Of Engineers and Gutters

In a recent article, Sydney Morning Herald columnist Elizabeth Farelly laments the damage caused to trees in the urban environment by 'perfect' non-leaky guttering. Her argument is that evil 'un-civil' engineers, in designing gutters that are leak proof (and root proof) are responsible for thirsty trees struggling to survive, therefore not providing shade, therefore increasing global-warming, while rainwater rattles off wasted into the harbour.

In her highly enjoyable opinion pieces, Ms Farelly often uses exaggerated imagery and colourful language to emphasise a heartfelt opinion on urban design, and this article was no exception. In blaming engineers for this problem with inflammatory language equating them to terrorists, she predictably caused a storm of protest, and may well have laid the groundwork for the formation of a new corollary to the famous Godwins's Law* - we'll call it Farelly's Law - that automatically renders any argument invalid when the object of the author's scorn is labelled as, or compared to, a terrorist.

Of course, engineers aren't actually to blame for this particular problem. Engineers, for better or worse, are given problems and asked to build solutions. If they have designed gutters that don't leak, it's because they were asked by the council or road's authority to design gutters that don't leak. Indeed, it's a common lament of the engineer that they are not engaged earlier in the process to be part of the problem definition phase, rather than receiving half-baked requirements, then copping it for the resultant solution not making everyone happy. Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything ...

The fallacy of her argument is exposed by the counter-example in the same article - praising the (yet to be built I believe) gutter solution in Sydney's Green Square that makes clever re-use of storm water. Clearly, however, these gutters were also designed by engineers - albeit as a response to a more environmentally sensitive statement of the problem to be solved.

Approved Guttering

Apart from the unjustified engineer slandering, the author makes a valid point about the waste of rainwater in our cities, and the sadly missed opportunity for more thoughtful solutions. The problem, I would suggest is far greater than just thirsty trees - the waste of storm water in dry Australian cities is a problem crying out for creative engineering solutions - if only someone would ask !

One place that has a creative guttering system is the Argentinean town of Mendoza, which I visited in January. Lying in a desert at the foothill of the Andes, Mendoza takes advantage of an ancient Incan irrigation system with a series of linked open gutters running through the city.

Non leaky gutters ...

...that still let trees drink

You can see that Mendozan trees don't go thirsty. As the run-off comes from melted ice in the Andes, the result is a city permanently cooled in summer by a giant open air cooling system, that also maintains very healthy trees - so much so it's hard to believe you're in a desert.

Leafy Mendozan Streets

One downside to this solution can be gleaned from the gutters' nickname - Gringo traps, in reference to unwary (and possibly inebriated - the areas around Mendoza, also irrigated by melted Andean ice, produce 70% of Argentina's excellent wine) foreign tourists falling into the gutters. For this reason it's hard to see this particular design ever being adopted in an Australian society increasingly being dominated by litigious American style lawyers - who deserve to be the true villains in this story, rather than those poor (and definitely not terrorist) engineers :)

*PS There's an interesting article by the epnonymous Mr Godwin to mark the 18th 'birthday' of his famous law. The law initially stated (indeed still states) that as a discussion (in usenet - a proto-online-forum) goes on and on, the probability of someone mentioning Hitler or the Nazis approaches 1 (i.e. 100%). These days most people assume the law refers to the far better known corrollary, which states that the first person to resort to such parallels in a discussion automatically loses the argument.

Mendoza Wine and Flying

I could get used to luxury wine touring the way they do it in Mendoza. On Mendoza day 3, for a decent fee, we had a minibus limited to 8 visitors, along with a driver and guide (trained enologist), and private tasting rooms in all 4 wineries that we visited, where we got to taste better wines that what are normally offered to passing tourists, as well as a 4 course lunch with matching wines.

9am Tasting

The first winery we visited was the Bodega Mendel, a modern winery that left most of us a little flat - not sure if it was the 9am start of the fact that the winemaker himself preferred to drink wines young, and the wined we tasted really lacked depth and character; especially for the prices that were being asked.

The next vineyard, Bodega Sottano, was also very modern, and our host highlighted the advantages of the steel vats over the more traditional French style concrete ones. This vineyard was architect designed and pretty fancy; and as well as an excellent if traditional Malbec, provided a tasty Cabernet Sauvignon that I most certainly would have purchased if I wasn't lumbered with a backpack.

Modern Vats Good - Concrete Bad

At the penultimate vineyard, the Spanish operated Bodega Belasco de Baquedano, apart from the excellent wines, there was an aroma room, complete with tubes containing every possible odour that could be present in a wine - including bad wine (corked, mouldy ...). At the end were 6 test tubes (pun intended, sadly) where visitors could guess the odours stored in the unlabelled tubes.

Odour Room

As well here we were provided with the 4 course lunch with matching wines, which created quite the wine glass forest:

The final Bodega, Bodega Benegas, was my favourite. It is based in a 120 year old vineyard that a previous bankrupted (in the 70s) winemaker, Federico Benegas Lynch, had bought and lovingly restored, maintaining the original cellars and building and keeping much of the original equipment as museum pieces. For a change we didn't try the Malbec; instead tasting a very dry Chardonnay and an unusual pure Franc, as well as a Cabernet Franc.

Old School Concrete Vats

Para Man

What better way to follow up a day in the vineyards than by learning to fly ? Paragliding is something I've always wanted to do and finally I got my chance on my final day in Mendoza. Ultimately it was far easier and less scary than I expected, for whatever reason the only reason the only time I was nervous was on the road up; possibly due to the driver, in true Argentinian style, facing me talking animatedly while opening a pack of cigarettes and navigating the 4WD by what must just have been experience.

The Road up seen from above

As far as the actual gliding was concerned, the instructions were ridiculously simple. 'Just start running and don't stop until I say'. 'What about landing ?' I ask. 'Don't worry, I'll tell you when we get there'. So I'm running off a cliff, feel a great whoosh, and I am them suspended, running road-runner like over (very) thin air ! Once up, the views (up, down, left, right) and the sensation of freedom and flying were just sensational, and this won't be the last time I do this.

Looking Down

Looking Up

Landing, when it came, basically involved standing up as I hit the ground, two steps forward on my safety boots (sandals) and it was all over.

Mendoza and the Alta Montaña

Typical Mendozan Street

After Patagonia, it was time to visit the magic town of Mendoza, near the Andes and 1000km west of Buenos Aires. It's both an Argentina's adventure capital (Queenstown style) and wine capital, meaning there's no shortage of things for a visitor to do; but above all it's the town's laid-back personality that is the real charmer. Even though there are more than a million inhabitants, there's not the big city edge of Buenos Aires, and despite being in the middle of a desert, every street in the town is tree lined and the innovative gutters, built on the original Inca irrigation plan, act as a giant air conditioning system, cooling both the town air and (it seems) the tempers of its inhabitants.

Outdoor Air-con

I travelled here on an overnight bus from Buenos Aires with a fellow Australian from the Patagonia trip (more on Patagonia later) and despite having no accommodation organised, we quickly settled into the town's vibe and eventually found quirky over-flow accommodation in a musician's grandmother's house, barely renovated since she was a teenager, or so it seemed. The barely functional bathroom was more than adequately compensated by the peaceful garden, a real oasis given the property was on Mendoza's main bar strip.

Granny's Garden

Within another hour or so, showered and refreshed, we had the following day's activities organised and settled down for a fantastic outdoor home-made pasta, accompanied by an excellent local Malbec (Trapiche Reserve). With it's tree lined streets, mild climate and wide footpaths, Mendoza is made for outdoor dining, both dinner and lunch.

The first activity was the Alta Montaña tour, following the main highway between Chile and Argentina (RN7, which connects Buenos Aires to Santiago de Chile) and climbing the stunning Andean foothills. The road was significantly upgraded in the 80s, but previously operated on a one way system (mornings West, evenings East) as it was basically a one lane (more half lane) goat track. We got to travel the most spectacular part of that route, rising up to the 4200 M mountain pass, site of a statue at the border to mark Argentinian-Chilean friendship - not always a given.

Christ @ 4200M keeps the fractious Chileans and Argentinians apart

The road has such a reputation amongst the drivers of the many tourist mini-vans here that they have developed a new hand gesture, best referred to as the shitting-oneself, formed by holding the hand that should be on the steering wheel out the window palm down, and generating droppings by opening and closing your fingers. This is gleefully produced to every passing van (there were at least 20 in the 8km half hour ascent) and some drivers have gone as far as obtaining a roll of toilet paper to wave at passing driver, in case the 'shitting-oneself' gesture was too subtle !

Give way to ascending traffic - and anyone waving toilet paper

The tour was comprehensive, with stunning views, interesting Andean villages, scenery (such a natural bridge used by the Incas, and a stone one used by the Spanish), and a view of Aconcagua, the Western hemisphere's highest mountain and a climbing mecca.

Somewhat over-rated (and touristed) Spanish Bridge

Puente del Inca

Mountain Man, previously only found at Rugby matches and beer commercials

Aconcagua - highest mountain in the world outside the Himalayas

Andean Scenery