Steel quality

[LambtonParticipant @lambton]

Neil,

I trust the boat does not have concrete hull…

Not as unusual as may be thought. There is a concrete narrow boat dating from WW2 on display at the National Waterways Museum in Gloucester. Apparently quite a few were built – no cheap foreign steel available then!

The Mulberry Harbours were (are) made of reinforced concrete and were floated across the Channel in preparation for D day. They are still more or less in place showing that properly made reinforced concrete structures can stand up to the most extreme maritime conditions.

[Sam Longley 1Participant @samlongley1]

Actually there are quite a few ferro cement yachts about sailing around the world that have made quite difficult ocean journeys. back in the 70's & 80's there was a move to introduce various designs & a lot were home built. It was promoted as a cheap way to build a large hull for a home built yacht quite quickly.

Generally GRP killed them off

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 04/04/2016 18:30:18

[Chris Evans 6Participant @chrisevans6]

I was employed in the injection mould making industry for 50 years. I n the 1960s/1970s we regularly came across poor steel with slag inclusions and cracks appearing. By the late 1970s little or no tool steel was UK made, most of what we used came from Sweden. All of this steel was clean due to the developments in processing as was the American tool steel we started buying in the 1980s. I buy steel from a known source and never have problems.

50 years ago a family friend sold Rebar for a living (I still have a tape measure with the logo on) It was sold as Square Grip Rebar and all came from Germany cheaper than the UK mills could supply it.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I wasn't joking, I came across a few concrete boats back in the 70s. I knew a guy who was doing a PhD who demonstrated floating concrete (with polystyrene beads in it) and made a concrete kayak. He also used to put expanding foam in beer cans, then add a bit of sand to get a realistic 'frothing over' effect. Glue to a beermat and sell to raise funds for the scout group.

Neil

[Sam Longley 1Participant @samlongley1]

Posted by Chris Evans 6 on 04/04/2016 19:07:08:

 

50 years ago a family friend sold Rebar for a living (I still have a tape measure with the logo on) It was sold as Square Grip Rebar and all came from Germany cheaper than the UK mills could supply it.

Was it square in section & twisted like a barley twist. Our family firm always had a couple tons of reinforcing steel in stock. ( One of my jobs was cutting & bending the horrid stuff ) & I seem to recall some of it being like that. Bought due to non availability of suitable steel from usual suppliers. When I bent it though 90 degrees it would go "out of plane" due to the cross sectional shape.

We were always blighted with non availability of materials such as  bricks ( my father bought shares in Marston valley brick to get quicker supplies)Ironmongery, lead ( British Lead Mills) & sanitaryware – copper was a prime example. When we built my sisters house her husband (a builders merchant) sourced all the copper pipe from France. Within 15 years  we had to strip the entire heating system & replace due to constant leaks in the pipework.

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 04/04/2016 20:14:33

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 04/04/2016 20:16:45

[J HancockParticipant @jhancock95746]

Whether it was steel rebar quality or poor concrete I do not know, but road travel across the city of Brussels by any of the tunnels has nearly stopped, with no solution in sight. Expect traffic chaos ,jams, queues, for the next few years.

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Recently we've stopped a few times at Brockholes nature reserve on the M6 near Preston for lunch en route across The Hill back to God's Country (Yorks). The visitor's centre comprises floating concrete barges in an old gravel pit. If you are passing and hungry, the food is excellent.

Murray

[Chris Evans 6Participant @chrisevans6]

Yes Sam square in section and like barley twist. I was still at school when he sold the stuff so 54/55 years ago at least.

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