L’Etoile Directice Abstract
(Guiding Star)
Guiding Louisiana to a Better Future
Expelled from Nova Scotia in the 1700s, the French Canadians migrated to the impenetrable swamps of south Louisiana, establishing a new home in a hostile environment. Today their descendants, who proudly call themselves Cajuns, continue to shepherd their land using modern technology.
Located off the coast of Louisiana, L’Etoile Directice is an artificial barrier island. The city itself was built of aggregates mined from the aggregate shelf two hundred miles off shore. Barges made of aggregates and water-soluble chitin, the glue-like substance that holds the shells of crustaceans together, were loaded and floated to the site of the city. The barges sank as the chitin dissolved, forming the land.
Because hurricanes threaten the coast, the city is shaped like a star to lessen impact and deflect hurricanes. A self-healing plastic dome, built to withstand major hurricane force winds, covers the city proper. The seaport, airport, and industrial complexes are built to be hurricane resistant. Floating farms can be towed away when necessary.
L’Etoile Directice is a city with a mission. Designed for the preservation of wetlands, the city eradicates problems contributing to coastal erosion: excess influx of fresh water and invasive, non-native flora and fauna that destroy natural species. Major industries in the city process these invaders and manufacture products essential to the city. For example, water hyacinths, which clog rivers and streams, and tallow trees that continuously multiply, are harvested to produce methane gas, a major fuel source. When dried, water hyacinths are used as fertilizer for crops and as animal feed. Nutria, which consume a quarter of their weight daily, are marketed globally for meat and fur.
To curb coastal erosion, a series of interlocking stars fan out from the city and run parallel to the coast. These stars, made of aggregates, retain the silt deposited from the mainland and prevent fresh water from flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. The new marshes welcome growth of native plants and animals.
L’Etoile Directice boasts an outstanding transportation system. Citizens drive hydrogen-powered hover cars and buses over aggregate highways designed to capture water vapor produced by the vehicles—returning the water to the fresh-water supply. The main transportation, a subway system, runs in an aggregate tunnel, making transportation easily accessible.
For communication, L’Etoile Directice uses digital signals transmitted through higher frequency radio waves. Small low-cost communications are suited to this technology. Direct sequence code division multiple access technology scrambles codes so that no two users have the same codes. Signals are unscrambled upon reception.
People of all ages and cultures call L’Etoile Directice their home. Students whose careers span all fields graduate from an exemplary educational system. Because employment is high, crime is low. Since industrial and agricultural areas are located outside the dome, citizens enjoy a pollution free city.
Citizens of L’Etoile Directice play as hard as they work. They enjoy a variety of recreational activities at marinas, museums, fine arts facilities, stadiums, zoos, amusement parks, and symphonies. Laissez les bons Temps Rouler!
L'Etoile Directice Essay
Efficient Use of Aggregate Materials
in Futuristic Transportation Systems
La Mole Revolutionizes Transportation Systems
Transportation plays a key role in the development and progress of any city. Of the numerous methods of transportation available, L'Etoile Directice benefits most from its well-designed subway transportation system. For centuries cities have been using aggregate products such as cement, asphalt, gravel, and sand to pave roads and construct transportation vessels. L’Etoile Directice, through the skill of its civil engineers, has found it most efficient to utilize alternative products in place of traditional aggregates. L’Etoile Directice is an island constructed using natural resources found on an aggregate shelf located off the coast of Louisiana, approximately two hundred miles off the coast. L’Etoile Directice efficiently utilizes aggregate products as construction materials because of advanced, ecologically friendly methods of accumulating natural resources. The aggregates are extracted through a vacuum system, which minimizes adverse environmental effects. Currently, the aggregate shelf is a large, unutilized resource.
L’Etoile Directice also uses the most efficient and valuable subway system in the country through the use of an innovative machine called La Mole. La Mole is a highly advanced cylindrical shaped boring and digging mechanism that specializes in creating tunnels. A rotating cone, equipped with cutting teeth and spiral fins, caps the cylinder of La Mole. Burrowing into the ground, La Mole creates a perfectly cylindrical tunnel by cutting the aggregate and forcing it into a cylindrical shape. La Mole excretes a chitin adhesive to bind the aggregate together and then a chitin lubricant to minimize the friction of the subway cars. Chitin is a naturally occurring polymer that exists in the shells of crabs, crawfish, shrimp, and other crustaceans. Scientists of L’Etoile Directice have developed a method of extracting chitin from crustaceans. The shells are a waste product of the Louisiana seafood industry. The scientists use the chitin to produce adhesives and lubricants used by La Mole. La Mole sprays out a chitin adhesive compound to bind the aggregate around the walls of the tunnels. The chitin adhesive compound adheres to the walls of the new tunnel, holding it together. La Mole then sprays a chitin lubricant on the walls of the tunnel to allow the subway cars to move freely. After La Mole has finished its job, the subway cars are propelled through the chitin-lubricated walls with pneumatic propulsion. The reduced friction creates a more efficient transportation system. La Mole is environmentally advantageous because it is self-contained and requires no extra equipment. All it is required to do is to create the tunnel, and then it quietly emerges from the excavation.
Since La Mole is only slightly larger than the subway itself, the subway has no room to lose control. This gives citizens a feeling of security. In addition, the design of this transportation system reduces the maintenance requirements lessening the burden on the tax base.
With this machine, L’Etoille Directice’s civil engineers decide the width, length, and location of the tunnels. Civil engineers keep citizens informed of the importance of the aggregate based transportation system and the status of the subway system on a daily basis.
Overall, the city uses aggregate materials proficiently so that the subway cars glide easily through the slick tunnels dug by La Mole. The latest technology and sound engineering practices create a pollutant-free environment that ensures commuters’ enjoyment of and trust in the public transportation system.
Bibliography
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“The Mineral Industry of Louisiana.” http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/state/982296.pdf (17 Dec 2004)
“Ocean Energy and Minerals: Resources For the Future.” http://www.yoto98.noaa.gov/yoto/meeting/energy_316.html (20 Oct 2004)
Spearing, Darwin. Roadside Geology of Louisiana. Minnesota: Mountain Press Publishing Company, 1995.
“UMBI ‘GREEN’ CHEMISTRY RECYCLES CRAB SHELL WASTE.” http://www.umbi.umd.edu/nande/news/archive/00/062800_green.html (2 Dec 2004)
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