Underground bunker help needed!

[nightjar]

'Secret Base - Guardhouse'.

Colin Bignell

[David]

In article , Freakyclown writes

A popular form of design for underground car parks is top down construction, cast the reinforced concrete slab and then excavate underneath it.

Don't worry too much about waterproofing, just design it right, waterproofing is a well understood art and as long as the design/product/installation is right you can go as deep as you like.

I've worked on a nuclear bunker for the RAF, that was four storeys under a 2m thick reinforced concrete domed roof.

If you are talking about building a nuclear type bunker don't forget fresh water storage, sewage disposal, air scrubbers/filtration systems electric generation, food for five for what say 2 yrs... and then you would have to consider whether its worth surviving anyway, if its anarchy on the streets type bunkering then probably best to form a community of like minded people and form a gated estate type environment with machine gun posts and better to snap up a few land mines while you can still get them

[nightjar]

Think about it, you would probably be better to omit the surface structures entirely. Apply for planning permission for an advanced low-energy subterranean dwelling, emphasising the 'green' advantages of your building and, if you choose your local authority properly, you could sail through planning. Someone might comment that it looks a bit like a nuclear bunker, but then, thick concrete walls help stabilise the internal temperature don't they?

Colin Bignell

[N. Thornton]

This is not correct since the earth is not at an ideal temperature: it is only closer to one than the outdoor air.

If I were building something like this I'd include a long pipe going from outdoor air into the building, running through the more soil the better. Add a fan and you have minimal cost air conditioning.

The one possible issue with this is possible condensation leading to mould, so a heat exchanger would presumably be wise to keep any mould out of the house. Does mean another fan though, and more piping.

Regards, NT

Why insulate and waterlog the whole garden? Should I ask this?

[Ian Stirling]

Or you could plant the top of it, and have a lid that hinges 90 degrees. Hmm. How do you secure trees so that they will be stable when rotated

90 degrees.

[Richard Savage]

nightjar

You would think so, but apparently not, the thought seems to be that a less mobile population, many of whom had direct experience of actual wartime, were more 'biddable' and inclined to accept that 'they' knew better and didn't tend to pry as much as now. There are lots of very dour govt buildings that are completely innocuous and many that are far less innocent. Walking through central London is a revelation if you know what to look for.

Also you couldn't speculate over what you couldn't see. The guardhouse at Kelvedon Hatch is at the end of a winding track on the far side of a hill (containing the bunker) and is not visible from any roads. Some on the other hand were visible, but to what effect:

or All you see is a fairly unpleasant MoW building.

Rgds

Richard

[N. Thornton]

In fact you could use those walls as solar collectors: glass on surface, maybe with mirrors, beamed into the occasional tubehole in the crete wall. During winter this would not only give lots of heat, but also with lots of storage. It would be a 24 hour solar storage heater.

birds eye view of wall x section: __________________ _ () ______ () ___ |__| |__|

() are the tube holes to receive solar.

With the low heat use of underground buildings plus the long storage of the massive concrete, you might be able to have a zero heating fuel building. No CH needed. Just add a BBC based controller for automatic heating.

Regards, NT

[IMM]

[IMM]

Earth in itself a decent insulator. So the earth insulation is at a highest temp anyway. Then the insulation over the structure, spread around to keep the earth on a wider area warmer will add lots of value.

An earth pipe. Best if very long and deep and facing down away from the house.

Yes you should. The garden will be waterlogged as the insulation will be deep enough. The insulation keeps the heat of the earth below the insulation level assisting in keeping the earth shelter a constant temp. The earth pipe will assist here.

[Toby]

Ask Brains re: Tracy Island's TB2 launch pad

[N. Thornton]

[Bob Eager]

Ask Gerry Anderson? Thunderbird 2 hangar?

[Ian Stirling]

What I was thinking of... I suppose a couple of stainless or titanium rods drilled into the trunk at a shallow angle, going down through the bottom of the tree, to secure it.

The rod would have to be able to support the whole weight of the tree, and any torques from the tree being assymetrical, so it'd have to be substantial, as well as being large enough to not exert enough pressure on the wood to crack it.

Once you've sealed the entry wound, and it's been a couple of years, it's going to be hard to see.

There could be benefits to this too. If you used fruit trees, they would be easy to pick when the hatch was open.

[N. Thornton]

lol! I would think low growing things might be easier :)

Regards, NT

[Ian Stirling]

I know, but nowhere near the coolness factor :)

[N. Thornton]

I laugh, but I see we have something in common :)

Regards, NT

[Owain]

"Ian Stirling" wrote | >> > How do you secure trees so that they will be stable when rotated | >> > 90 degrees. | I suppose a couple of stainless or titanium rods drilled into the trunk | at a shallow angle, going down through the bottom of the tree, to | secure it. There could be benefits to this too. | If you used fruit trees, they would be easy to pick when the | hatch was open.

I think it would be much more sensible to grow the tree with its rootball in a giant counterweighted gimbal, so the tree remains vertical when the hatch is open.

If a fruit tree, it could be rotated in the gimbal so all the fruit gets evenly ripened.

And if the children refused to come out of their tree house when you called them for lunch, you could just tilt the tree and they'd slide out.

Owain