24 hour deployable concrete tents back in the news as disasters mount
May 19, 2011 by Bob Yirka
(PhysOrg.com) -- First imagined and created back in 2007 by two University engineering students who met at the Royal College of Art in London, Will Crawford and Peter Brewin; tents that can be shipped to a disaster site in a wooden box, unfolded and blown up with a fan, then hardened into concrete within 24 hours, are back in the news as disasters from Haiti, to Chili, New Zealand, Japan and the United States have highlighted the need for emergency shelter that can be brought to use in very short order.
The tents, winner of 11 awards, are available from a company the pair have founded, Concrete Canvas, are made by impregnating cement particles into a fabric, which are then sewn together and affixed to an inner plastic coating that serves as a bladder for holding air when it is pushed in by a fan. Upon delivery, the tent need only be unrolled and pulled out in the desired location (using a vehicle, as the tent is very heavy, of course) tacked down with stakes, then filled with air via a fan. Then, once in place, the tent is soaked with water (any will do, dirty, salty, etc.) and then left to dry for 24 hours. Once in place, the tents last for up to ten years.
Physorg:
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-05-...ents-news.html
BBC video:
The tent that turns into concrete in less than 24 hours
What I really want to see is the guys that created these jumping up and down on the roof of one to show how sturdy they are.
Linear Mode
