Need a Building? Just Add Water

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,66872,00.html

By Rowan Hooper | Also by this reporter Page 1 of 1

02:00 AM Mar. 15, 2005 PT

In a world with millions of refugees, numerous war zones and huge areas devastated by natural disaster, aid agencies and militaries have long needed a way to quickly erect shelters on demand.

Soon, there will be such a method. A pair of engineers in London have come up with a "building in a bag" -- a sack of cement-impregnated fabric. To erect the structure, all you have to do is add water to the bag and inflate it with air. Twelve hours later the Nissen-shaped shelter is dried out and ready for use.

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This is extremely cool.

But what's a Nissen?

Didn't they used to be called Datsun?? ;)

I think it's like a quonset.

Cute Wolf, cute...

We call them Quonset huts here on this side of the pond.

I heard about this on NPR the other day. It's a cool idea. It reminds me of the old plaster casts that were made of strips of gauze that had been pre-saturated with plaster powder. You just add water and put the gauze on the broken arm or whatever.

The best part of this shelter is buried deep in the article and is easy to miss.

Concrete Canvas comes folded in a sealed plastic sack. The volume of the sack controls the water-to-cement ratio, eliminating the need for water measurement. You literally just add water.

Normally, it takes some experience to know how much water to add to concrete to get the proper strength. Too much or too little, and you have a weak structure. Possibly a dangerous structure. This shelter system is truly foolproof.

It's also cheap.

I wonder how tall it is. At $2100, it would make a pretty cheap car port. I might buy one at that price. I wonder what the neighbors would think.

I'm taking one hunting. My camp will be the envy of all.

mrnoodle wrote:

I'm taking one hunting. My camp will be the envy of all.

What kind of pack animals do you use?
From the story on Wired:"... A bag weighing 230 kilograms (approximately 500 pounds)."

steroids,mr noodle? are you prepared to have an * next to your name for all eternity?

BigV wrote:

What kind of pack animals do you use?
From the story on Wired:"... A bag weighing 230 kilograms (approximately 500 pounds)."

Take 100 of them. ;)