Not just the Roman military.  When I was in U.S. Navy bootcamp 24 years ago
we had to do the same thing!

Bill

At 12:18 PM 12/17/1999 -0600, Janet Thorp wrote:
>      Ah yes - the Roman soldiers knew this - when marching across bridges
>      they would fall "out of step" so that the bridge would remain intact.
>
>      Happy Holidays to everyone-
>      Janet
>
>
>______________________________ Reply Separator
>_________________________________
>Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] OT: Y2K, electricity and you
>Author:  TPierce ([log in to unmask]) at internet
>Date:    12/17/99 11:00 AM
>
>
>Thus the best thing to do is an extra backup and leave everything running
>normally.  One little computer is about as significant as one little toilet,
>and if they all go off (on) at the same time, results can be pretty
>spectacular.
>
>On the GGB's 50th anniversary there was a pedestrian party on the bridge,
>and not a thought was given beforehand to the fact that people are MUCH
>heavier than cars.  While there were 1000s of peds partying on the bridge,
>it actually bowed downward instead of its normal upward curve, while several
>engineers worked frantically to determine how many people the bridge could
>safely hold.  Good thing all those people didn't start dancing to the same
>tune.
>
>When you buck a system, it can buck back.  When everybody bucks the same
>system at the same time, it definitely will.  Be careful, not paranoid!
>
>
>Tracy Pierce, Systems Programmer
>Golden Gate Bridge, Hwy & Trnsp Dist
>P.O.Box 9000, Presidio Station
>San Francisco, CA  94129-0601
>phone 415-923-2266
>email to [log in to unmask]
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
> > Behalf Of Winston Kriger
> > Sent: Thursday, December 16, 1999 3:14 PM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: OT: Y2K, electricity and you
> >
> >
> > Boris Kortiak wrote in message ...
> > I keep hearing about more and more companies that are going
> > to turn things
> > off on 12/31/1999 and then turn them back on 1/1/2000.  I
> > don't know about
> > you, but this has me a little concerned.  Is anyone aware of a(n)
> > (agency|industry group|*) that is going to help control this
> > action?  I mean
> > if everyone were to go off and then back on at the same time
> > I would be
> > concerned about the initial surge and later drain on the
> > systems causing
> > some power problems.......................
> >
> > Back in the '70s when I was in the Digital Plotter/Digitizer
> > business, I
> > went on site to install our graphics
> > software on the Los Angles Metro Water District
> > mainframes/minicomputers
> > that controlled the power
> > sequencing for all of the water-pump motors that pumped water
> > from Northern
> > California to Southern
> > California.  I recall that there were large numbers of huge
> > electric motors
> > that had to be very carefully
> > sequenced when starting -- to avoid a major blackout.  We're
> > talking about
> > hundreds of 20,000 HP
> > motors that do this work on a demand basis day-in and
> > day-out.  I'm not sure
> > how the power grid is
> > arranged there, but let's hope the system doesn't allow some idiot to
> > override the sequencing program
> > and try to start all of these at once.  On the other hand, if
> > the sequencing
> > program isn't Y2K compliant,
> > maybe they will all (try to) start up at 00:01 on 1/1/2000
> > and black things
> > out anyway.  The Chief
> > Engineer told me that all of Hoover Dam's capacity would not
> > handle the
> > start-up surge of even half
> > of the motors if they were all turned on at the same instant
> > .......................................
> >
> > Winston K.
> >