We finished one pontoon and are ready to do pressure testing on it. Here is a picture of one of the hoists that lifted it onto the work stands: Here is a look under the pontoon. And similar to the previous pontoon tests, we have three access “ports”. The big one on the right is…
More pontoon progress
I just figured I’d post these photos of the pontoon progress today. It is moving along at a good pace… Bottom, sides, and interior are mostly done. Another interesting thing are these hoist frames that they built over the past day or two: When the time comes to lift up the ~800kg pontoons to check…
BaanLoinNaam update: Welding the pontoons has begun
This week, we began building the pontoons for the floating house (BaanLoiNaam) in earnest. We’ve settled on a smaller house plan, resulting in an interior space of only 3m x 4m! The footprint including balconies and semi-outdoor bathroom is still only 6m x 7m. As a result, we are targeting building a support base of…
A tool shed and a floating house
We probably should have done this a long time ago, but we finally started building a decent sized toolshed for the workers to keep everything from wheelbarrows and ladders to drill presses and spools of electrical wire. Previously, they just kept this stuff in the houses as they built the houses, but it is time…
Adding floor boards and ballast to the ferry boat
Things have been really busy on the land in the last week. We’ve been planting trees and wiring up lights and testing out a new rainflow diverter that I’ve taken pictures of and will try to post over the next few days to get caught up on. But first, I thought I would post an…
Yesterday on land, today in the water: the pontoons float!
I’ve been writing a lot about the experimental pontoons we’ve been building recently. Well, yesterday we got a chance to assemble them into a kind of rough boat (raft?) and take it out onto the pond. First the welding team along with the help of some of the construction workers carried both of the pontoons…
A giant steel balloon
On the first pontoon pressure test a few days ago, we found that the main leak point was the large inspection tube. The issue was that it was cast iron rather than steel, making the welded seam less perfect than a steel-to-steel weld. But being on the top, it would never be submerged under water in…
Pressure testing the pontoon prototype
The first pontoon was completely done welding so did our first test to see if there are any holes that might leak. The basic idea is that we welded on a few extra connectors to the top corner of the pontoon. The first allows us to screw in a pressure gauge. The second allows us…
Pontoon update: attaching the skin
Here are a few photos of the pontoon welding in progress. Since we finished the frame in the last update, the welder is moving on to weld on the plate steel that I usually just refer to as “the skin”. We’ve finished the sides, front and back, and in these pictures they are welding the bottom. (The pontoon…
Pontoon update: frame done
I swung by and took a look at the progress on the pontoon yesterday. The metal frame of the first prototype pontoon is done. The next step will be to weld on the outer plating. I’m excited to see if we can pressure test the plating successfully or not. After that we will begin the…
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