CoasterCowboy67
Well-Known Member
Static equilibrium doesn’t mean the concrete isn’t under immense stress. A house, a skyscraper, and a tank of propane are all in static equilibrium, and its constituent materials and structure are working hard to keep it that wayThe total weight of water acting on the entire surface isn’t relevant since the whole system is in static equilibrium. Think about what it would mean for the oceans if the total weight/mass of the water was a scale that mattered for the mechanical equilibrium of the system.
By the way, we’ve only been talking about transverse stress on the concrete. We haven’t even considering shear stress (balloon effect) of the riverbed bearing the pressure of the water