Bountiful Temple Moroni damaged

[pam]

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=39880680&nid=148&title=lightning-damages-angel-moroni-statue-atop-bountiful-temple

 

BOUNTIFUL — A lightning strike damaged the Angel Moroni statue atop the Bountiful Temple on Sunday afternoon.

LDS Church spokesman Eric Hawkins confirmed that lightning struck the statue but did not the know the extent of the damage.

[Guest]

You know some anti-Mormons are going to have a field day with this one.

[NeedleinA]

3 hours ago, Carborendum said:

You know some anti-Mormons are going to have a field day with this one.

As long as they report the entire story...

The electricity from the lightning bolt actually traveled through the statue, into the temple, and was eventually rerouted to a small 3rd world country giving them enough power to run things for a month. Said country thanked the Church for their continual humanitarian efforts!

[NightSG]

Nah; it's just running the mind control machine for the next few weeks.  Unfortunately, the overload corrupted the programs, and some old backups had to be loaded.  Hopefully they'll get it sorted out before Florida tries to elect Buchanan again.

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, NightSG said:

Unfortunately, the overload corrupted the programs...

So that's why I was having visions of Galt's Gulch! 

Then in a flash it was all gone...

[Vort]

1 hour ago, Carborendum said:

Then in a flash it was all gone...

 

 

[Just_A_Guy]

Same thing happened to the Oquirrh Mountain temple shortly before its dedication, IIRC.

[pam]

1 hour ago, Just_A_Guy said:

Same thing happened to the Oquirrh Mountain temple shortly before its dedication, IIRC.

Yep the horn, arm and face were blackened.

[LeSellers]

While Moroni is a symbol of the Restoration, he is also a lightning rod (literally). The statue performed its protective function, so what's the big deal?

Lehi

[pam]

I was just going to see what Lehi said:  Moroni did his job.  It was something I didn't know.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865654861/When-lightning-strikes-an-Angel-Moroni-statue-does-what-hes-built-to-do.html?pg=all

[pam]

2 hours ago, LeSellers said:

While Moroni is a symbol of the Restoration, he is also a lightning rod (literally). The statue performed its protective function, so what's the big deal?

Lehi

The big deal is that you don't hear of it happening very often and it is about one of our temples.

[Vort]

That is one reason I am uncomfortable with temple "miracle stories" telling of how this or that temple was miraculously preserved from some disaster. It may well be true, but I think that some Latter-day Saints get the idea that the temple is impregnable, and that it has magical protection that keeps anything bad from ever happening to it. Such is not the case, though I do believe that God can and, on occasion, does protect his temple and his Saints from harm. But I do not pretend to know the mind of God or have any ability to predict when God will see fit to exercise such control.

[LeSellers]

7 hours ago, pam said:

The big deal is that you don't hear of it happening very often and it is about one of our temples.

Lightning's striking a building isn't all that uncommon. But most of the time, it's not too bad, and the suppression system (lightning rod) takes care of it without noticeable effect. When the discharge is much greater than average, the system may suffer damage (as in the case of Moroni), but that's built into the design in a cost/benefit analysis: bigger systems that would not be harmed (although 100% is impossible) are not only costly, but heavy and unsightly. There's always a trade-off.

Lehi

[Guest]

If they formed it out of aluminum, I'd bet the cost difference would be negligible.  And it would only weigh about 60% more.

[LeSellers]

They're gilded fiberglass.

I don't know the weight, but one guy can move it himself without wheels.

Lehi

[Guest]

3 hours ago, LeSellers said:

They're gilded fiberglass.

I don't know the weight, but one guy can move it himself without wheels.

Lehi

Actually, I believe this one is polyester resin.  There is no melted glass anywhere on the photo.  And if the lightning melted glass, there would be much more extensive damage to the matrix.  But maybe we just can't see it at this angle/distance.

So let's do a comparison between Aluminum and Fiberglass/Polyester (PE resin is about the same price and has similar structural properties as fiberglass).

FG = $2/lb; Al = $1/lb (low grade, not aircraft $$ aluminum).
Al strength = 117% of FG.  E = 800% of FG.  This allows for a 50% reduction in material thickness for the same rigidity/stiffness.
FG SG = 1.65; Al SG = 2.6 (a 50% reduction in volume would make the finished product lighter than FG).

Al can be anodized, alloyed, or laser toned to look like gold.  All these cost money.  But the alloy may not cost any more than gilding.  Either way, gilding is still an option for Al.

It's cheaper, lighter, and better than FG all around.  The only disadvantage is that it may cost more to fabricate.  Aluminum is a bit trickier than fiberglass for a complex hollow statue like this.  That may be the determining factor.

 

Edited May 24, 2016 by Guest

[pam]

2 hours ago, LeSellers said:

They're gilded fiberglass.

I don't know the weight, but one guy can move it himself without wheels.

Lehi

The article states they now weigh about 300 pounds.

[NeuroTypical]

The real news story comes from this link.  http://www.ldsdaily.com/world/lightning-strike-damages-angel-moroni-statue/

Take a look at the video from the helicopter.  Take a look in the background.  

 

 

 

[Guest]

Well, 300 lbs fiberglass it is then.  But I don't see why an equivalent aluminum statue would weigh 4000 lbs.

[NightSG]

4 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

The real news story comes from this link.  http://www.ldsdaily.com/world/lightning-strike-damages-angel-moroni-statue/

Take a look at the video from the helicopter.  Take a look in the background.

Was wondering about that myself.  Of course, that's a heck of a long lens, so it could be several blocks away from the temple, but still amusing that they chose that angle for the shot.

[NeedleinA]

11 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

Take a look in the background.  

Ummm, are you referring to Doctor Who's Police Box?? 

[NightSG]

On 5/23/2016 at 8:21 PM, pam said:

BOUNTIFUL — A lightning strike damaged the Angel Moroni statue atop the Bountiful Temple on Sunday afternoon.

That's sort of disappointing, though.  I mean, just think about how interesting it could have been if this had happened just as someone was walking in the door.

"Uh, never mind...I need to go have a really long talk with my bishop, right now."

[kapikui]

20 minutes ago, NightSG said:

That's sort of disappointing, though.  I mean, just think about how interesting it could have been if this had happened just as someone was walking in the door.

"Uh, never mind...I need to go have a really long talk with my bishop, right now."

Maybe someone was breaking in .

[NeuroTypical]

I used to drive through Bountiful on my way to Murray.  I was the hippest of the hip.  Then I left the state, and now harsh judgment falls on Bountiful.