Does concrete float?
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Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 24,418
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From: San Francisco, Ca.
Does concrete float?
Last edited by sierraben; Jun 16, 2006 at 11:32 PM.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 6,658
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From: "Islander"
Back in the early 70's many boat yards in Alameda had cement sailboats and motorsailers under different stages of construction. Many never got finished but bashed to crumbs years later. Floating docks are made of hollow blocks lightweight concrete, biggest enemy is the buildup growth of mussels sinking the docks. They scrape the bottoms every 3 to 4 years or when the docks are low in the water.
.....=o&o>.....
.....=o&o>.....
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Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 24,418
Likes: 3
From: San Francisco, Ca.
Thay actually made a few concrete ships.
Hey, if steel can be floated, why not concrete?
http://www.concreteships.org/
Hey Carl, where you been?
Hey, if steel can be floated, why not concrete?
http://www.concreteships.org/
Hey Carl, where you been?
Post Fiend
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 6,658
Likes: 4
From: "Islander"
I rarely get this low on the forum list since the rearranged the directory. Liked the non automotive at the top.
Right now between words i'm pouring a Curve Ball into a Devil Mountain Brewery bier glass, those tapered glasses with etched writing.
It was 92 at 2:00 in the shade on the island, took the gas scooter to old NAS by the Hornet. Behind it is a old 100' fireboat / tug, got a full tour from the owner. I think they are looking for volunteer help. The tug has two V-6 diesel electrics, fire pump is powered by a 250 HP electric motor.
I just opened the note from them.
www.USSNokomis.com (upper or lower case?)
tugcaptfg@aol.com
and a Melissa Parker (she drives train for bart) at onesailorgirl@yahoo.com
.....=o&o>.....
Right now between words i'm pouring a Curve Ball into a Devil Mountain Brewery bier glass, those tapered glasses with etched writing.
It was 92 at 2:00 in the shade on the island, took the gas scooter to old NAS by the Hornet. Behind it is a old 100' fireboat / tug, got a full tour from the owner. I think they are looking for volunteer help. The tug has two V-6 diesel electrics, fire pump is powered by a 250 HP electric motor.
I just opened the note from them.
www.USSNokomis.com (upper or lower case?)
tugcaptfg@aol.com
and a Melissa Parker (she drives train for bart) at onesailorgirl@yahoo.com
.....=o&o>.....
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,413
Likes: 14
From: cape may county NJ
I live in Cape May NJ and we have whats left of a concrete ship right off the beach near the light house.I have some photos from when I was a little kid and it still looked like a ship now it looks like a pile of rubble.
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Senior User
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 123
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From: Yorktown, VA
There are also some on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. I've fished around these.
http://www.concreteships.org/ships/kiptopeke/
http://www.concreteships.org/ships/kiptopeke/
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From: Near the trees
I have a friend that built a boat out of concrete. The hull was about all concrete that was reinforced with shredded fiberglass. He was building it in his machine shop that was maybe 300 miles from the coast. He said that because of the shape, it wouldn't have any problem floating. By the time I saw it, he had the wood work finished and was working on the brass.
I didn't doubt it would float, I doubted he'd be able to get to the coast. It was bloody huge!
I didn't doubt it would float, I doubted he'd be able to get to the coast. It was bloody huge!
Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 6,473
Likes: 4
From: Lafayette, IN
What they left out in the article is HOW the concrete floats. Many of those boats are made with styrofoam as the aggregate in the concrete instead of stone. That makes it very lightweight and nearly as strong.
Jason
Jason
Hotshot
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 11,697
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From: Marengo, Iowa
That's the key there, it isn't the normal concrete most of us deal with, it is of different composition. I was touring the SOutha Dkota School of Mines and Technology, and they had a concrete canoe there, and it weighed about 100#, so I asked, and that was it. The point of the competition isn't so much about building boats as much as it is being able to build lightweight concrete that has the same strength, but less weight as regular concrete. The uses are for construction like sky scrapers and such. If you consider the amount of weight one of those buildings would have, it makes sense to do something like that, it actually would be safer than built with the heavier concrete.
Hotshot
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 18,488
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From: The Big, Oregon
Not to mention that objects float by displacing their own weight in water. There are two bridges (maybe three) near here that are floating concrete boxes. Steel is much heavier per cubic foot than concrete, yet 99% of all commercial and military vessels are steel. It's just a matter of how much water they displace.
