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GRV II - Challenge 2

Started by The_Hutt, April 10, 2009, 12:08:19 PM

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The_Hutt

Welcome back!

Several utility companies have sent in bids to construct the necessary power and facilities to keep Grand River Valley running smoothly. In the end, a bid from Grand River Valley Gas and Electric (GRVGE) was ultimately chosen for the power plant.









GRVGE's Bernal Valley Generation Center, located within the jurisdiction of the municipality Division (F) uses special technology to produce electricity with conventional means, but without as much pollution. This is also called "clean coal." Clean coal is characterized by chemically washing minerals and impurities from the coal, gasification, treating the flue gases with steam to remove sulfur dioxide, and carbon capture and storage technologies to capture the carbon dioxide from the flue gas, which is then stored underneath the adjacent Bernal Craig. As a result, carbon emissions are significantly reduced, and what you see above is in fact mostly steam. While not quite as environmentally-friendly as renewables, it is still a major step forward in fossil fuel burning and can even brag to be cleaner than natural gas.

The plant itself is built between the Grand River and Bernal Craig, a little hill in the middle of nowhere. The riverside location is prudent because it allows for easy transportation and shipping of the needed materials (the seaport you see there is not intended for any other purpose), and it also significantly lowers costs related to cooling. The hill is used not only to mine coal, which has been found in abundance, but also to store carbon emissions underground via carbon capture. In addition, while the facility may seem large, this is only because of the many steps needed in the clean coal process. Not all of it is actually devoted to electricity generation. The facility should be able to reliably serve the specified number of simhomes for at least the next 50 to 75 years.

The workers' homes are nearby, but are not on-site due to the inherently industrial nature of the plant. It is only about a half-mile away through the forest by car.




For the water facility, the publicly-run Valley Water Authority has constructed its first intake center.









The Valley Intake Center, located in Brandt Hollow (D) is a fairly conventional facility. Water is piped from the confluence of the Grand and Lafayette Rivers, treated, and then distributed to all. Its location is strategic - it is upstream from the power facility which makes pollution a non-factor, it is at the confluence of two rivers to drastically increase water flow, and is also located away from the ocean to eliminate the need for desalination. The facility produces no pollution.

The worker's homes are located just across the street in a walled complex. Services and road connections to the nearby Bordertown are provided, and there are plans to install a rail station should the population grow.

Finally, a map of the latest road, Route 21:



Route 21 starts at its intersection with Route 10 in the city of Bordertown (E). It winds along the southern bank of the Grand River, where development is expected to be concentrated, passing the GRVGE's generation facility in Division on the way (F). It heads east towards Edgeshore, and then veers north, crossing the Grand River in the process (L). It passes through towering redwood forests while heading north. Once it reaches Fallon Rock, the road bridges a shallow inlet and hugs the coastline to avoid the mountainous regions in order to pass on to SimNation to the north (K).

I believe that's about it for this one - until next time, stay turned!

- Nick

meinhosen

Very nice work, Nick!  Love the "complicated" look of the water plant, as well as the walled/gated community near it.
You're telling me I get to be home for more than 12 months?


soulchaser

This looks GIANT, nice setting of LOTs, but I'm not sure, if the harbour is a bit to much, cause it's not "necessary".

Looks good all the way, though.

Recently Iced

You might also visit my participitation in GRVII - Bordertown!

The_Hutt

Two members have messaged me with similar concerns, so I though I should make it clear. Despite the ship in the water (that I cannot avoid), the maxis seaport is NOT PLACED THERE TO FUNCTION AS A REGULAR SEAPORT. That is against the rules. If you look on the map view there is no seaport anchor anywhere. I have placed it as an eyecandy lot I'm using to most accurately portray the construction and function of the plant itself.

If mrbisonm still has a problem with that explanation, I will by all means remove that part of the lot.

soulchaser

well, I like it, if it's only eyecandy ;) look at th plex, there are some ports that really re eyecandy on the first sight, because they are much smaller

Recently Iced

You might also visit my participitation in GRVII - Bordertown!

mrbisonm

Your challenge 2 is well done according to the rules and the demands. You can now play on 2 more citytiles anywhere in your region. This will be a part of challenge 3. Make sure that you have at least 100 citizens each in all three tiles you played in (no population max limit).

Lynn and Fred


....Uploading the MFP 1.... (.........Finishing the MFP1)

mightygoose

i thought you werent allowed zoom 5 shots...
NAM + CAM + RAM + SAM, that's how I roll....

The_Hutt

Quote from: mightygoose on April 11, 2009, 08:30:17 PM
i thought you werent allowed zoom 5 shots...
That's just for the first two pictures of the water/power. We're allowed any view/angle we want for the third and fourth pics. Specifically, "We will allow you to show us two (2) more pictures each of both the powerplant and water supply, meaning you can add 4 more additional pictures of these installations in any view and angle you prefer to your update."

Pat

Hey Hutt looking good here!!! I like the how you used the port as a construction faculity there!!!

Don't forget the SC4D Podcast is back and live on Saturdays @ 12 noon CST!! -- The Podcast soon to Return Here Linkie

mrbisonm

Judgment of challenge 2

A.  The new route is well thought over and giving access to new terrain, but the parallel direction to route 10 for two tiles could have been avoided by placing your new route in the northern half. We gave you 4 points for the route challenge.
B and C.  We didn't like to see the harbour, but for this time only we did not take it as breaking the rules nor to give you less points. Never use it again please, because we will consider it as breaking the rules the next time.
The powerplant and the waterplant look like it could supply a city of well over 500K. We specifically asked for one that supplies 15K to 25K. Because of this we couldn't give you more points. But because both locations are well chosen and use of lots are just wonderful, we were able to give you a combination of power and water 7 points together.
Overdoing things is like not enough, finding the middle is difficult sometimes.

Total of 11 Points added to your challenge.

Congratulations, quite well done with a superbe explanation and description, but way too much for what we asked for. If it was for different challenge, this would have been among the highest judged. Please delete the harbour lot so that we won't see it again. Thank you.


Lynn and Fred


....Uploading the MFP 1.... (.........Finishing the MFP1)

The_Hutt

Heh, serves me right for holding illusions of grandeur. Oh well.

Although I thought I clarified the reason for the power plant appearing to be so large in my explanation? A lot of it is just eyecandy or stuff related to the fuel cycle and carbon capture. Clean coal is nasty complicated (hell, it's fiction at the moment) and I don't think this facility could produce more than 100 megawatts in real life.