As spring approaches, construction along the highways increases. Road work results in slower drive times as well as plenty of headaches for drivers, but this is nothing when compared to the increase in accidents as a result of work zones. Fortunately, there are some very important tips to follow in order to reduce your risk of having an accident while traveling through a construction area.

Slow Down

Always slow down as you approach a construction zone. Use the posted speed limits as your guide. Travel at or below this speed. Weather and traffic conditions affect traffic flow so there are many times when you will find that you do have to drive even slower than the posted number. Intelligent work zones have the recommended speed posted on equipment from providers like Street Smart Rental.

In addition, many drivers misunderstand the need to drive slower in construction zones. They assume that the reduced speed is only for keeping workers safe. This thinking causes many people to speed up during times when there are no actual construction workers in the area, but most fatalities in work zones involved the drivers and their passengers rather than the workers.

Keep Your Distance

While driving through a work zone you need to allow plenty of space between you and the person in front of you. You also need to keep plenty of room between yourself and construction equipment, trucks, traffic barriers, and workers. Do not use the median as a passing lane. This puts everyone in danger, and it can result in a huge fine.

Put the Cell Phone Away

It may seem like the perfect time to pull out your phone as you are creeping along, but you should always avoid cell phone usage and any other type of distraction when driving through a work zone. Texting and driving is dangerous no matter where you are. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration says that drivers take their eyes off the road for an average of five seconds when texting. It doesn’t sound that bad, but it is enough time to travel the length of a football field at a speed of 55 mph.

Simply stated, slow down and keep your eyes on the road when you find yourself travelling through a construction zone. Dangers increase in these areas. Let’s keep everyone safe this year.

Things happen. Theft, fire, any number of calamities can befall you and your home. When something bad occurs and significant losses are suffered, we usually think about the electronics, the artwork on the walls, anything of major value. However, we don’t typically consider the loss of your wardrobe.

If the house burns down, you’re probably not racing to your closet to grab as many shirts and slacks as you can scoop up in your arms before running outside to safety. Once the smoke clears, you may be left with nothing but the shirt on your back. If you ever experience a total loss of your clothes and other accessories, fear not, we’re going to help you rebuild that wardrobe with these essential purchases.

Jeans

This is a fundamental staple of any good wardrobe. Get a pair (or two) that won’t fade, lose their shape, and fit just the way you like them. You may even consider getting multiple shades, a dark pair and a lighter pair or a pair that you can go out in and another to wear around the house.

Oxford Button-down Shirt

You’re going to need some button-downs to wear to work and play. They work on their own or under a sports coat or suit with a tie. Patterns and solid colors are up to you, but you may want to grab a couple of each so your wardrobe has some flair and definitely get at least one white shirt. You can wear it with literally anything.

Sports Coat

The type of cut and material you prefer are all up to you but buying at least one or two jackets to wear with a button-down or a T-shirt can be a versatile solution to wearing the same thing everyday. A good sports coat can keep it casual when need be or a little more formal when the occasion calls for a clean-cut appearance.

Crewneck T-shirt

There’s nothing better than a soft cotton crewneck to throw on before you leave the house. Wear one under your sports coat or beneath a button-down for a layered look. When the summer months get here, all you need is your crewneck and a pair of shorts and you’re ready to hit the beach. It’s definitely a better choice than walking around in a that’s too much bacon said no one ever shirt.

Flat-front Fitted Shorts

Speaking of the summer months, you’re going to need shorts. You can’t wear jeans and khakis everywhere as temperatures reach the 80’s or 90’s in mid-August. Finding a way to cool off is easy and you’ll always look stylish when you’re clad in some fitted flat-front shorts

Modern tools push the thermal limits of the materials from which they’re made. Some suffer mechanical friction (such as drill bits and space shuttle nose cones), some electrical heat (like lasers and computer processors) and some are assaulted by heat sources they contain (such as nuclear reaction chambers). All of them must be cooled one way or another – or fail.

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Without heat control, instruments become inaccurate – potentially disastrous in medical or manufacturing scenarios or in computers. Components also age faster because of micro-fractures caused by expansion and contraction, or meltdown or seize up, potentially causing serious burns to their users. Most perform worse outside of a narrow temperature range – pushing up overheads.

Heat-sinks and Thermal Adhesives

Heat dissipation requires a material that radiates or convects away the heat (the heat-sink) and another to bond that sink tightly to the heat-stressed substrate – such as a metal bonding adhesive. Because heat control is such a ubiquitous and critical issue, both sinks and adhesives are the focus of intense R&D.

The adhesive must maintain contact between the hot body and its sink under challenges of temperature, vibration and chemical exposure. It must retain excellent conductivity across that range of variables too. An epoxy, for example, must have flexibility so that it neither cracks nor loses contact.

Designing machinery for heat control involves complex trade-offs between temperatures, material life-span and cost, as well as the performance, bulk, weight and other characteristics of additional thermal dissipation materials. It’s therefore necessary to consult specialists such as http://www.ct1ltd.com/ to help identify the best solutions for specific situations.

New Materials

Technology is changing rapidly. Metallic infused epoxies may be replaced by ones based on graphene. Carbons have less weight, greater stability, and higher melting points – graphene’s is approximately the same as the temperature of the Sun.

Some heat sinks already use Annealed pyrolytic graphite (APG) instead of just metal. Soon there’ll be carbon nano-tube and graphene sinks.

The future may see metal wiring in circuits replaced with carbon fibres and components printed using graphene “inks” that run cooler in the first place (or will run faster for the same heat load). In mechanical settings, carbon lubricants and 3D printed carbon components could generate less heat from friction than our heavier existing machinery.