Third Battle of Bull Run

You need to pay attention when progressive environmentalists and Civil War enthusiasts are working hand-in-hand. Such is the case of a planned data center complex that would’ve been visible from Manassas National Battlefield. This hallowed ground- and its lack of suburban development- is cut solely by Lee Highway and Interstate 66, and is a stark contrast to the dense, freeway-based sprawl on both sides of this historical area. The battlefield gained local relevance when it became the adoptive home of adjacent Fairfax City’s Confederate War Memorial, commemorating the first soldier killed in action during the Civil War. Nor was this the first threat to Manassas National Battlefield: short-lived plans in the 1990’s called for construction of a new Walt Disney World complex in this area. In recent months, the Virginia Supreme Court nixed the data center proposal. In this circumstance, the data center was really a bad idea, especially when other parts of the City of Manassas and Prince William County are already equipped for new facilities. But it was a watershed moment, as cultural momentum nationwide quickly turned against the energy-gobbling, water table consuming facilities. Which I believe is an unfortunate reaction. In the past and to this day, conventional and nuclear power plants provided many shoreside second careers for marine engineers; and data centers were growing to provide the same roles. As someone described the qualifications of a marine engineer to operating a data center: “when you’re on a ship, you generate power and, using only the tools you have onboard. Compare that to a data center getting electricity from the public utility, and calling in reinforcements if a job gets difficult”. On another note: Leon Weckstein, an American soldier, had the Leaning Tower of Pisa in his crosshairs while liberating the Italian city from the Nazis in 1944. The famous tower may well have collapsed before the turn of the 21st century, as happened to the medieval Civic Tower in Pavia, in 1989. However, engineers were able to make the first effective fix to the tower’s dangerous lean. (lower the high side foundation of the tower, instead of trying to raise the low side).