Underground Shelter

I was daydreaming about what I would want for an ideal underground shelter, when I drove past a large concrete yard. this may be a silly round of questioning... but does anyone know if those large sewage pipe style concrete tubes would be useful in constructing a shelter? you could use them on their sides in a tunnel style dwelling, or even have them lay flat, pour a base, and fix together some sort of supported roof?

When I was stationed in Germany, I was a Shelter commander, and the shelter I was in was the10 ft round type sewer tube made by the French. The French are cheap in the way they made things there, any ways digressing again. The round tube type structure was made in 10 foot sections with live rubber in the joints. It was constantly cold, I don’t know if they had insulation on the exterior or not, but even after having a heater in it for 2 days the temperature rarely went above 16*C and without it the tempature plummeted to ground temp. The concrete itself was too porous and held any moisture that got in it. So in conclusion, if your going with concrete, you must use a dense spray insulation on the inside and a damb good sealant/insulation on the exterior preferably with a water run off system. Other wise you’ll have an oversized wine cellar/ and a place to take shelter in an emergency.

Ranger,

I've seen the precast storm sewer pieces that you mention. A corrugated metal product exists that is similar and I had casually thought the same thing. What I like about the product is that it is preformed, as a round product there is room under the walking platform that you would have to build for wiring, and extra piping and the like. It's a bit too tight as a living space however it would be great access if your shelter were over two meters deep and passage from one shelter to another. Sort of triggers my inner science fiction nerd! All that would be needed would be the addition of a hostile alien and perhaps a AI computer calling me "Dave". 😉

.

This might give you some ideas;

http://www.motherearthnews.com/do-it-yourself/grain-bins-z10m0gri.aspx

They use a different metal but the concept should be transferable.
Think big I say...

I remember reading on the Culvert House and an underground Metal Garage house, all put under the earth as homes.
There is a company in the US making quick buy underground bunkers out of the Culvert materials, with upward inside ladder systems, side entries and heating and air exchangers.

My original post is way back about 7 pages so, just to get us back on track here, I will re-post part of my original post. If any others are interested, please message me so we can arrange a get-together. Thanks.

do any of you have any interest in pooling money and resources to build a deep underground shelter that could support 15-20 people for up to a year?...

I have been engineering a shallow sub-teranian house for some time now.

After doing a lot of reading on what works and the chalenges, I have roughed out a few points:
1) drill a water well, even if you are near a creek. As a former nuclear designer, I can say the best filter for any particulate radiation like Alpha particles is the earth. Any surface water will become contaminated but by the time any particles make their way down towards the water table, many will 'half-life out' by becomming trapped in the sub strata.

2) Have an escape route or a false room off your cabin, in case mauraders come by. There are pre-cast electrical vaults that can be built end to end to create a secure room with all the amenities of an RV but not visible with grass & shrubs growing over top.

3) electricity-on the supply side, go with windmills (1200 watt at Canadian Tire), solar panels and if you are lucky to be near a creek, micro-hydro. I've seen sheds with the proper 6volt deep cycle trailer style batteies configured to 24 volts.
On the consuming side, go with RV appliances for lighting with some local 120 volt inverts for light duty appliances.

4) security-fences, foliage and firearms.

The rest is a work in progress...

are those vaults expensive? roundpark...

Dendrite,

I would be interested in this. I'll be home (in Calgary) for two weeks starting Aug 27 if you want to discuss this.

Certainly. Send me a message and we can make some time to meet. Thanks for the interest!

Unfortunately, it’s not letting me PM because my account is too new or not enough posts or something. You are welcome to email me though, just append .ca@gmail.com to my username.

Battlement,

I don't know what the magic number is, however, once you have made enough posts to the forum you are magically given the privilege of PMing. So jump into the fray, don't be offended by contrary views, and let's hear what you have to say.

Cheers,

Antsy

Welcome Battlement and greetings from Northern Ontario.

Battlement,

Sorry, I have been absent for some time now and didn't see that you had tried to PM me. Hopefully you have made the requisite number of posts now and have PM privileges. Try again!