Weekend Update 6/30/24

[Cory Rothlisberger]

I like where your heads are at. Might even have to check out the washi tape. Sounds like a trip to Hobby Lobby is in order this weekend. To be continued...

[chuck geiger]

Deason (now somewhere other than Montana) coming along.

[craigolio1]

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Thanks John!

[apudelek]

Finished up making tire bumpers for the waterfront where the barges will be moored. I mimicked an online image showing wide planks with tires bolted to them on the seawall. I really like the way they turned out a lot. Tires are 3D printed and the planks are basswood. The tractor tire posts on the corners were a last minute idea I had to use up the stacked printed tires I had left.



This is the east side of the channel:





And the west side which I really like:

John, these tires look spectacular.  Have you considered removing a tire or two in the string, as if they were ripped off and had floated away?  That would look very realistic, judging from past experiences, especially at a dock that only deals with scrap barges and similar craft.  Perhaps having a tire floating in the water as well...

[Maletrain]

Tires don't float.  At least not unless attached to a wheel and filled with air.

[apudelek]

They don't necessarily sink either, probably closer to a neutral buoyancy.  I have seen plenty of tires near docks in my sailing career that are partially submerged but are still afloat vertically with treads showing.  You are correct if you're thinking about a tire floating horizontally.

[peteski]

They don't necessarily sink either, probably closer to a neutral buoyancy.  I have seen plenty of tires near docks in my sailing career that are partially submerged but are still afloat vertically with treads showing.  You are correct if you're thinking about a tire floating horizontally.

Probably also depends if they are steel belted, or polyester. 

[Maletrain]

It may also depend on whether there is still a bit of air trapped in the tire. If it it floating vertically instead of flat, trapped air may be the reason.

I have found and removed multiple tires from the bottoms of waterways.  They are heavy, especially if they are big truck tires.

But, they are not so much heavier than water, so they can get moved around by currents and waves.

Some decades ago, somebody had a "great idea" about how to get rid of used tires and also "help the environment" by making "reefs" of old tires off beaches on the Atlantic coast.  It was true that sea life would attach to the surfaces when the tires were on the bottom.

But, it turned out to also be true that storms could wash those tires to shore.  So, the practice was stopped.  Now they use things like concrete blocks for synthetic reefs.

[nkalanaga]

Or old subway cars.

[packers#1]

Or old subway cars.

They even tried an old aircraft carrier!

[nkalanaga]

A lot of ships have been sunk as artificial reefs, although most are considerably smaller than an aircraft carrier.