🏗️ Shrink Balls. Roast Architects. Review Bridges.

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Hello Fellow Engineers!

Welcome to Real Civil Newsletter - the only newsletter where bridges are rated, ‘crap’ dungeons are translated, and balls are shrunk with lasers.

This week we’re diving into a Greek bridge that laughs in the face of earthquakes, dragging a Möbius-strip monstrosity across the coals (hi architects 👋), and yes - shrinking balls in a free indie game that’s more satisfying than it has any right to be.

There’s also a big update on Civil Draft, plus links, labs, tunnels, crap dungeons, and a suspicious Labrador eyeing up your authority.

But before you do, I’d love if you could take a second to answer this poll!

I’m not saying this will shape the future of civil engineering... but it might shape your inbox, plus, you’ll be entered into my weekly game giveaway!

Let’s dive into it 👇

This week, we’re giving away a copy of The Wandering Village! 🐉🌿

Ever wanted to build a city on the back of a giant roaming creature while dodging toxic clouds, managing crops, and pretending architects don’t exist? Now’s your chance.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for... 🥁

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Check your inbox for your game key and start building the most structurally sound nomadic ecosystem the world (and possibly your giant creature) has ever seen.

Didn’t win? More giveaways are coming!

💡 Want in on the next one? Vote in the poll in this email!

👷‍♂️ Truss Me, I’m an Engineer…

Rio–Antirrio Bridge: The Unassuming Superstar

While architects were busy sketching spirals and trying to justify buildings shaped like melted trombones, engineers were doing what they do best: solving impossible problems with math, steel, and stubbornness.

Case in point? The Rio–Antirrio Bridge in Greece , also known as the Charilaos Trikoupis Bridge. It’s not the tallest, the longest, or the flashiest. But trust us: if bridges were people, this one would be that unassuming quiet genius who shows up to the party with a PhD in seismic resistance and a gravel bed foundation that can ride out tectonic fits like a pro.

Spanning nearly 3 kilometers over the Gulf of Corinth, this beast of a structure links the Peloponnese with mainland Greece , while basically spitting in the face of every geological and environmental challenge imaginable.

So what made this build such an engineering flex?

• Ridiculous site conditions:
  Built over 65 meters of seawater, on top of soft sediment, in one of the most earthquake-prone zones in Europe, and across a gulf that’s literally pulling itself apart by 1.5 cm a year. Basically the engineering equivalent of building a skyscraper on jelly during a windstorm.

• Seabed reinforcement, but smarter:
  Instead of sinking deep foundations, engineers drove in 200 hollow steel pipes and leveled the seabed with a gravel bed , allowing the bridge to move instead of break during a quake. You know, like a structural ninja.

• Sliding piers for seismic sass:
  The piers aren’t fixed , they’re built to slide laterally during seismic activity. When the earth throws a tantrum, this bridge just shrugs and keeps on flexing.

• Flexible deck connections:
  The bridge deck is attached to pylons via hydraulic jacks and dampers, which absorb and redistribute loads , because rigid structures snap, and engineers don’t play that game.

• Wind-defying cables and deck:
  Fitted with Scruton strakes (yes, that’s a real name) and aerodynamic fairings to tame wind-induced vibrations. Architects wish their wind sculptures were this disciplined.

• Engineered to evolve:
  Designed to accommodate the gulf’s gradual widening over the next 100+ years. Future-proof, like any great engineering should be.

• 24/7 health monitoring system:
  Think of it like a bridge with a smartwatch , continuously tracking seismic movement, cable tension, wind, temperature, and more. The bridge knows more about itself than most people do.

In 2006, the bridge received the Outstanding Structure Award from the IABSE , and yet it still doesn’t get the mainstream love of the Golden Gate or the Millau Viaduct. Which makes it the perfect megaproject for this newsletter: quiet brilliance, maximum engineering.

I’ve extended Civil Draft by one more week!

Why? Because we’re so close to smashing the final community goal: creating an official Tabletop Simulator version of Civil Draft so you can duel with your decks on your computer.

On top of that, the common card that’s getting a holographic upgrade (thanks to an earlier goal) is still being decided - so stay tuned, because your shiny collection is about to get even shinier.

This is your chance to help us unlock everything before the finish line. Don’t miss it!

🛠️ Order Civil Draft Now

⚡ Cool Links

🤖 This Simple Magnetic Trick Could Change Quantum Computing Forever
A new quantum material using magnetism may finally make qubits stable enough for practical use, proof that engineers can’t be replace.

💦 Florida Water Facility Expansion to Feature the State’s Largest Membrane Bioreactor
Civil engineers are turning sewage into pure gold with plans to upgrade a water reclamation plant in Sarasota County.

🚃 Engineering the Subway: NYC’s $1.97 B Tunnel Project in East Harlem
They’ll be boring 1.8 miles of twin tunnels and adding stations, projected to reshape transit for New Yorkers. Bet an architect dreamed it up too… but only an engineer made it happen.

😥 Sony Is Pulling Over £200 of Games from PlayStation Plus, Including Indies
Time’s ticking! Complete your must‑plays now or risk losing them forever unless you buy.

💩 "Crap Dungeon", When Translation Goes Hilariously Wrong
The Crazy Hyper‑Dungeon Chronicles was mistranslated in Japanese as "Crap Dungeon," and the devs have owned the mistake, encouraging players: “It’s not actually crap!”.

👀 PlayB3yond Indie Game Fest Kicks Off August 25–31
A digital indie festival bursting with creativity, demos, trailers, giveaways, livestreams, and more. A week-long celebration proving real structure comes from code, not columns.

🐕‍🦺 Paddy’s Corner

Who's going to break first?

Looks like me and Paddy have ourselves a Labrador - Engineer standoff. Who’s going to cave first?

You’ll have to watch and find out 👇️ 

👾 Indie Game of the Week:

If you’ve ever looked at a pachinko machine and thought, “What if it violently shrunk balls with lasers?”, this game is for you. It’s like an engineer's fever dream meets a physics professor’s stress test.

Shrink, explode, slice, and prestige your way to glory, all while trying not to laugh every time I say "tiny balls."

⚽️ Play Fall Ball Fall for free here!

📺 Watch the chaos here:

It’s time for a Bridge Review!

Ah yes, the Lucky Knot Bridge, where architects saw a Möbius strip and thought, “What if we made it red, pedestrian, and utterly confusing?” Meanwhile, engineers quietly whispered, “Please just let it be structurally stable...”

Located in Changsha, this footbridge loops, weaves, and knots itself across the river like a toddler’s shoelaces. It’s got three tangled paths, some truss work worth admiring, and surprisingly well-managed inclines for walkers (well done, engineers).

But let’s be honest: this thing was clearly designed during an architect’s gap year in symbolism school. It doesn’t just cross a river—it spirals into existential dread.

Verdict:

• + Points for structural coordination and thoughtful walking gradients.

• − Points for being 80% artistic ego, 20% usable bridge.

Final thoughts?
It’s the bridge equivalent of an architect trying to explain their "vision" while the engineer quietly checks if the bolts are actually aligned.

Final Score: 3/10