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Remember those mysterious barges that Google was planning to use for…something? After popping up on our radar over a year ago they were shut down over the summer before Google could ever do anything with them. The barges were reportedly going to be state of the art floating retail stores. Like giant food trucks that can roam around and sell gadgets instead of tacos. Why did these barges get shut down before anyone could bug Google Glass while fighting off seas sickness? Fire.
Newly obtained documents show that the Coast Guard had significant questions about the safety of these barges. Coast Guard chief Robert Gauvin was most worried about the 5,000 gallons of fuel alongside “substantial amount of combustible material.” In other words, the barges were giant floating fire hazards. Google had plans for over a 1,000 people to visit the barges each day, but the contractor said it would allow no more than 150. At the end of the day Google just decided to scrap the whole idea.
Remember kids, only you can prevent Forrest fires.
[via The Verge]
Sounds to me like bay area douchebags complained.
Maybe the barge was obstructing their views of the Golden Gate or Bay Bridge.
I think there was one in Boston too. I think they scrapped that as well
Sounds like you lack basic reading comprehension. Must be that tin foil hat.
What would a choice in headwear have to do with reading skills?
Apple stifling innovation again.
SMH
I had completely forgotten about this. Well played Google.
*Guard
The USCG are very stringent on fire inspections. They’ll let some stuff slide but not fire hazards or prevention. I had an expired fire extinguisher on my boat (one of 3, the other two were fine) and I still got a hefty ticket.
Wouldn’t every barge be a fire hazard then?
I don’t know. Are 1000 people coming and going from every barge every day?
Barges usually don’t have people on them at all, so the safety issue is a non issue in that scenario. Have 1000 people cycling thru daily, that’s a different story.
Barges usually don’t have people on them at all? Are you serious? While serving in the Navy I lived on a barge for about 6 months (x2). After each deployment the ship got overhauled. Once pier side and once in dry dock. My ship had a crew of around 400. We even had a galley (kitchen) on the barge to feed the crew.
I’m going to guess(hope?) the navy has slightly better build standards than commercial barges. Still 400 people not just walking through but living on a barge must’ve been huge and cramped.
I don’t know about that lol. The barges were passed around to each ship when they had an overhaul. I’m not really sure who owned/managed them. The dining area was really small almost had to eat standing up. I don’t think the living quarters were any smaller than the ship.
Probably wanted to run a fairly large generator for electricity as well
Gives new meaning to the term “Fire Sale”
Man the coast guard must really be freaking out about cruise ships.
Please explain, Cruise ships, Ferry’s, Nuclear Subs, and Air-Craft Carriers. Nobody said you had to have 1000 people on the thing simultaneously.
I had a feeling it was a store and I had a feeling it would be shut down.
Forrest? lol
Was this some sort of sales tax dodge?
Good thing Google has money to burn…