first in the
state to use the computer system and
other companies soon followed.
The handheld terminals also pro
vide other features. As the reader
walks on the route, the computer in
dicates which house or business is
next and where the meter is located.
The computer also can give spe
cial messages to the reader, such as a
warning that a vicious dog may be
known to live at the residence.
Johnson said that if a reading is
not consistent with past readings, the
computer will emit a beep indicating
a recheck is necessary. He said the
readers have an error rate of about
two in every 1,000.
A ■ M
p m m
CLINICS
AM/PM Clinics
Minor
10% Student
3820 Texas Ave.
Bryan, Texas
846-4756
iencies
sc .it with ID card
401 S. Texas Ave.
Bryan, Texas
779-4756
8a.m.-11 p.m. 7 days a week
Walk-in Family Practice
SALE
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Contact Lenses
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Only Quality Name Brands
(Bausch & Lomb, Ciba, Barnes-Hinds-Hydrocurve)
$79,
00 -STD. DAILY WEAR SOFT LENSES
Spare pr. Only $1 0 with purchase of 1st pr. at reg. price
$99. 00 -STD. EXTENDED WEAR SOFT LENSES
<£QQ 00 -STD. TINTED SOFT LENSES
ipaa. DAILY WEAR OR EXTENDED WEAR
W SALE ENDS JUNE 30, 1987 AND APPLIES TO CLEAR STANDARD
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Call 696-3754
For Appointment
* Eye exam and care kit not included
CHARLES C. SCHROEPPEL, O.D., P.C.
DOCTOR OF OPTOMETRY
707 South Texas Ave., Suite 101D
College Station, Texas 77840
1 block South of Texas & University
SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE
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’'JJuvtidcuf.
Spaghetti and Meat Sauce
w/Satad and garlic bread
J&199
: Muf
Liver and Onions
w/Masb potatoes and green beans
$2"
Catfish
w/French Fries, Hush Puppies,
Cole Slaw, Onion Rings
w/Frog tegs
$3 95
Saturday
Fajitas AH U Can Eat
$6 95
Orders to Go 696-0046
2154 111
6Yt Miles South of Kyle Field on Wellborn Road
Closed Sunday 25>4 Heister Brau 4- 7
11-9 Mon. -Thur. Pool Tou rnament Every Wednesday
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is now featuring a
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Bring your
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509 University
846-1023
2 Bring this coupon in and receive
5 any dinner for $2 50
at Rocco’s
expires June 30,1987