de la luz principal

Question

Hi all,

I ran into a passage which I don't fully understand, which follows below.

La mitad de la luz principal se elevaba mientras que la otra porción descendía.

It is talking about the deformation of a bridge structure, but I don't understand "de la luz principal"

Are they talking about the first part, and then the other part?

I don't quite get it.

Thanks in advance for any pointers.

Strewth mate ! You are doing in my mind . - ray76, Jan 2, 2014

Sorry Ray. I´ve been off doing lots of technical articles and translations to prepare myself for my upcoming trip to Spain for a technical class (plus watching Almodóvar flicks to get used to the accent). I´ll go light when I return. - rogspax, Jan 2, 2014

Only joking mate , I was overawed by your expertise , it is obvious that you are more than just a brain mate , and best of luck to you , just don't go feral on me is all. - ray76, Jan 2, 2014

Thank you Roger, we learn something new every day. I thought luz could only be electricity and light.. - annierats, Jan 2, 2014

Ditto Annie, I was thinking too literally and a span never occurred to me, though that seems super obvious now. - rogspax, Jan 2, 2014

Answer 1

Thank you Roger, we learn something new every day. I thought luz could only be electricity and light.. - annierats

Annie, not at all. Another example: "Luz de bujía": Spark plug gap.

I had only had the ' alternador' go wrong in a hire car, so far.. It stopped the car most effectively, but I actually did manage to ring for help and answer moderatly technical questions, such as could I start the car? No! - annierats, Jan 2, 2014

Another good one DualG, and very appropriate and useful in my line of work. What about for valve clearances? Luz o Juego? - rogspax, Jan 2, 2014

Luz de válvulas. "Juego" is closer to free play. - DualG, Jan 2, 2014

Gracias. I´d seen juego for piston-to-cylinder clearance but hadn´t yet learned all the motor stuff since I¨m still trying to get suspension down. - rogspax, Jan 3, 2014

That's right. Some times it is a grey area. But as a rule, mostly, gap:: luz - DualG, Jan 3, 2014

Answer 2

Building on what DualG said, here is a bridge in Australia built with a self-supporting truss arch spanning between the two bearing points on either end of the bridge. It ascends, peaks at the center and descends on the other side of the center point. Odd way to describe the shape though...

Thanks Denny , but I still like our coat hanger the best. - ray76, Jan 2, 2014

The spectacular Sydney Harbour Bridge aka "The Coathanger" . - dennywells, Jan 2, 2014

Answer 3

In engineering talk, "luz" means the span between support points. My educated guess is that the sentence is saying that in the first half of the span, the deformation is making the bridge to go above the level line, and below in the second half.

Thanks DualG. Makes perfect sense as a "span". My civil engineering vocab is well behind my electrical and hydraulic. So, it becomes: Half of the main span rose while the other portion fell. Sound right? - rogspax, Jan 2, 2014