On Thursday, October 4, two very informative and interesting presentations were delivered to the campus community in the Frable Conference Center.

Representatives from Maglev Inc. were on hand in the afternoon to outline Pittsburgh's plans to install the smooth and speedy Maglev train. Pittsburgh is competing with Baltimore for federal funds to go ahead with the first magnetic levitation transportation system in the United States.

Both proposals would use the German engineered Transrapid Maglev system, which uses powerful electromagnets as a form of propulsion, eliminating the need for rails or wheels. Top speeds would approach 300 miles per hour. The system can be entirely radio controlled, eliminating the need for an operator, and because the bottom of the vehicle wraps around the guideway, the vehicles cannot derail.

Senior Vice-President Frank M. Clark of Maglev Inc. explained the details of the Pittsburgh proposal. Contracted by the Port Authority of Allegheny County and Maglev Inc. in a public/private partnership, along with PennDot and shareholders, Maglev would make travel through the Pittsburgh metropolitan area much easier.

“That is what this train is about, connecting this region,” said Clark.

The original plans call for a 47 mile stretch of track from Pittsburgh International Airport to Greensburg with stops in Pittsburgh and Monroeville. Passengers would be able to travel the entire route in about 30 minutes. The first segment to open would be from the airport to Pittsburgh, followed by the section heading east to Monroeville, and lastly, the completion of the route to Greensburg.

According to Clark, should Pittsburgh win the competition, the first segment would be up and running by Dec. 31, 2006, with the other segments following in one year increments until the route is completed. In the future, Maglev could be extended to connect to the Northeast corridor and upper Midwest, as well as places beyond.

Clark outlined the reasons why Maglev should be built in Pittsburgh. He said that if the system can succeed in Pittsburgh’s challenging terrain, it can also work anywhere else in the country. He also said that it would create thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the region.

Clark emphasized that the benefits far exceed the cost. Ridership surveys show that Maglev should be self-sustaining, even if installation will cost an estimated $2.8 billion. With an estimated annual revenue of $163 million and an operational and maintenance cost of only $37 million, Pittsburgh could find itself leading the nation into a new era of rapid transportation.

Earlier in the day, PSM Director of Student Affairs Glenn Beech detailed the events surrounding the Vajont dam disaster of Oct. 9, 1963. At what seemed like the perfect spot for a reservoir, a landslide and flood demolished five towns and killed nearly 2000 people.

Despite warnings from geologists and a local journalist, the fascist Italian government went ahead with plans to build the world’s largest dam beside Mount Toc in the Vajont valley, forming a reservoir and hydroelectric plant.

Upon completion, as the reservoir was being filled with more and more water, the porous mountain grumbled and shook, dumping 260 million cubic meters of earth onto the sleepy Italian community of Erto-Casso. The massive landslide created a wave nearly 60 meters tall (25 million cubic meters), that traveled at speeds approaching 80 kilometers per hour. The flood, caused by the greed of the state, took the lives of over 1000 in the town of Longarone alone.

Beech hopes that future generations will learn from the Vajont disaster and approach government works projects with a precautionary cynicism in order to avoid future catastrophes.