Tsunami Roof Barges

[Newbies_Kid]

Why not using fiber glass for the barge. I think its strong enough to withstand the impact from floating debris.. besides, fiber glass mat is not expensive and we can build our barge by ourselves.. as long as we have a proper mold.. but the question is.. what kind of shape should the barge take? i'm afraid that the user will daze and die.. XD

[Mr Skeptic]

Yup. It's very possible that $820 represents a full year's pay.

 

Considering the poverty line of about $1 a day, that could well be 3 years salary, if they went without eating to save for it.

[Airbrush]

Why not using fiber glass for the barge. I think its strong enough to withstand the impact from floating debris.. besides, fiber glass mat is not expensive and we can build our barge by ourselves.. as long as we have a proper mold.. but the question is.. what kind of shape should the barge take? i'm afraid that the user will daze and die.. XD

 

Fiber glass has no structural integrity. You should use a thick plywood for all 6 sides of your barge, with plenty of 2x4" lumbers bracing every side. You are defending against pieces of houses and cars, boulders, and other massive objects from crushing your barge during the first few minutes after the tsunami impact. You will also BECOME debris and YOU will batter houses and trees, and maybe other people (sorry) all around your neighborhood. After that you only need to float around for a few days or weeks until you get rescued. No need to build a seaworthy boat.

 

It would help to have a cell phone and GPS so you can call rescuers and tell them where you are. I would love to draw a simple box-shaped design and post it here. Anyone know how? Certainly it should have a flattened shape for floating stability.

 

A price tag of over $800US only applies to someone living along the coast in Southern California, where those prices would apply. For a fisherman living on an Indonesian island, maybe lumber and labor prices are much cheaper. The barge assembly could come in a kit with good easy-to-follow instructions so the fisherman in a village could help each other build their own. Fishermen and farmers are very handy practical people. Building such a box would be easy for them using simple tools. I would prefer screws and a power drill/driver.

Edited March 18, 2010 by Airbrush

[Newbies_Kid]

I'm just afraid that plywood may absorbs water and weaken the structural strength. Also, i don't know if the cubic shape is stable enough to fight tsunami's wave. (i'm afraid people mistaken it for coffin). I would suggest a design that similar to http://www.wam-v.com/

[Airbrush]

Thanks for your interest Kid. Since the barge is designed very simply and cheaply, it is not intended for long-term seaworthiness, only as a way to SAVE YOUR LIFE. After a few days or weeks, hopefully, you will be rescued and the barge will have served its' purpose. Thick plywood 3/4" to 1" thick should do very well to withstand most pressures from normal Indonesian-style tsunamis. Remember to caulk the cracks and paint the outside a bright orange or red color so you will be easy to find.

 

Remember that most intense pressures will happen during the first few minutes after impact. After that you will become debris and go with the flow.

[Rickdog]

Newbies_kid my friend, in regular plywood or normal plywood, the one you usually find in hardware stores, that`s what would most likely happen, and the reason why at first I was very esceptic about the whole idea, but I got into reading through the net, and found out that there is diverse types of plywood, made out of diferent types of wood and diferent types of glues, and to my astonishing there is a certain kind of Plywood called "Marine plywood", which is as a matter of fact, actually used in boat and ship construction. So Airbrush`s idea isn`t really so crazy after all (, no offense intended). Maybe the one thing about using this kind of plywood, that can ruin his project, it`s the fact that these Marine plywoods are highly expensive, so not on account for poor people or poor countries. Nevertheless, it is an idea about possibilities to save lives so I`ll encourage him to keep on at it. Maybe something can come out of all of this. (At least that`s what I think so).

 

Edited March 24, 2010 by Rickdog
correction of words (sorry my grammar, fails me sometimes)

[Newbies_Kid]

Airbrush: Oh.. ok i can see your thought now.. strong but must be simple and cheap. But how really simple it is?? Like my plywood's wardrobe?

 

Rickdog: I just know a normal or regular plywood. I thought that people no longer using wood to build a ships. Even fishermen in my village using fiber glass to build their boats. However, thanks for the info shared.

[Mr Skeptic]

Well I have a different idea. Rebar costs about $1 per kilo, and the strongest grade is 20 kg/m and over two inches thick while the weakest grade is 0.5 kg/m and 3/8 inch thick. I think rebar could take a serious battering. So my idea is get rebar supports, possibly more than one, and build a platform on the top. The platform could be build of stuff that is essentially junk, since it does not have to be waterproof like a boat.

[Airbrush]

Interesting platform idea Mr Skeptic. Since concrete is fairly cheap, make thick pillars over 20 feet high of rebar reinforced concrete with a platform on top. The columns need to be fairly thick to withstand the impact of pieces of houses, boats, cars, boulders, etc carried by the surging water. I think the pressures on the columns will be extraordinary. The whole ocean is pushing tons of debris that concrete columns cannot withstand, unless extremely thick.

 

Better would be a below ground concrete bunker, with an escape tunnel above ground.

 

NK, imagine a plywood box 8' long x 8' wide x 3' high. It should have such a squat shape for stability. Begin with a framework of 2"x4" lumbers (or 2"x6") using 4" screws to assemble. The more 2"x4" lumbers inside bracing the sides, the stronger it will be. Then screw on plywood panels to the outside of each side of the framework. The top and bottom should have escape hatches about 2' x 2' (on hinges and latch) so that no matter what side you end up on, there will be an escape hatch on top. Caulk all the cracks to water proof it and paint exterior with bright-colored latex paint.

 

Inside there should be hand grips and straps to hold everybody down. Soft padded lining would help. Supplies, such as water, food, fishing hooks, matches, cell phone, GPS, etc. should be secured in a sturdy cabinet.

Edited March 24, 2010 by Airbrush