Blessed beyong measure

[wroughtn_harv]

Thursday the 23rd of February was a yo yo day. I was devastated to learn that the house we made for at SMU and had taken to OU for structural tests was too heavy for the shake table at National Technical Services in Plano, TX. Then we took a 6' high by 6' long wall we had made for OU and subjected it to simulated 90 mph winds with 4" per hour rain rate for 30 minutes;. The house took the test like it was nothing.

Imagine a free standing wall, no corners, or angles, facing 90 mph winds with heavy rain and it was after the test just like it was before, except wetter of course.

I have a video of it on my facebook page.

We removed all the stucco on the inside walls. It was still about 800 lbs too heavy. So we are about half way done with removing the top 18" or so of the outside stucco around the top of the house. The house will then be okay for the shake table test. 1:30 pm Monday the press and visitors will get to see if the house will survive a simulated 7.0 earthquake. The engineers at NTS are divided on what the outcome will be. Some believe it will do fine and others are sure it will fail.

I'm not worried about the shake table test. What concerned me was the wind test and the house took it like it was nothing but a thing.

 

[jinman]

Harvey, you're certainly having good results. I suspect that during the whole process, you'll find you are throwing the "standard methods" people a curve ball. Nobody builds like you because nobody thinks like you. As I've always said, collecting materials is your biggest hurdle. Even your machine can be mechanized easily for speed and faster operation by some enterprising person in a poor nation. What seems to be the limiting factor is getting people to think differently about their trash. That should be no surprise since right here at home we have few methods any better than filling ravines with it. Good luck with your next trip to Haiti. I hope that shoulder continues to mend in a hurry.:thumbsup:

 

[moored4]

Can you give us a link to the videos? Thanks:thumbsup:

 

[MarkV]

Great results on the test Harvey. Let us know how the shake test goes and have a good trip.

MarkV

 

[brin]

" : Blessed beyong measure"

The Lord works in mysterious ways....God Bless, hope your shoulder feels much better soon.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Harvey, I just watched your videos on FB. Amazing!!! That shake test had it
flexing like crazy but it took it like a champ!

 

[creekbend]

Wishing you the best in regards to all of your endeavors.

 

[GPintheMitten]

Harvey, I just recently heard of your Ubuntu Blocks. You have certainly done a great service to our world-wide community. Congratulations on your idea and your fine family.

 

[jinman]

Harvey, I'm not negative, but I set certain goals to measure success. We already know how creative and incredibly talented you are, but the whole success of this endeavor seems to rest on getting somebody living in one of your houses. Until you have a resident and 6 mos. to a year's worth of use, the Ubuntu-Blox house is just a dream. The more people you can get living between these walls, the more support will come flowing in.:thumbsup:

I certainly also applaud your keeping the machine simple. However, I would not turn down the opportunity to make a more automated version. If you could make a press that would work with electricity or manual operation, I'd expect it to be the best of all worlds. A 12 vdc linear actuator or worm drive for the compression shaft could make this much less labor intensive and much higher output of the raw building blocks. You know me. . . always thinking out of the Blox.

 

[jinman]

I could not help but be stunned by this striking image from Time Magazine's weekly top photos. In Port-au-Prince, Haitians (children and adults) storm a garbage truck looking for recyclables at the nearby Trutier dump on March 7, 2012.

In addition, in this photo a man searches among smoldering piles for recyclables. The desperation is obvious.

Photo credit: Spencer Platt - Getty Images