in the underwater oxyfuel gas cutting process what keeps the water away from the preheating flames

Oxy-fuel welding (commonly called oxyacetylene welding, oxy welding, or gas welding in the U.S.) and oxy-fuel cutting are processes that use fuel gases and oxygen to weld and cut metals, respectively. French engineers Edmond Fouché and Charles Picard became the first to develop oxygen-acetylene welding in 1903.[1] Pure oxygen, instead of air, is used to increase the flame temperature to allow localized melting of the workpiece material (e.g. steel) in a room environment. A common propane/air flame burns at about 2,250 K (1,980 °C; 3,590 °F),[2] a propane/oxygen flame burns at about 2,526 K (2,253 °C; 4,087 °F),[3] an oxyhydrogen flame burns at 3,073 K (2,800 °C; 5,072 °F), and an acetylene/oxygen flame burns at about 3,773 K (3,500 °C; 6,332 °F).[4]

Oxy-fuel welding and cutting

Oxy-fuel is one of the oldest welding processes, besides forge welding. In recent decades it has been obsolesced in almost all industrial uses due to various arc welding methods offering more consistent mechanical weld properties and faster application. Gas welding is still used for metal-based artwork and in smaller home based shops, as well as situations where accessing electricity (e.g., via an extension cord or portable generator) would present difficulties.

In oxy-fuel welding, a welding torch is used to weld metals. Welding metal results when two pieces are heated to a temperature that produces a shared pool of molten metal. The molten pool is generally supplied with additional metal called filler. Filler material depends upon the metals to be welded.

In oxy-fuel cutting, a torch is used to heat metal to its kindling temperature. A stream of oxygen is then trained on the metal, burning it into a metal oxide that flows out of the kerf as slag.[5]

Torches that do not mix fuel with oxygen (combining, instead, atmospheric air) are not considered oxy-fuel torches and can typically be identified by a single tank (oxy-fuel cutting requires two isolated supplies, fuel and oxygen). Most metals cannot be melted with a single-tank torch. Consequently, single-tank torches are typically suitable for soldering and brazing but not for welding.

Oxy-gas torches are or have been used for:

In short, oxy-fuel equipment is quite versatile, not only because it is preferred for some sorts of iron or steel welding but also because it lends itself to brazing, braze-welding, metal heating (for annealing or tempering, bending or forming), rust or scale removal, the loosening of corroded nuts and bolts, and is a ubiquitous means of cutting ferrous metals.

The apparatus used in gas welding consists basically of an oxygen source and a fuel gas source (usually contained in cylinders), two pressure regulators and two flexible hoses (one for each cylinder), and a torch. This sort of torch can also be used for soldering and brazing. The cylinders are often carried in a special wheeled trolley.

There have been examples of oxyhydrogen cutting sets with small (scuba-sized) gas cylinders worn on the user's back in a backpack harness, for rescue work and similar.

There are also examples of pressurized liquid fuel cutting torches, usually using gasoline. These are used for their increased portability.

The regulator ensures that pressure of the gas from the tanks matches the required pressure in the hose. The flow rate is then adjusted by the operator using needle valves on the torch. Accurate flow control with a needle valve relies on a constant inlet pressure.

Most regulators have two stages. The first stage is a fixed-pressure regulator, which releases gas from the cylinder at a constant intermediate pressure, despite the pressure in the cylinder falling as the gas in it is consumed. This is similar to the first stage of a scuba-diving regulator. The adjustable second stage of the regulator controls the pressure reduction from the intermediate pressure to the low outlet pressure. The regulator has two pressure gauges, one indicating cylinder pressure, the other indicating hose pressure. The adjustment knob of the regulator is sometimes roughly calibrated for pressure, but an accurate setting requires observation of the gauge.

Some simpler or cheaper oxygen-fuel regulators have only a single stage regulator, or only a single gauge. A single-stage regulator will tend to allow a reduction in outlet pressure as the cylinder is emptied, requiring manual readjustment. For low-volume users, this is an acceptable simplification. Welding regulators, unlike simpler LPG heating regulators, retain their outlet (hose) pressure gauge and do not rely on the calibration of the adjustment knob. The cheaper single-stage regulators may sometimes omit the cylinder contents gauge, or replace the accurate dial gauge with a cheaper and less precise "rising button" gauge.

The hoses are designed for use in welding and cutting metal. A double-hose or twinned design can be used, meaning that the oxygen and fuel hoses are joined together. If separate hoses are used, they should be clipped together at intervals approximately 3 feet (1Â m) apart, although that is not recommended for cutting applications, because beads of molten metal given off by the process can become lodged between the hoses where they are held together, and burn through, releasing the pressurised gas inside, which in the case of fuel gas usually ignites.

The hoses are color-coded for visual identification. The color of the hoses varies between countries. In the United States, the oxygen hose is green, and the fuel hose is red.[6] In the UK and other countries, the oxygen hose is blue (black hoses may still be found on old equipment), and the acetylene (fuel) hose is red.[7] If liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) fuel, such as propane, is used, the fuel hose should be orange, indicating that it is compatible with LPG. LPG will damage an incompatible hose, including most acetylene hoses.

The threaded connectors on the hoses are handed to avoid accidental mis-connection: the thread on the oxygen hose is right-handed (as normal), while the fuel gas hose has a left-handed thread.[6] The left-handed threads also have an identifying groove cut into their nuts.

Gas-tight connections between the flexible hoses and rigid fittings are made by using crimped hose clips or ferrules, often referred to as 'O' clips, over barbed spigots. The use of worm-drive hose clips or Jubilee clips is specifically forbidden in the UK and other countries.[8]

Acetylene is not just flammable; in certain conditions it is explosive. Although it has an upper flammability limit in air of 81%,[9] acetylene's explosive decomposition behaviour makes this irrelevant. If a detonation wave enters the acetylene tank, the tank will be blown apart by the decomposition. Ordinary check valves that normally prevent back flow cannot stop a detonation wave because they are not capable of closing before the wave passes around the gate. For that reason a flashback arrestor is needed. It is designed to operate before the detonation wave makes it from the hose side to the supply side.

Between the regulator and hose, and ideally between hose and torch on both oxygen and fuel lines, a flashback arrestor and/or non-return valve (check valve) should be installed to prevent flame or oxygen-fuel mixture being pushed back into either cylinder and damaging the equipment or causing a cylinder to explode.

European practice is to fit flashback arrestors at the regulator and check valves at the torch. US practice is to fit both at the regulator.

The flashback arrestor (not to be confused with a check valve) prevents shock waves from downstream coming back up the hoses and entering the cylinder, possibly rupturing it, as there are quantities of fuel/oxygen mixtures inside parts of the equipment (specifically within the mixer and blowpipe/nozzle) that may explode if the equipment is incorrectly shut down, and acetylene decomposes at excessive pressures or temperatures. In case the pressure wave has created a leak downstream of the flashback arrestor, it will remain switched off until someone resets it.

A check valve lets gas flow in one direction only. It is usually a chamber containing a ball that is pressed against one end by a spring. Gas flow one way pushes the ball out of the way, and a lack of flow or a reverse flow allows the spring to push the ball into the inlet, blocking it. Not to be confused with a flashback arrestor, a check valve is not designed to block a shock wave. The shock wave could occur while the ball is so far from the inlet that the wave will get past the ball before it can reach its off position.

The torch is the tool that the welder holds and manipulates to make the weld. It has a connection and valve for the fuel gas and a connection and valve for the oxygen, a handle for the welder to grasp, and a mixing chamber (set at an angle) where the fuel gas and oxygen mix, with a tip where the flame forms. Two basic types of torches are positive pressure type and low pressure or injector type.

A welding torch head is used to weld metals. It can be identified by having only one or two pipes running to the nozzle, no oxygen-blast trigger, and two valve knobs at the bottom of the handle letting the operator adjust the oxygen and fuel flow respectively.

A cutting torch head is used to cut materials. It is similar to a welding torch, but can be identified by the oxygen blast trigger or lever.

When cutting, the metal is first heated by the flame until it is cherry red. Once this temperature is attained, oxygen is supplied to the heated parts by pressing the oxygen-blast trigger. This oxygen reacts with the metal, forming iron oxide and producing heat. It is the heat that continues the cutting process. The cutting torch only heats the metal to start the process; further heat is provided by the burning metal.

The melting point of the iron oxide is around half that of the metal being cut. As the metal burns, it immediately turns to liquid iron oxide and flows away from the cutting zone. However, some of the iron oxide remains on the workpiece, forming a hard "slag" which can be removed by gentle tapping and/or grinding.

A rose bud torch is used to heat metals for bending, straightening, etc. where a large area needs to be heated. It is so-called because the flame at the end looks like a rose bud. A welding torch can also be used to heat small areas such as rusted nuts and bolts.

A typical oxy-fuel torch, called an equal-pressure torch, merely mixes the two gases. In an injector torch, high-pressure oxygen comes out of a small nozzle inside the torch head which drags the fuel gas along with it, using the venturi effect.

Oxy-fuel processes may use a variety of fuel gases, the most common being acetylene. Other gases that may be used are propylene, liquified petroleum gas (LPG), propane, natural gas, hydrogen, and MAPP gas. Many brands use different kinds of gases in their mixes.

Acetylene is the primary fuel for oxy-fuel welding and is the fuel of choice for repair work and general cutting and welding. Acetylene gas is shipped in special cylinders designed to keep the gas dissolved. The cylinders are packed with porous materials (e.g. kapok fibre, diatomaceous earth, or (formerly) asbestos), then filled to around 50% capacity with acetone, as acetylene is soluble in acetone. This method is necessary because above 207 kPa (30 lbf/inÂ²) (absolute pressure) acetylene is unstable and may explode.

There is about 1700 kPa (250 psi) pressure in the tank when full. Acetylene when combined with oxygen burns at 3200 °C to 3500 °C (5800 °F to 6300 °F), highest among commonly used gaseous fuels. As a fuel acetylene's primary disadvantage, in comparison to other fuels, is high cost.

As acetylene is unstable at a pressure roughly equivalent to 33 feet/10 meters underwater, water submerged cutting and welding is reserved for hydrogen rather than acetylene.

Oxy-gasoline, also known as oxy-petrol, torches have been found to perform very well, especially where bottled gas fuel is not available or difficult to transport to the worksite. Tests showed that an oxy-gasoline torch can cut steel plate up to 0.5 in (13 mm) thick at the same rate as oxy-acetylene. In plate thicknesses greater than 0.5 in (13 mm) the cutting rate was better than oxy-acetylene; at 4.5 in (110 mm) it was three times faster.[10]

The gasoline is fed either from a pressurised tank (whose pressure can be hand-pumped or fed from a gas cylinder).[10] OR from a non pressurised tank with the fuel being drawn into the torch by venturi action by the pressurised oxygen flow. Another low cost approach commonly used by jewelry makers in Asia is using air bubbled through a gasoline container by a foot-operated air pump, and burning the fuel-air mixture in a specialized welding torch.

Hydrogen has a clean flame and is good for use on aluminium. It can be used at a higher pressure than acetylene and is therefore useful for underwater welding and cutting. It is a good type of flame to use when heating large amounts of material. The flame temperature is high, about 2,000 °C for hydrogen gas in air at atmospheric pressure,[11] and up to 2800 °C when pre-mixed in a 2:1 ratio with pure oxygen (oxyhydrogen). Hydrogen is not used for welding steels and other ferrous materials, because it causes hydrogen embrittlement.

For some oxyhydrogen torches the oxygen and hydrogen are produced by electrolysis of water in an apparatus which is connected directly to the torch. Types of this sort of torch:

Methylacetylene-propadiene (MAPP) gas and LPG gas are similar fuels, because LPG gas is liquefied petroleum gas mixed with MPS. It has the storage and shipping characteristics of LPG and has a heat value a little less than acetylene. Because it can be shipped in small containers for sale at retail stores, it is used by hobbyists and large industrial companies and shipyards because it does not polymerize at high pressures — above 15 psi or so (as acetylene does) and is therefore much less dangerous than acetylene. Further, more of it can be stored in a single place at one time, as the increased compressibility allows for more gas to be put into a tank. MAPP gas can be used at much higher pressures than acetylene, sometimes up to 40 or 50 psi in high-volume oxy-fuel cutting torches which can cut up to 12-inch-thick (300 mm) steel. Other welding gases that develop comparable temperatures need special procedures for safe shipping and handling. MPS and MAPP are recommended for cutting applications in particular, rather than welding applications.

On 31 April 2008 the Petromont Varennes plant closed its methylacetylene/propadiene crackers. As they were the only North American plant making MAPP gas, many substitutes were introduced by the companies who had repackaged the Dow and Varennes product(s) - most of these substitutes are propylene, see below.

Propylene is used in production welding and cutting. It cuts similarly to propane. When propylene is used, the torch rarely needs tip cleaning. There is often a substantial advantage to cutting with an injector torch (see the propane section) rather than an equal-pressure torch when using propylene. Quite a few North American suppliers have begun selling propylene under proprietary trademarks such as FG2 and Fuel-Max.

Butane, like propane, is a saturated hydrocarbon. Butane and propane do not react with each other and are regularly mixed. Butane boils at 0.6 °C. Propane is more volatile, with a boiling point of -42 °C. Vaporization is rapid at temperatures above the boiling points. The calorific (heat) values of both are almost equal. Both are thus mixed to attain the vapor pressure that is required by the end user and depending on the ambient conditions. If the ambient temperature is very low, propane is preferred to achieve higher vapor pressure at the given temperature.[citation needed]

Propane does not burn as hot as acetylene in its inner cone, and so it is rarely used for welding.[12] Propane, however, has a very high number of BTUs per cubic foot in its outer cone, and so with the right torch (injector style) can make a faster and cleaner cut than acetylene, and is much more useful for heating and bending than acetylene.

The maximum neutral flame temperature of propane in oxygen is 2,822 °C (5,112 °F).

Propane is cheaper than acetylene and easier to transport.[citation needed]

Oxygen is not the fuel. It is what chemically combines with the fuel to produce the heat for welding. This is called 'oxidation', but the more specific and more commonly used term in this context is 'combustion'. In the case of hydrogen, the product of combustion is simply water. For the other hydrocarbon fuels, water and carbon dioxide are produced. The heat is released because the molecules of the products of combustion have a lower energy state than the molecules of the fuel and oxygen. In oxy-fuel cutting, oxidation of the metal being cut (typically iron) produces nearly all of the heat required to "burn" through the workpiece.

Oxygen is usually produced elsewhere by distillation of liquefied air and shipped to the welding site in high-pressure vessels (commonly called "tanks" or "cylinders") at a pressure of about 21,000 kPa (3,000 lbf/in² = 200 atmospheres). It is also shipped as a liquid in Dewar type vessels (like a large Thermos jar) to places that use large amounts of oxygen.

It is also possible to separate oxygen from air by passing the air, under pressure, through a zeolite sieve that selectively adsorbs the nitrogen and lets the oxygen (and argon) pass. This gives a purity of oxygen of about 93%. This method works well for brazing, but higher-purity oxygen is necessary to produce a clean, slag-free kerf when cutting.

The welder can adjust the oxy-acetylene flame to be carbonizing (aka reducing), neutral, or oxidizing. Adjustment is made by adding more or less oxygen to the acetylene flame. The neutral flame is the flame most generally used when welding or cutting. The welder uses the neutral flame as the starting point for all other flame adjustments because it is so easily defined. This flame is attained when welders, as they slowly open the oxygen valve on the torch body, first see only two flame zones. At that point, the acetylene is being completely burned in the welding oxygen and surrounding air.[5] The flame is chemically neutral. The two parts of this flame are the light blue inner cone and the darker blue to colorless outer cone. The inner cone is where the acetylene and the oxygen combine. The tip of this inner cone is the hottest part of the flame. It is approximately 6,000 °F (3,300 °C) and provides enough heat to easily melt steel.[5] In the inner cone the acetylene breaks down and partly burns to hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which in the outer cone combine with more oxygen from the surrounding air and burn.

An excess of acetylene creates a carbonizing flame. This flame is characterized by three flame zones; the hot inner cone, a white-hot "acetylene feather", and the blue-colored outer cone. This is the type of flame observed when oxygen is first added to the burning acetylene. The feather is adjusted and made ever smaller by adding increasing amounts of oxygen to the flame. A welding feather is measured as 2X or 3X, with X being the length of the inner flame cone. The unburned carbon insulates the flame and drops the temperature to approximately 5,000 °F (2,800 °C). The reducing flame is typically used for hard facing operations or backhand pipe welding techniques. The feather is caused by incomplete combustion of the acetylene to cause an excess of carbon in the flame. Some of this carbon is dissolved by the molten metal to carbonize it. The carbonizing flame will tend to remove the oxygen from iron oxides which may be present, a fact which has caused the flame to be known as a "reducing flame".[5]

The oxidizing flame is the third possible flame adjustment. It occurs when the ratio of oxygen to acetylene required for a neutral flame has been changed to give an excess of oxygen. This flame type is observed when welders add more oxygen to the neutral flame. This flame is hotter than the other two flames because the combustible gases will not have to search so far to find the necessary amount of oxygen, nor heat up as much thermally inert carbon.[5] It is called an oxidizing flame because of its effect on metal. This flame adjustment is generally not preferred. The oxidizing flame creates undesirable oxides to the structural and mechanical detriment of most metals. In an oxidizing flame, the inner cone acquires a purplish tinge, gets pinched and smaller at the tip, and the sound of the flame gets harsh. A slightly oxidizing flame is used in braze-welding and bronze-surfacing while a more strongly oxidizing flame is used in fusion welding certain brasses and bronzes[5]

The size of the flame can be adjusted to a limited extent by the valves on the torch and by the regulator settings, but in the main it depends on the size of the orifice in the tip. In fact, the tip should be chosen first according to the job at hand, and then the regulators set accordingly.

The flame is applied to the base metal and held until a small puddle of molten metal is formed. The puddle is moved along the path where the weld bead is desired. Usually, more metal is added to the puddle as it is moved along by dipping metal from a welding rod or filler rod into the molten metal puddle. The metal puddle will travel towards where the metal is the hottest. This is accomplished through torch manipulation by the welder.

The amount of heat applied to the metal is a function of the welding tip size, the speed of travel, and the welding position. The flame size is determined by the welding tip size. The proper tip size is determined by the metal thickness and the joint design.

Welding gas pressures using oxy-acetylene are set in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations. The welder will modify the speed of welding travel to maintain a uniform bead width. Uniformity is a quality attribute indicating good workmanship. Trained welders are taught to keep the bead the same size at the beginning of the weld as at the end. If the bead gets too wide, the welder increases the speed of welding travel. If the bead gets too narrow or if the weld puddle is lost, the welder slows down the speed of travel. Welding in the vertical or overhead positions is typically slower than welding in the flat or horizontal positions.

The welder must add the filler rod to the molten puddle. The welder must also keep the filler metal in the hot outer flame zone when not adding it to the puddle to protect filler metal from oxidation. Do not let the welding flame burn off the filler metal. The metal will not wet into the base metal and will look like a series of cold dots on the base metal. There is very little strength in a cold weld. When the filler metal is properly added to the molten puddle, the resulting weld will be stronger than the original base metal.

Welding lead or 'lead burning' was much more common in the 19th century to make some pipe connections and tanks. Great skill is required but can be quickly learned.[13] In building construction today some lead flashing is welded but soldered copper flashing is much more common in America. In the automotive body collision industry before the 1980s, oxyacetylene gas torch welding was seldom used to weld sheetmetal, since warpage was a byproduct besides the excess heat. Automotive body repair methods at the time were crude and yielded improprieties until MIG welding became the industry standard. Since the 1970s, when high strength steel became the standard for automotive manufacturing, electric welding became the preferred method. After the 1980s, the oxyacetylene torch fell out of use for sheetmetal welding in the industrialized world.

For cutting, the setup is a little different. A cutting torch has a 60- or 90-degree angled head with orifices placed around a central jet. The outer jets are for preheat flames of oxygen and acetylene. The central jet carries only oxygen for cutting. The use of several preheating flames rather than a single flame makes it possible to change the direction of the cut as desired without changing the position of the nozzle or the angle which the torch makes with the direction of the cut, as well as giving a better preheat balance.[5] Manufacturers have developed custom tips for Mapp, propane, and polypropylene gases to optimize the flames from these alternate fuel gases.

The flame is not intended to melt the metal, but to bring it to its ignition temperature.

The torch's trigger blows extra oxygen at higher pressures down the torch's third tube out of the central jet into the workpiece, causing the metal to burn and blowing the resulting molten oxide through to the other side. The ideal kerf is a narrow gap with a sharp edge on either side of the workpiece; overheating the workpiece and thus melting through it causes a rounded edge.

Cutting is initiated by heating the edge or leading face (as in cutting shapes such as round rod) of the steel to the ignition temperature (approximately bright cherry red heat) using the pre-heat jets only, then using the separate cutting oxygen valve to release the oxygen from the central jet.[5] The oxygen chemically combines with the iron in the ferrous material to oxidize the iron quickly into molten iron oxide, producing the cut. Initiating a cut in the middle of a workpiece is known as piercing.

It is worth noting several things at this point:

For a basic oxy-acetylene rig, the cutting speed in light steel section will usually be nearly twice as fast as a petrol-driven cut-off grinder. The advantages when cutting large sections are obvious: an oxy-fuel torch is light, small and quiet and needs very little effort to use, whereas a cut-off grinder is heavy and noisy and needs considerable operator exertion and may vibrate severely, leading to stiff hands and possible long-term vibration white finger. Oxy-acetylene torches can easily cut through ferrous materials in excess of 200 mm (8 inches). Oxygen lances are used in scrapping operations and cut sections thicker than 200 mm (8 inches). Cut-off grinders are useless for these kinds of application.

Robotic oxy-fuel cutters sometimes use a high-speed divergent nozzle. This uses an oxygen jet that opens slightly along its passage. This allows the compressed oxygen to expand as it leaves, forming a high-velocity jet that spreads less than a parallel-bore nozzle, allowing a cleaner cut. These are not used for cutting by hand since they need very accurate positioning above the work. Their ability to produce almost any shape from large steel plates gives them a secure future in shipbuilding and in many other industries.

Oxy-propane torches are usually used for cutting up scrap to save money, as LPG is far cheaper joule for joule than acetylene, although propane does not produce acetylene's very neat cut profile. Propane also finds a place in production, for cutting very large sections.

Oxy-acetylene can cut only low- to medium-carbon steels and wrought iron. High-carbon steels are difficult to cut because the melting point of the slag is closer to the melting point of the parent metal, so that the slag from the cutting action does not eject as sparks but rather mixes with the clean melt near the cut. This keeps the oxygen from reaching the clean metal and burning it. In the case of cast iron, graphite between the grains and the shape of the grains themselves interfere with the cutting action of the torch. Stainless steels cannot be cut either because the material does not burn readily.[14]

Oxyacetylene welding/cutting is not difficult, but there are a good number of subtle safety points that should be learned such as:

Proper protection such as welding goggles should be worn at all times, including to protect the eyes against glare and flying sparks. Special safety eyewear must be used—both to protect the welder and to provide a clear view through the yellow-orange flare given off by the incandescing flux. In the 1940s cobalt melters’ glasses were borrowed from steel foundries and were still available until the 1980s. However, the lack of protection from impact, ultra-violet, infrared and blue light caused severe eyestrain and eye damage. Didymium eyewear, developed for glassblowers in the 1960s, was also borrowed—until many complained of eye problems from excessive infrared, blue light, and insufficient shading. Today very good eye protection can be found designed especially for gas-welding aluminum that cuts the sodium orange flare completely and provides the necessary protection from ultraviolet, infrared, blue light and impact, according to ANSI Z87-1989 safety standards for a Special Purpose Lens.[15]

Fuel gases that are denser than air (Propane, Propylene, MAPP, Butane, etc...), may collect in low areas if allowed to escape. To avoid an ignition hazard, special care should be taken when using these gases over areas such as basements, sinks, storm drains, etc. In addition, leaking fittings may catch fire during use and pose a risk to personnel as well as property.

When using fuel and oxygen tanks they should be fastened securely upright to a wall or a post or a portable cart. An oxygen tank is especially dangerous for the reason that the oxygen is at a pressure of 21 MPa (3000 lbf/in² = 200 atmospheres) when full, and if the tank falls over and its valve strikes something and is knocked off, the tank will effectively become an extremely deadly flying missile propelled by the compressed oxygen, capable of even breaking through a brick wall.[16] For this reason, never move an oxygen tank around without its valve cap screwed in place.

On an oxyacetylene torch system there will be three types of valves, the tank valve, the regulator valve, and the torch valve. There will be a set of these three valves for each gas. The gas in the tanks or cylinders is at high pressure. Oxygen cylinders are generally filled to approximately 2200 psi. The regulator converts the high pressure gas to a low pressure stream suitable for welding. Acetylene cylinders must be maintained in an upright position to prevent the internal acetone and acetylene from separating in the filler material.[17]

A less obvious hazard of welding is exposure to harmful chemicals. Exposure to certain metals, metal oxides, or carbon monoxide can often lead to severe medical conditions. Damaging chemicals can be produced from the fuel, from the work-piece, or from a protective coating on the work-piece. By increasing ventilation around the welding environment, the welders will have much less exposure to harmful chemicals from any source.

The most common fuel used in welding is acetylene, which has a two-stage reaction. The primary chemical reaction involves the acetylene disassociating in the presence of oxygen to produce heat, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen gas: C2H2 + O2 â†’ 2CO + H2. A secondary reaction follows where the carbon monoxide and hydrogen combine with more oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water vapor. When the secondary reaction does not burn all of the reactants from the primary reaction, the welding process can produce large amounts of carbon monoxide, and it often does. Carbon monoxide is also the byproduct of many other incomplete fuel reactions.

Almost every piece of metal is an alloy of one type or another. Copper, aluminium, and other base metals are occasionally alloyed with beryllium, which is a highly toxic metal. When a metal like this is welded or cut, high concentrations of toxic beryllium fumes are released. Long-term exposure to beryllium may result in shortness of breath, chronic cough, and significant weight loss, accompanied by fatigue and general weakness. Other alloying elements such as arsenic, manganese, silver, and aluminium can cause sickness to those who are exposed.

More common are the anti-rust coatings on many manufactured metal components. Zinc, cadmium, and fluorides are often used to protect irons and steels from oxidizing. Galvanized metals have a very heavy zinc coating. Exposure to zinc oxide fumes can lead to a sickness named "metal fume fever". This condition rarely lasts longer than 24 hours, but severe cases can be fatal.[18] Not unlike common influenza, fevers, chills, nausea, cough, and fatigue are common effects of high zinc oxide exposure.

Flashback is the condition of the flame propagating down the hoses of an oxy-fuel welding and cutting system. To prevent such a situation a flashback arrestor is usually employed.[19] The flame burns backwards into the hose, causing a popping or squealing noise. It can cause an explosion in the hose with the potential to injure or kill the operator. Using a lower pressure than recommended can cause a flashback.


when did the raiders move to los angeles

Prior to the 1980 season, Al Davis attempted unsuccessfully to have improvements made to the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, specifically the addition of luxury boxes. That year, he signed a Memorandum of Agreement to move the Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles. The move, which required three-fourths approval by league owners, was defeated 22–0 (with five owners abstaining). When Davis tried to move the team anyway, he was blocked by an injunction. In response, the Raiders not only became an active partner in an antitrust lawsuit filed by the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (who had recently lost the Los Angeles Rams), but filed an antitrust lawsuit of their own.[1] After the first case was declared a mistrial, in May 1982 a second jury found in favor of Davis and the Los Angeles Coliseum, clearing the way for the move.[2][3][4] With the ruling, the Raiders finally relocated to Los Angeles for the 1982 season to play their home games at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

History of the Los Angeles Raiders

National Football League (1982â€“1994)

Silver, Black

League championships (1)

Conference championships (1)

Division championships (4)

The professional American football team now known as the Oakland Raiders played in Los Angeles, California from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland. This article chronicles the team's history during their time as the Los Angeles Raiders.

The team finished 8–1 in the strike-shortened 1982 season, first in the AFC, but lost in the second round of the playoffs to the New York Jets. The following season, the team finished 12–4 and won convincingly against the Steelers and Seattle Seahawks in the AFC playoffs. Against the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII, the Raiders built a 21–3 halftime lead en route to a 38–9 victory and their third NFL championship. The team had another successful regular season in 1984, finishing 11–5, but a three-game losing streak forced them to enter the playoffs as a wildcard, where they fell to the Seahawks. The 1985 campaign saw 12 wins and a division title, but that was followed by an embarrassing home loss to the Patriots.

The Raiders' fortunes declined after that, and from 1986 through 1989, the team finished no better than 8–8 and posted consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 1961–62. Also 1986 saw Al Davis get into a widely publicized argument with RB Marcus Allen, whom he accused of faking injuries. The feud continued into 1987, and Davis retaliating by signing Bo Jackson in Allen's place. However, Jackson was also a left fielder for the Kansas City Royals, and could not play full-time until baseball season ended in October. Even worse, another strike cost the NFL one game and prompted them to use substitute players. The Raiders fill-ins achieved a 1–2 record before the regular team returned. After a weak 5–10 finish, Tom Flores moved to the front office and was replaced by Denver Broncos offensive assistant coach Mike Shanahan. Shanahan led the team to a 7–9 season in 1988, and Allen and Jackson continued to trade places as the starting RB. Low game attendance and fan apathy were evident by this point, and In the summer of 1988, rumors of a Raiders return to Oakland intensified when a preseason game against the Houston Oilers was scheduled at Oakland Coliseum.[5]

As early as 1986, Davis began to seek a new, more modern stadium away from the Coliseum and the dangerous neighborhood that surrounded it at the time (which caused the NFL to schedule the Raiders' Monday Night Football appearances as away games). In addition to sharing the venue with the USC Trojans, the Coliseum was aging and still lacked the luxury suites and other amenities that Davis was promised when he moved the Raiders to Los Angeles.[6] Finally, the Coliseum had 100,000 seats and was rarely able to fill all of them, and so most Raiders home games were blacked out on television. In August 1987, it was announced that the city of Irwindale paid Davis $10 million as a good-faith deposit for a prospective stadium site.[7] When the bid failed, Davis kept the non-refundable deposit.[8][9]

Negotiations between Davis and Oakland commenced in January 1989, and on March 11, 1990, Davis announced his intention to bring the Raiders back to Oakland.[10] By September 1990, however, numerous delays had prevented the completion of the deal between Davis and Oakland. On September 11, Davis announced a new deal to stay in Los Angeles, leading many fans in Oakland to burn Raiders paraphernalia in disgust.[11][12]

After starting the 1989 season with a 1–3 record, Shanahan was fired by Davis, which began a long-standing feud between the two.[13] He was replaced by former Raider offensive lineman Art Shell, who had been voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame earlier in the year. With the hiring, Shell became the first African American head coach in the modern NFL era, but the team still finished a middling 8–8.[14] In 1990, Shell led Los Angeles to a 12–4 record. They beat the Bengals in the divisional round of the playoffs, but Bo Jackson had his left femur ripped from the socket after a tackle. Without him, the Raiders were crushed in the AFC Championship by the Buffalo Bills. Jackson was forced to quit football as a result, although surgery allowed him to continue playing baseball until he retired in 1994.

The team's fortunes faded after the loss. They made two other playoff appearances during the 1990s, and finished higher than third place only three times. The Todd Marinovich fiasco overshadowed the Raiders' 1991 and 1992 efforts. Marinovich was groomed from childhood to play football; his strict upbringing led to him being called "Robo QB" in the sports press. He attended USC and was the 24th overall pick in the 1991 draft. However, he struggled on field and was cut after the 1992 season due to repeated substance abuse problems. In 1991, they got into the postseason as a wild card after a 9–7 regular season, but fell to Kansas City. 1992 saw them drop to 7–9. This period was marked by the injury of Jackson in 1991, the failure of troubled quarterback Todd Marinovich, the acrimonious departure of Marcus Allen in 1993, and the retirement of Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long after the 1993 season, where the Raiders went 10–6 and lost to Buffalo in the divisional round of the playoffs. Shell was fired after posting a 9–7 record in the 1994 season.

Shell's five-plus-year tenure as head coach in Los Angeles was marked particularly by a bitter dispute between star running back Marcus Allen and Al Davis. The exact source of the friction is completely unknown but a contract dispute led Davis to refer to Allen as "a cancer on the team."[15] By the late 1980s, injuries began to reduce Allen's role in the offense. This role was reduced further in 1987, when the Raiders drafted Bo Jacksonâ€”even though he originally decided to not play professional football in 1986 (when drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first round).[16] By 1990, Allen had dropped to fourth on the team's depth chart, leading to resentment on the part of his teammates. In late 1992 Allen lashed out publicly at Davis, and accused him of trying to ruin his career.[17][18] In 1993, Allen left to play for the rival Kansas City Chiefs.

In May 1995 after the departure of the Rams' for St. Louis, the owners of the National Football League teams approved with a 27â€“1 vote with two abstentions, a resolution supporting a plan to build a $200 million, privately financed stadium on property owned by Hollywood Park in Inglewood for the Raiders. Al Davis balked and refused the deal over a stipulation that he would have to accept a second team at the stadium.[19]

On June 23, 1995, Davis signed a letter of intent to move the Raiders back to Oakland. The move was approved by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors the next month,[20] as well as by the NFL. The move was greeted with much fanfare,[21] and under new head coach Mike White. Hollywood Park would later become the site of an NFL Stadium for their former rivals, the Los Angeles Rams, set to open in 2020.

On February 19, 2015, the Raiders and the Chargers announced that they would build a privately financed $1.78 billion stadium in Carson, California if they were to move to the Los Angeles market.[22] Both teams stated that they would continue to attempt to get stadiums built in their respective cities.[23]

On April 22, 2015, the Carson City Council bypassed the option to put the stadium to public vote and approved the plan 3â€“0.[24] The council voted without having clarified several issues, including who would finance the stadium, how the required three-way land swap would be performed, and how it would raise enough revenue if only one team moved in as tenant.[25][26]

On May 19, 2015, the Chargers and Raiders announced that they had finalized a deal to secure land in Carson which was transferred to a joint powers authority in Carson after the 157-acre site was purchased by Carson Holdings a company set up by the two teams.[27]

The League was skeptical of the site and seemed to prefer the Rams' stadium plan on a site at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, the same place rejected by the Raiders in 1995. In response, Jerry Richardson, owner of the Carolina Panthers, who supported the plan, convinced Dean Spanos to recruit Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company. Iger was appointed non-executive chairman of the Carson stadium project.[28]

On January 4, 2016, the Raiders filed for relocation alongside the Chargers and Rams.[29][30]

Despite the sales pitch from Bob Iger, many owners held reservations about the Carson site, with Jerry Jones even making a wise crack about Bob Iger.[31] The Committee set up by the league initially recommended the Carson Site,[32] but the Chargers and Raiders were unable to secure the votes they needed to move. After hours of debate, the league voted to allow the St. Louis Rams to move on January 12, 2016 with the San Diego Chargers having the option to join them within a year.

It was still possible, however, for the Raiders to move as they could have moved into the Rams' new stadium in Inglewood with the Rams if the Chargers opted to stay in San Diego.[33] On January 12, 2017 the Chargers opted to join the Rams in Los Angeles thereby closing the door on the return of the Raiders to the city although with an AFC West rival playing in Los Angeles, the Raiders get at least one game in Los Angeles each season playing the Los Angeles Chargers.[34]

The Raiders time in Los Angeles had a large cultural impact on both the Raiders and Los Angeles. During and due to the time that the Raiders were in L.A. there was an explosion of popularity in both the team and the Raiders brand due to being in America's second largest media market, the team's early success and the exposure the brand got by way of Hollywood celebrities and most notably the gangsta rap group N.W.A. wearing Raider gear. This period is chronicled by the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary Straight Outta L.A.. This period is also considered by many to have been the beginnings of Raider Nation.

Today Los Angeles and Southern California continue to have a vary large number of Raider fans. Many after the Raiders left LA began to travel to Oakland to see the Raiders play. The Southern California fans are considered essential to the Raiders approved and planned relocation to Las Vegas being successful.


who sang don't stop believing 2008 version

Revelation is the thirteenth studio album by American rock band Journey, and their first with lead singer Arnel Pineda.[3] It features 11 new songs ("Faith in the Heartland" was previously recorded with Steve Augeri), 11 re-recorded greatest hits (all featuring Pineda) and a DVD (North American version only) featuring the current lineup's March 8, 2008 concert in Las Vegas, Nevada. Three singles penned by Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain were released to radio: the distinctively Journey-sounding "Never Walk Away," "Where Did I Lose Your Love," and the power ballads "After All These Years." and "Where Did I Lose Your Love" both found success on the adult contemporary charts. "Where Did I Lose Your Love" peaked at No. 19, while "After All These Years" peaked at No. 9 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart and stayed on the charts for over 23 weeks.

Revelation (Journey album)

On May 14, 2008, MelodicRock.com reported that Journey and Frontiers Records agreed to add "an exclusive original bonus track, "Let It Take You Back", a mid-tempo rocker, to the European release to close the album.[4]

On its first week of release, Revelation sold over 105,000 copies, marking a 1,400% increase over the first week sales of the band's 2005 release Generations.[5] The album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Independent Albums chart, No. 2 on Billboard Rock Album chart, and No. 5 on the Billboard 200, where it remained for 42 weeks.[6] The album was not only a huge success in the United States, but also reached the charts in 9 different countries.

Revelation was nominated for Album of the Year in Classic Rock Magazine's annual poll.

On December 18, 2008, the album was certified platinum by the RIAA,[7] making it Journey's first such certification since their 1996 album Trial by Fire.[7] According to Nielsen Soundscan, Revelation has sold more than 800,000 copies in the U.S. as of November 2009.[5]

Revelation was recorded throughout early 2008 at The Plant in Sausalito, California by John Neff.

The album was released in the U.S. on June 3, 2008 by Nomota LLC (Schon's personal recording label) exclusively through Wal-Mart,[8] and in Europe on June 6, 2008 through Frontiers Records.[9] In addition, Wal-Mart also released a limited-edition ZVUE 1-gigabyte MP3 player pre-loaded with discs 1â€“2 of Revelation.[10]

The album was produced by Kevin Shirley, who also produced Trial by Fire and Arrival. It has a much more modern feel than Journey's previous work, however, featuring Schon's guitars having a different sound and set high in the mix. In songs such as "Don't Stop Believin'", which features two rhythm parts simultaneously, one will be sent to the left channel, and the other to the right to help simulate the feel of having two guitarists. Deen Castronovo's loud drum playing is also heard.[original research?]


where does the name digestive biscuit come from

McVitie & Price's first major biscuit was the McVitie's Digestive, created in 1892 by a new young employee at the company named Alexander Grant.[7] The biscuit was given its name because it was thought that its high baking soda content served as an aid to food digestion.[7] Grant was later to become managing director of the company, in 1923 he was the main benefactor in the establishing the National Library of Scotland giving an endowment of £100,000. Grant donated a further £100,000 in 1928 to assist with the building of the National Library premises on George IV Bridge in Edinburgh.[8]

McVitie's

McVitie's is a British snack food brand owned by United Biscuits. The name derives from the original Scottish biscuit maker, McVitie & Price, Ltd., established in 1830 on Rose Street in Edinburgh, Scotland. The company moved to various sites in the city before completing the St. Andrews Biscuit Works factory on Robertson Avenue in the Gorgie district in 1888.[1] The company also established one in Glasgow and two large manufacturing plants south of the border in Levenshulme, Manchester / Heaton Chapel, Stockport and Harlesden, London.

Robert McVitie had two biscuit works at the head of Leith Walk in Edinburgh in 1870: 12 Antigua Street and 2 East London Street. McVitie lived nearby in a flat at 76 Broughton Street.[3]

The established Edinburgh biscuit company of Robert McVitie was joined in 1875 by Charles Edward Price to create McVitie & Price. On the death of Robert senior, Robert McVitie junior joined and the firm expanded. In 1888 they built the huge St Andrews Biscuit Works on Robertson Avenue in the Gorgie district of south-west Edinburgh.[4]

Though the original Gorgie factory burned down in 1894, it was rebuilt the same year and remained operative until 1969, when production ceased and operations were transferred to the English sites which had been established at Harlesden in 1910 and Manchester in 1917. The firm acquired the Edinburgh bakery of Simon Henderson & Sons in 1922.[1] McVitie & Price merged with another Scottish bakery company, Macfarlane, Lang & Co., Ltd, in 1948 to become United Biscuits Group.[5]

McVitie's brand products are now manufactured in five United Kingdom factories: the two former McVitie & Price factories in Harlesden and Manchester, a former Macfarlane, Lang & Co. factory named Victoria Biscuit Works in Glasgow, a former Carr's factory named The Biscuit Works established 1831 in Carlisle, and the McVitieâ€™s Cake Co. factory (formerly Riley's Toffee Works) in Halifax.[6]

The McVitie's Chocolate Homewheat Digestive was created in 1925. Over 71 million packets of McVitie's chocolate digestives are eaten in the United Kingdom each year, giving an average of 52 biscuits per second.[9] HobNobs were launched in 1985 and a milk chocolate variant followed in 1987.[7] Launched in 1927, Jaffa Cakes were ranked the best selling cake or biscuit in the UK in 2012.[10]

In 1947 McVitie & Price made the wedding cake for Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten.[11]

Some of the products in the McVitie's line were rebranded McV in 2002, but this was replaced in 2005 with a restyled version of the McVitie's brand logo. In 2007, United Biscuits licensed the McVitie's brand to Meiji Seika Kaisha Ltd for biscuit production in Japan.[12]

The best selling biscuit brand in the UK, McVitie's biscuits are the most popular biscuits to dunk in tea, with McVitie's chocolate digestives, Rich tea and Hobnobs ranked the nation's top three favourite biscuits in 2009.[13]

In March 2011, it was announced that Prince William had chosen a groom's cake for his wedding reception, made from 1,700 McVitie's Rich tea biscuits and 17 kg (37 lb) of chocolate.[14]

In June 2014 McVities announced their intention to make 157 shop floor roles redundant at their Manchester manufacturing facility.[15] This redundancy announcement was also due to the modernisation agenda of the company and also involves a move from an 8-hour 5 day operation, to a 12-hour 7 day operation.

In November 2014 United Biscuits - and hence also McVitie's - became owned by Turkish company Yildiz [16] which in 2016 grouped some of its subsidiaries including United Biscuits as pladis (see United Biscuits).


what is the largest county in population in tennessee

As of 2010, Shelby County was both Tennessee's most populous county, with 927,644 residents, and the largest county in area, covering an area of 755 sq mi (1,955 km2). The least populous county was Pickett County (4,945) and the smallest in area was Trousdale County, covering 114 sq mi (295 km2). As of the same year, Davidson County, in which the capital Nashville is located, covers 502 sq mi (1,300 km2) with a population of 569,891. The population of the state of Tennessee as of the 2000 census was 5,689,283 in an area of 42,169 sq mi (109,217 km2).[1][2][3] The oldest county is Washington County, founded in 1777. The most recently formed county is Chester County (1879).[1]

List of counties in Tennessee

This is a list of the 95 counties in the State of Tennessee. A county is a local level of government smaller than a state and typically larger than a city or town, in a U.S. state or territory.

According to the 2000 census, the center of population for Tennessee was located at 35°47′45″N 86°23′52″W / 35.795862°N 86.397772°W / 35.795862; -86.397772, 2.5 mi (4.0 km) south of Murfreesboro in Rutherford County.[4] The center of population pinpoints the location at which the population of the state, as placed on a map of the state where they reside, would balance out the map. The geographic center, the point where the map of Tennessee would balance without the population, is located 5 mi (8 km) northeast of Murfreesboro. In 1976, the Rutherford County Historical Society marked the geographic center of Tennessee with an obelisk.[5]

Some of the counties were formed in part or completely from lands previously controlled by American Indians. The "Indian lands" were territories that American Indians had occupied from pre-Columbian times and to which they were granted the legal right of occupancy in an act of the United States government. In cases where counties had been formed from that territory, the legal right of American Indian occupancy was revoked in a federal act prior to the formal establishment of the county.[6] For Tennessee, ten treaties were negotiated between 1770 and 1835, defining the areas assigned to European settlers and to American Indians, regulating the right of occupancy regarding the lands. The remaining indigenous population was eventually removed from Tennessee to what became the state of Oklahoma.[7]

The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code, which is used by the United States government to uniquely identify counties, is provided with each entry. FIPS codes are five-digit numbers; for Tennessee the codes start with 47 and are completed with the three-digit county code. The FIPS code for each county in the table links to census data for that county.[8]

There are two defunct counties in Tennessee:

Three Tennessee counties operate under consolidated city–county governments, a city and county that have been merged into one jurisdiction. As such, these governments are simultaneously a city, which is a municipal corporation, and a county, which is an administrative division of a state.


who plays jack on secret life of the american teenager

Gregory P. Finley II (born December 22, 1984) in Portland, Maine, is an American actor, best known for his role as Jack Pappas in the teenage drama series The Secret Life of the American Teenager as well as Drake in the series Star Crossed, iZombie and Girder in The Flash.

Greg Finley

Finley is best known for his role as Jack Pappas, on The Secret Life Of The American Teenager.[1] In February 2010, Finley was cast in the Dark Sky Films thriller Hypothermia, directed by James Felix McKenney.[2]


when was victoria established as a settlement & by whom

Victoria's first successful British settlement was at Portland, on the west coast of what is now Victoria. Portland was settled on 19 November 1834[18] by the Henty family, who were originally farmers from Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). When Major Thomas Mitchell led an expedition to the region from Sydney in 1835, arriving at Portland in August 1836, he was surprised to find a small but prosperous community living off the fertile farmland.

History of Victoria

This article describes the history of the Australian colony and state of Victoria.

Until 1851 the area was part of New South Wales, then from 1851 until 1901 it was the Colony of Victoria, with its own government within the British Empire. In 1901 it became a state of the new Commonwealth of Australia.

The state of Victoria was originally home to many indigenous nations that had occupied the land for tens of thousands of years.[1] According to Gary Presland Aborigines have lived in Victoria for about 40,000 years,[2] living a semi-nomadic existence of fishing, hunting and gathering, and farming eels.[3]

At the Keilor Archaeological Site a human hearth excavated in 1971 was radiocarbon-dated to about 31,000 years BP, making Keilor one of the earliest sites of human habitation in Australia.[4] A cranium found at the site has been dated at between 12,000[5] and 14,700 years BP.[4]

Archaeological sites in Tasmania and on the Bass Strait Islands have been dated to between 20,000 â€“ 35,000 years ago, when sea levels were 130 metres below present level allowing Aborigines to move across the region of southern Victoria and on to the land bridge of the Bassian plain to Tasmania by at least 35,000 years ago.[6][7]

During the Ice Age about 20,000 years BP, the area now the bay of Port Phillip would have been dry land, and the Yarra and Werribee river would have joined to flow through the heads then south and south west through the Bassian plain before meeting the ocean to the west. Tasmania and the Bass Strait islands became separated from mainland Australia around 12,000 BP, when the sea level was approximately 50m below present levels.[8] Port Phillip was flooded by post-glacial rising sea levels between 8000 and 6000 years ago.[9]

Oral history and creation stories from the Wada wurrung, Woiwurrung and Bun wurrung languages describe the flooding of the bay. Hobsons Bay was once a kangaroo hunting ground. Creation stories describe how Bunjil was responsible for the formation of the bay,[7] or the bay was flooded when the Yarra river was created (Yarra Creation Story.[10])

Coming from New Zealand in 1770, Lieutenant James Cook in HM Bark Endeavour sighted land at Point Hicks, about 70Â km west of Gabo Island, before turning east and north to follow the coast of Australia.

Ships sailing from the United Kingdom to Sydney crossed the Indian Ocean and Southern Ocean, sailing around Van Diemen's Land before turning north to their destination. Several captains viewed the expanse of water between Van Diemen's Land and the east coast of New South Wales and wondered whether it was a large bay or a strait. Survivors of Sydney Cove, wrecked in the Furneaux Group of islands, also thought it might be a strait.

To clear up the question, Governor John Hunter sent George Bass to explore thoroughly the coast in a whaleboat. After reaching Wilsons Promontory and Western Port in January 1798 bad weather and lack of provisions forced him to return to Sydney. Bass returned with Matthew Flinders in December 1798 in the Norfolk and sailed through the strait, proving its existence.

In December 1800, Lieutenant James Grant in HMSÂ Lady Nelson, on way from Cape Town to Sydney, sailed through Bass Strait from west to east. Governor King, disappointed at the vagueness of Grant's chart, sent him back to survey the strait more thoroughly. Bad weather prevented him from proceeding beyond Western Port, where he stayed for five weeks, planting wheat, Indian corn. peas, rice, coffee and potatoes on Churchill Island off Phillip Island.[11]

In 1801 Harbinger, under John Black, was the second vessel to sail through Bass Strait on route to Port Jackson. She reached the coast near Cape Otway on 1 January 1801, then veered sharply south-west to the north-western tip of Governor King's Island (now King Island), which Black named after the Governor of New South Wales, Philip Gidley King. She then sailed easterly towards Wilsons Promontory. Proceeding around the tip of the promontory, Black discovered the Hogan Group, which he named after the ship's owner Michael Hogan. The Harbinger arrived in Port Jackson on 12 January 1801.[12]

In January 1802 Lieutenant John Murray in the Lady Nelson visited Western Port and entered Port Phillip on 14 February. He named Arthur's Seat, explored Corio Bay and formally took possession of the bay (which he named Port King) for Britain.

Three weeks later the French explorer Nicolas Baudin sailed through the strait from east to west and was the first to properly survey the coast to the west. In April 1802, a French expedition ship Le Naturaliste under Jacques Hamelin explored the area around French Island, as part of the Baudin expedition to Australia. It named the island Ile des Français, since Anglicised as French Island.

On 26 April 1802, Flinders, unaware of Murray's visit, entered Port Phillip in Investigator, climbed Arthur's Seat, rowed to Mornington and across to the Bellarine Peninsula and climbed the You Yangs.

In January 1803 Acting-Lieutenant Charles Robbins in the schooner HMSÂ Cumberland sailed right around Port Phillip. With him were acting surveyor-general Charles Grimes, Mr James Meehan and gardener James Fleming.[13] At the head of the bay they found a river and followed it upstream where it soon divided. They followed the western branch and named it the Saltwater River (the present Maribyrnong) to what is now Braybrook, and then the eastern fresh-water branch (the Yarra) to Dights Falls. They had a friendly meeting with local Aborigines and returned to their ship via Corio Bay. They concluded that the best site for a settlement would be on the freshwater at the northern head of the bay, but were unenthusiastic about the soil and its agricultural potential.

With Britain involved in the French revolutionary wars, Governor King was concerned that Bass Strait could harbour enemy raiders, and that in peace time it could provide an important trade route and trading base. The appearance of Baudin's ships served to reinforce the concern that France was interested in the area. King was also looking for an alternative settlement for the increasing number of convicts in Sydney and to reduce the pressure on food resources. Port Phillip, with a favourable climate and rich fishing and sealing resources, seemed an ideal location for another settlement.

A full description of Murray's and Flinders' discoveries, together with King's thoughts on settlement, but not Grimes' report, reached England just as HMSÂ Calcutta was being prepared to send a shipload of convicts to Sydney. In February 1803, Lord Hobart the Secretary of State changed the destination to Port Phillip. On 24 April 1803, HMS Calcutta, commanded by Captain Daniel Woodriff, with Lieutenant-Colonel David Collins as commander of the expedition, left England accompanied by the store-ship Ocean. The expedition consisted of 402 people: 5 Government officials, 9 officers of marines, 2 drummers, and 39 privates, 5 soldiers' wives, and a child, 307 convicts, 17 convicts' wives, and 7 children[14] One of the children was the eleven-year-old John Pascoe Fawkner, later a founder of Melbourne, who accompanied his convicted father and mother.

The party entered Port Phillip on 9 October 1803 and chose a site at Sullivan Bay near present-day Sorrento.

Collins was soon disappointed with the area. Reports from exploring parties led by Lieutenant James Tuckey and surveyor George Harris described strong currents, sandy soil, poor timber, swampy land and scarce fresh water. They also clashed with the Wathaurung people near Corio Bay, killing their leader â€“ the first Aborigines known to have been killed by settlers in Victoria.

Collins reported his criticisms to Governor King, who supported him and recommended moving the settlement. On 18 December Calcutta departed for Port Jackson, and the party was prepared for evacuation. This was achieved in two voyages of Ocean in January and May 1804, assisted by the HMSÂ Lady Nelson which had been surveying Port Dalrymple on the north coast of Van Diemens Land. The party was transferred to the fledgling settlement of Hobart, founded by Lieutenant John Bowen as a penal colony at Risdon Cove in September 1803.

The brief settlement at Sorrento achieved little and left only a few relics for modern tourists to observe. Collins has been criticised for not investigating the bay thoroughly, in particular the northern head with its fresh-water river, and for being too hasty in his condemnation of the bay. The site of the settlement is now a reserve incorporating four graves from the period.[15][16]

When Collins departed, several convicts – who had escaped when they heard the colony was leaving for Van Diemen's Land – were left behind. They were presumed killed by Aborigines. However, William Buckley survived, meeting Wathaurong people on the Bellarine Peninsula and living with them for the next 32 years. (In 1835 he became aware of John Batman's Port Phillip Association camp and reintroduced himself to Europeans.)[17]

For the next thirty years a few sealers and whalers rested on the southern coast of New South Wales.

Following a number of exploratory expeditions south from the settled areas of New South Wales, the pastoralist Hamilton Hume and former sea-captain William Hovell set off to explore the country to the south in October 1824. They crossed the Murray River (which they named the Hume River) near the site of Albury and continued south. They crossed the Goulburn River (which they called the Hovell) above the site of Yea, and were forced to detour around mountains. They arrived on the shores of Corio Bay, mistakenly believing it to be Western Port, and returned to Sydney in January 1825, lavishly praising the quality of the country they had passed through.

In April 1826 the French explorer d'Urville visited one of the sealers' camps on Phillip Island. Worried by this renewed French interest in the area and encouraged by Hume and Hovell's reports, Governor Darling ordered a settlement to be established at Western Port. A small convict party arrived in November 1826 at Corinella under the command of Samuel Wright, to protect the approaches to the bay. Hovell, accompanying the party, soon realised that this was not where he had arrived two years before, and reported unfavourably on the swampy land around Western Port, although he referred to better land to the north. In spite of clearing the land for crops, and the construction of a fort and houses, the settlement was abandoned in April 1828.

The shortage of good pasture in Van Diemen's Land led to settlers there showing interest in the country across Bass Strait, following Hume and Hovell's reports and stories of visiting sealers. Pastoralist John Batman and surveyor John Wedge planned an expedition from Launceston in 1825 but permission was not granted. A number of settlers sought land over the next few years, but Governor Darling turned down all requests.

A sealer William Dutton built a hut on the shore of Portland Bay in 1829 where he resided until his death.

The expedition down the Murray River by Charles Sturt in 1830 again aroused interest in settlement in the south. In April 1833 Edward Henty, returning to Van Diemen's Land from Spencer Gulf called in to Portland for a cargo of oil, and was much impressed. In November 1834 John Hart, another sailor, reported favourably in Launceston on Western Port. It was now inevitable that settlement would occur.

In June 1834 banker Charles Swanston advised his client George Mercer that land was scarce in Van Diemen's Land and he should invest across Bass Strait. Pastoralists John Aitken and George Russell suggested forming a partnership, and in August 1834 a group of eight Launceston capitalists formed what became the Port Phillip Association. On 19 November 1834 Edward Henty landed in Portland Bay and began the first permanent European settlement on the north coast of Bass Strait.

With the dispossession of Aboriginal tribes from their lands with the establishment of sheep runs by squatters, conflict over resources and land use inevitably occurred. One highly notable incident called the Convincing Ground massacre occurred in Portland Bay in 1833 or 1834 in a possible dispute about a beached whale between whalers and the Kilcarer gundidj clan of the Gunditjmara people.[19]

Melbourne was founded in 1835 by John Batman, also from Van Diemen's Land and quickly grew into a thriving community, although at great human cost to the original inhabitants. Its foundation was the result of an invasion of wealthy squatters, land speculators and their indentured servants (including ex-convicts) who arrived from 1835, in a race with one another to seize an 'empty' country. The British Crown and colonial governments did not recognize prior Aboriginal ownership of their lands, waters and property, in spite of claiming that Aborigines fell within the protection of the law as British subjects.

Early in 1835, Mr Franks, one of the first immigrants, and his shepherd were killed by some of the Goulburn tribe of aborigines. His station was near Cotterill's Mount, called the Sugarloaf, near the river Exe, now Werribee. They were both killed at one moment by the aborigines, who while pretending friendship, murdered them by driving their tomahawks into the backs of their heads. A party was soon sent out after them, led by tour of the Melbourne tribe, who recovered part of the property stolen, and took vengeance on the murderers.[20]

Between 1836 and 1842, Victorian Aboriginal groups were largely dispossessed of territory bigger than England.[21] Although the British Colonial Office appointed 5 "Aboriginal Protectors" for the entire Aboriginal population of Victoria, arriving in Melbourne in 1839, they worked "...within a land policy that nullified their work, and there was no political will to change this."[22] "It was government policy to encourage squatters to take possession of whatever [Aboriginal] land they chose,....that largely explains why almost all the original inhabitants of Port Phillip's vast grasslands were dead so soon after 1835".[23] By 1845, fewer than 240 wealthy Europeans held all the pastoral licences then issued in Victoria and became the patriarchs "...that were to wield so much political and economic power in Victoria for generations to come."[24]

A severe financial crisis took place in 1842-3, mainly due to the Government demanding from the banks the large rate of 7% for all moneys deposited with them, the result of land sales. The banks had to charge their customers from 10 to 12% for loans, very often on questionable securities. It was then accelerated by Lord John Russell's instructions that all lands out of town boundaries to be sold at only Â£1 per acre. Sheep that had been bought at from 30s to 40s per head are now sold at less than 2s. The Insolvent Court was rushed by all classes of the community.

The first petition for the separation of the Port Phillip District (or 'Australia Felix') from New South Wales was drafted in 1840 by Henry Fyshe Gisborne and presented by him to Governor Gipps. Gipps, who had previously been in favour of separation, rejected the petition.

Agitation of the Port Phillip settlers continued and led to the establishment of Port Phillip District as a separate colony on 1 July 1851. The British Act of Parliament separating Port Phillip District from New South Wales, and naming the new colony "Victoria" (after Queen Victoria) and providing it with a Constitution, was signed by Queen Victoria on 5 August 1850. Enabling legislation was passed by the New South Wales Legislative Council on 1 July 1851. This was formally the founding moment of the Colony of Victoria, with separation from New South Wales established by section 1 of the 1851 Act.[25] La Trobe became the new colony's first Lieutenant-Governor.

In 1851, the white population of the new colony was still only 77,000, and only 23,000 people lived in Melbourne. Melbourne had already become a centre of Australia's wool export trade.

In 1851 gold was first discovered in Clunes and Buninyong near Ballarat,[26] and subsequently at Bendigo. Later discoveries occurred at many sites across Victoria. This triggered one of the largest gold rushes the world has ever seen. The colony grew rapidly in both population and economic power. In ten years the population of Victoria increased sevenfold from 76,000 to 540,000. All sorts of gold records were produced including the "richest shallow alluvial goldfield in the world" and the largest gold nugget. Victoria produced in the decade 1851-1860, twenty million ounces of gold, one third of the world's output.

Immigrants arrived from all over the world to search for gold, especially from Ireland and China. Many Chinese miners worked in Victoria, and their legacy is particularly strong in Bendigo and its environs. Although there was some racism directed at them, there was not the level of anti-Chinese violence that was seen at the Lambing Flat riots in New South Wales. However, there was a riot at Buckland Valley near Bright in 1857. Conditions on the gold fields were cramped and unsanitary â€“ an outbreak of typhoid at Buckland Valley in 1854 killed over 1,000 miners.

In 1854 there was an armed rebellion against the government of Victoria by miners protesting against mining taxes (the "Eureka Stockade"). This was crushed by British troops, but some of the leaders of the rebellion subsequently became members of the Victoria Parliament, and the rebellion is regarded as a pivotal moment in the development of Australian democracy.

The first foreign military action by the colony of Victoria was to send troops and a warship to New Zealand as part of the Maori Wars. Troops from New South Wales had previously participated in the Crimean War.

A period of prosperity in the 1880s led to a wild speculation in land and buildings, and money poured in from England. Land companies, mortgage societies, municipal bodies, building societies, and a host of other organisations all clamoured for a share in the good things that were on offer, and probably Â£40,000,000 flowed into Victoria during a period of six years. With so much easy money in circulation, a fictitious prosperity of a feverish sort resulted. The banks issued notes to the value of millions of pounds, and trade and industry flourished as never before. The reaction came quickly. Public confidence subsided like a pricked balloon. A run commenced on the banks, and the bursting of the boom brought with it widespread disaster.

In 1893, 14 banks failed, twelve of those with 905 branches throughout Australia, had liabilities assessed at Â£166,000,000, and thousands of people lost the whole of their possessions. Bank notes in many cases became worthless, and Victoria reached the farthest depth of a financial depression. Unemployment became widespread, wages and prices dropped and bankruptcies followed one another in disturbing sequence. The most drastic retrenchments were made by the Government and public bodies.[27]

At the beginning of 1901, following a proclamation by Queen Victoria, Victoria ceased to be an independent colony and became a state in the Commonwealth of Australia. Victorian and Tasmanian politicians were particularly active in the Federation process.

As a result of the gold rush, Melbourne became the financial centre of Australia and New Zealand. Between 1901 and 1927, Australia's Parliament sat in Melbourne while Canberra was under construction. It was also the largest city in Australia at the time, and the second largest city in the Empire (after London).[28]

Main articles: Australian home front during World War II, and Military history of Australia during World War II


what year did the movie traffic come out

Traffic is a 2000 American crime drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Stephen Gaghan. It explores the illegal drug trade from a number of perspectives: users, enforcers, politicians, and traffickers. Their stories are edited together throughout the film, although some of the characters do not meet each other. The film is an adaptation of the 1989 British Channel 4 television series Traffik.

Traffic (2000 film)

20th Century Fox, the original financiers of the film, demanded that Harrison Ford play a leading role and that significant changes to the screenplay be made. Soderbergh refused and proposed the script to other major Hollywood studios, but it was rejected because of the three-hour running time and the subject matterâ€”Traffic is more of a political film than most Hollywood productions.[2] USA Films, however, liked the project from the start and offered the filmmakers more money than Fox. Soderbergh operated the camera himself and adopted a distinctive color grade for each story so that audiences could tell them apart.

Traffic was critically acclaimed and earned numerous awards, including four Oscars: Best Director for Steven Soderbergh, Best Supporting Actor for Benicio del Toro, Best Adapted Screenplay for Stephen Gaghan and Best Film Editing for Stephen Mirrione. It was also a commercial success with a worldwide box-office revenue total of $207.5 million, well above its estimated $46 million budget.

In 2004, USA Network ran a miniseries—also called Traffic—based on this film and the 1989 British television series.

In Mexico, police officer Javier Rodriguez (del Toro) and his partner Manolo Sanchez (Vargas) stop a drug transport and arrest the couriers. Their arrest is interrupted by General Salazar (Milian), a high-ranking Mexican official who decides to hire Javier. Salazar instructs him to apprehend Francisco Flores (Collins), a hitman for the Tijuana Cartel, headed by the ObregÃ³n brothers.

Back in Tijuana, Flores, under torture, gives Salazar the names of important members of the Obregón cartel, who are arrested. Javier and Salazar's efforts begin to cripple the Obregón brothers' cocaine outfit, but Javier soon discovers Salazar is a pawn for the Juárez Cartel, the rival of the Obregón brothers. That entire portion of the Mexican anti-drug campaign is a fraud, as Salazar is wiping out one cartel because he has aligned with another for profit.

Sanchez attempts to sell the information of Salazar's true affiliation to the DEA but is killed for his betrayal. Javier, who can no longer stomach working for Salazar, decides to make a deal with the DEA. In exchange for his testimony, Javier requests electricity in his neighborhood so the youngsters can play baseball at night rather than be tempted by street gangs and crime. Salazar's secrets are revealed to the public, and he is arrested and is shown suffering probable torture in prison.

Javier explains to the media about the widespread corruption in the police force and army. Later, Javier watches as children play baseball at night in their new stadium.

Meanwhile, Robert Wakefield (Douglas), a conservative Ohio judge, is appointed to head the President's Office of National Drug Control Policy, taking on the title drug czar. Robert is warned by his predecessor (Brolin) and several influential politicians that the War on Drugs is unwinnable. Robert's daughter, Caroline (Christensen), an honors student, has been using cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin which quickly develops into a drug addiction after her boyfriend Seth (Grace) introduces her to freebasing. Caroline, Seth, and Vanessa are all arrested when a fellow student overdoses on drugs, and they try to dump him anonymously at a hospital. As Robert and his wife Barbara (Irving) struggle to deal with the problem, Robert discovers that Barbara has known about their daughter's involvement with drugs for over six months.

Robert realizes his daughter is a drug addict, and is caught between his demanding new position and difficult family life. On a visit to Mexico, he is encouraged by Salazar's successful efforts in hurting the ObregÃ³n brothers. When he returns to Ohio, Robert learns his efforts to see Caroline rehabilitated have failed. She has run away to Cincinnati, and no one knows her exact location. She steals from her parents to procure money for drugs.

Robert drags Seth along as he begins to search Cincinnati for his daughter. After a drug dealer who is prostituting Caroline refuses to reveal her whereabouts, Robert breaks into a seedy hotel room and finds a semi-conscious Caroline in the company of an older man. He breaks down in tears as Seth quietly leaves. Robert returns to Washington, D.C., to give his prepared speech on a "10-point plan" to win the war on drugs. In the middle of the speech, he falters as he realizes how futile this all is, then tells the press that the War on Drugs implies a war even on some people's own family members, which he cannot endorse. He then walks out of the press conference and takes a taxi to the airport. Robert and Barbara go to Narcotics Anonymous meetings with their daughter to support her and others.

A third story is set in San Diego, where an undercover DEA investigation led by Montel Gordon (Cheadle) and Ray Castro (Guzmán) leads to the arrest of Eduardo Ruiz (Ferrer), a high-stakes dealer posing as a fisherman. Ruiz decides to take the dangerous road to immunity by giving up his boss: drug lord Carl Ayala (Bauer), the biggest distributor for the Obregón brothers in the United States. Ayala is indicted by a tough prosecutor, hand-selected by Robert Wakefield to send a message to the Mexican drug organizations.

As the trial against Ayala begins, his pregnant wife Helena (Zeta-Jones) learns of her husband's true profession from his associate, Arnie Metzger (Quaid). Facing the prospect of life imprisonment for her husband and death threats against her only child, Helena decides to hire Francisco Flores to assassinate Eduardo Ruiz; she knows killing Ruiz will effectively end the trial nolle prosequi. Flores plants a car bomb on a DEA car in an assassination attempt against Ruiz. Shortly after planting the bomb, Flores is assassinated by a sniper in retaliation for his cooperation with General Salazar. The car bomb meant to kill Ruiz instead kills Agent Castro, but Gordon and Ruiz survive.

Helena, knowing Ruiz is soon scheduled to testify, makes a deal with Juan ObregÃ³n (Bratt), lord of the drug cartel, who forgives the Ayala family's debt and has Ruiz poisoned. Ayala is released, much to the dissatisfaction of Gordon, who is still angry over his partner's death. During a phone conversation between Ayala and Metzger, Ayala deduces that it was Metzger who originally informed on Ruiz. Evidently in a bid for power with another drug cartel in Mexico, Metzger accepted $3 million to inform on Ruiz to the FBI and facilitate the Ayala organization's downfall. Ayala says that Metzger was planning on taking over Ayala's empire completely. As Ayala hangs up the phone, Metzger looks up to see two hit men entering his office. Soon after Ayala's release, Gordon bursts into the Ayala home during his homecoming celebration. Bodyguards wrestle him to the ground, but Gordon is able to surreptitiously plant a listening bug under Ayala's desk. Gordon is forced from the property, with the satisfaction of knowing that there is now a new opportunity to trap Ayala.

Some aspects of the plotline are based on actual people and events:

At one point in the film, an El Paso Intelligence Center agent tells Robert his position, official in charge of drug control, doesn't exist in Mexico. As noted in the original script, a Director of the Instituto Nacional para el Combate a las Drogas was created by the Attorney General of Mexico in 1996.

Steven Soderbergh had been interested in making a film about the drug wars for some time but did not want to make one about addicts.[6] Producer Laura Bickford obtained the rights to the United Kingdom mini-series Traffik (1989) and liked its structure. Soderbergh, who had seen the mini-series in 1990,[7] started looking for a screenwriter to adapt it into a film. They read a script by Stephen Gaghan called Havoc, about upper-class white kids in Palisades High School doing drugs and getting involved with gangs.[8] Soderbergh approached Gaghan to work on his film, but found he was already working for producer/director Edward Zwick. Bickford and Soderbergh approached Zwick, who agreed to merge the two projects and come aboard as a producer.[6]

Traffic was originally going to be distributed by 20th Century Fox, but it was put into turnaround unless actor Harrison Ford agreed to star. Soderbergh began shopping the film to other studios, but when Ford suddenly showed interest in Traffic, Fox's interest in the film was renewed, and the studio took it out of turnaround.[9] Fox CEO Bill Mechanic championed the film, but he departed from the studio by the time the first draft was finished. It went back into turnaround.[10] Mechanic had also wanted to make some changes to the script, but Soderbergh disagreed[11] and decided to shop the film to other major studios. They all turned him down because they were not confident in the prospects of a three-hour film about drugs, according to Gaghan.[8] USA Films, however, had wanted to take on the movie from the first time Soderbergh approached them.[10] They provided the filmmakers with a $46 million budget, a considerable increase from the $25 million which Fox offered.[11]

Soderbergh had "conceptual discussions" with Gaghan while he was shooting The Limey in October 1998, and they finished the outline before he went off to shoot Erin Brockovich.[6] After Soderbergh was finished with that film, Gaghan had written a first draft in six weeks that was 165 pages long.[8] After the film was approved for production, Soderbergh and Gaghan met two separate times for three days to reformat the script.[8] The draft they shot with had 163 pages with 135 speaking parts and featured seven cities.[6] The film shortens the storyline of the original mini-series; a major character arc, that of a farmer, is taken out, and the Pakistani plotline is replaced with one set in Mexico.[7]

Harrison Ford was initially considered for the role of Robert Wakefield in January 2000 but would have had to take a significant cut in his usual $20 million salary.[12] Ford met with Soderbergh to flesh out the character. Gaghan agreed to rework the role, adding several scenes that ended up in the finished film. On February 20, Ford turned down the role, and the filmmakers brought it back to Michael Douglas, who had turned down an earlier draft. He liked the changes made and agreed to star, which helped greenlight the project.[12] Gaghan believes Ford turned down the role because he wanted to "reconnect with his action fans".[8]

The filmmakers sent out letters to many politicians, both Democrat and Republican, asking them to make cameo appearances in the film. Several of the scenes had already been shot using actors in these roles, but the filmmakers went back and re-shot those scenes when real politicians agreed to be in the film.[13] Those who agreed, including U.S. Senators Harry Reid, Barbara Boxer, Orrin Hatch, Charles Grassley, and Don Nickles, and Massachusetts governor Bill Weld, were filmed in a scene that was entirely improvised.[7]

The project was obtained from Fox by Initial Entertainment Group, and was sold to USA Films by IEG for North American rights only. Steven Soderbergh never approached USA Films, and the film was fully funded by Initial Entertainment Group.

After Fox dropped the film in early 2000 and before USA Films expressed interest soon after, Soderbergh paid for pre-production with his own money.[8] USA Films agreed to give him final cut on Traffic and also agreed to his term that all the Mexican characters would speak Spanish while talking to each other.[12] This meant that almost all of Benicio del Toro's dialogue would be subtitled. Once the studio realized this, they suggested that his scenes be shot in both English and Spanish, but Soderbergh and del Toro rejected the suggestion.[12] Del Toro, a native of Puerto Rico, was worried that another actor would be brought in and re-record his dialogue in English after he had worked hard to master Mexican inflections and improve his Spanish vocabulary. Del Toro remembers, "Can you imagine? You do the whole movie, bust your butt to get it as realistic as possible, and someone dubs your voice? I said, 'No way. Over my dead body.' Steven was like, 'Don't worry. It's not gonna happen.'"[12] The director fought for subtitles for the Mexico scenes, arguing that if the characters did not speak Spanish, the film would have no integrity and would not convincingly portray what he described as the "impenetrability of another culture".[7]

The filmmakers went to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and U.S. Customs early on with the script and told them that they were trying to present as detailed and accurate a picture of the current drug war as possible.[7] The DEA and Customs pointed out inaccuracies in the script. In addition, they gave the production team access to the border checkpoint to Mexico, as shown in the film during the scene in which Wakefield and his people talk with border officials. Despite the assistance, the DEA did not try to influence the content of the script.[7] Soderbergh said Traffic had influences from the films of Richard Lester and Jean-Luc Godard. He also spent time analyzing The Battle of Algiers and Z, which, according to the director, had the feeling that the footage was "caught" and not staged.[10] Another inspiration was Alan J. Pakula's film All the President's Men because of its ability to tackle serious issues while being entertaining.[14] In the opening credits of his film, Soderbergh tried to replicate the typeface from All the President's Men and the placement on-screen at the bottom left-hand corner. Analyzing this film helped the director deal with the large cast and working in many different locations for Traffic.[14]

Half of the first day's footage came out overexposed and unusable.[12] Before the financiers or studio bosses knew about the problem, Soderbergh was already doing reshoots. The insurers made him agree that any further mishaps resulting in additional filming would come out of the director's own pocket.[12] Soderbergh shot in various cities in California, Ohio and Texas, on a 54-day schedule and came in $2 million under budget.[6] The director acted as his own cinematographer under the pseudonym Peter Andrews and operated the camera himself in an effort to "get as close to the movie as I can," and to eliminate the distance between the actors and himself.[15][6] Soderbergh drew inspiration from the cinema verite style of Ken Loach's films, studying the framing of scenes, the distance of the camera to the actors, lens length, and the tightness of eyelines depending on the position of a character. Soderbergh remembers, "I noticed that there's a space that's inviolate, that if you get within something, you cross the edge into a more theatrical aesthetic as opposed to a documentary aesthetic".[6] Most of the day was spent shooting because a lot of the film was shot with available light.[10]

For the hand-held camera footage, Soderbergh used Panavision Millennium XLs that were smaller and lighter than previous cameras and allowed him to move freely.[6] In order to tell the three stories apart, he adopted a distinctive look for each. For Robert Wakefield's story, Soderbergh used tungsten film with no filter for a cold, monochrome blue feel.[6] For Helena Ayala's story, Soderbergh used diffusion filters, flashing the film, overexposing it for a warmer feel. For Javier Rodriguez's story, the director used tobacco filters and a 45-degree shutter angle whenever possible to produce a strobe-like sharp feel.[6] Then, he took the entire film through an Ektachrome step, which increased the contrast and grain significantly.[6] He wanted to have different looks for each story because the audience had to keep track of many characters and absorb a lot of information and he did not want them to have to figure out which story they were watching.[7]

Benicio del Toro had significant input into certain parts of the film; for example, he suggested a simpler, more concise way of depicting his character kidnapping Francisco Flores that Soderbergh ended up using.[7] The director cut a scene in which Robert Wakefield smokes crack after finding it in his daughter's bedroom. After rehearsing this scene with the actors, he felt that the character would not do it; after consulting with Gaghan, the screenwriter agreed and the filmmakers cut the scene shortly before it was scheduled to be shot.[8]

The first cut of Traffic ran three hours and ten minutes.[6] Soderbergh cut it down to two hours and twenty minutes. Early on, there were concerns that the film might get an NC-17 rating and he was prepared to release it with that rating, but the MPAA gave it an R.[6]

Traffic was given a limited release on December 27, 2000 in four theaters where it grossed USD $184,725 on its opening weekend. It was given a wide release on January 5, 2001 in 1,510 theaters where it grossed $15.5 million on its opening weekend. The film made $124.1 million in North America and $83.4 million in foreign markets for a worldwide total of $207.5 million, well above its estimated $48 million budget.[16]

Rotten Tomatoes reported that 92% of critics gave the film positive write-ups, based on a sample of 154, with an average score of 8/10,[17] with del Toro receiving widespread acclaim, and the consensus being "Soderbergh successfully pulls off the highly ambitious Traffic, a movie with three different stories and a very large cast. The issues of ethics are gray rather than black-and-white, with no clear-cut good guys. Terrific acting all around." At Metacritic the film has received an average score of 86, based on 34 reviews.[18] Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars and wrote, "The movie is powerful precisely because it doesn't preach. It is so restrained that at one moment—the judge's final speech—I wanted one more sentence, making a point, but the movie lets us supply that thought for ourselves".[19] Stephen Holden, in his review for The New York Times, wrote, "Traffic is an utterly gripping, edge-of-your-seat thriller. Or rather it is several interwoven thrillers, each with its own tense rhythm and explosive payoff".[20] In his review for The New York Observer, Andrew Sarris wrote, "Traffic marks [Soderbergh] definitively as an enormous talent, one who never lets us guess what he's going to do next. The promise of Sex, Lies, and Videotape has been fulfilled".[21]

Entertainment Weekly gave the film an "A" rating and praised Benicio del Toro's performance, which critic Owen Gleiberman called, "haunting in his understatement, [it] becomes the film's quietly awakening moral center".[22] Desson Howe, in his review for the Washington Post, wrote, "Soderbergh and screenwriter Stephen Gaghan, who based this on a British television miniseries of the same name, have created an often exhilarating, soup-to-nuts exposé of the world's most lucrative trade".[23] In his review for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers wrote, "The hand-held camerawork – Soderbergh himself did the holding—provides a documentary feel that rivets attention".[24] However, Richard Schickel, in his review for Time, wrote, "there is a possibly predictable downside to this multiplicity of story lines: they keep interrupting one another. Just as you get interested in one, Stephen Gaghan's script, inspired by a British mini-series, jerks you away to another".[25] In an interview, director Ingmar Bergman lauded the film as "amazing".[26]

Traffic appeared on several critics' top ten lists for 2000. Some of the notable top-ten list appearances are:[27]

The film won Academy Awards in the categories Best Director (Soderbergh), Best Supporting Actor (Benicio del Toro), Best Film Editing (Mirrione), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Gaghan). It was also nominated for Best Picture, alongside another Soderbergh film, Erin Brockovich, but lost to Gladiator.[31] Traffic was nominated for five Golden Globe Awards including Best Motion Picture – Drama, Soderbergh for Best Director, del Toro for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, Catherine Zeta-Jones for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture, and Stephen Gaghan for Best Screenplay.[citation needed] Both del Toro and Gaghan won in their respective categories.[32] In addition, del Toro won Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role. He went on to win BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role along with Gaghan, who won for Best Adapted Screenplay.[27]

New York Film Critics Circle named Traffic as the Best Film, Soderbergh as Best Director,[7] and del Toro as Best Supporting Actor.[33] Los Angeles Film Critics Association awarded Soderbergh Best Director.[34] Members of the Toronto Film Critics Association voted Soderbergh as Best Director and del Toro as Best Actor.[35] National Society of Film Critics also voted Soderbergh and del Toro as Best Director and Best Supporting Actor, respectively.[36]