GB1491100A - Methods of manufacturing and transporting structures of concrete - Google Patents

Abstract

1491100 Transporting concrete structures using fluid cushions; slipways MACKLEY-ACE Ltd 19 Dec 1975 [25 Feb 1975] 7738/75 Headings B7K and B7S A concrete structure, such as the hull 5 of a barge, is constructed on a launching slip with the use of shuttering (not shown), and is subsequently launched by forming a fluid cushion between the hull and the slip. A flexible skirt 4 having spaced reinforcing webs 6 is temporarily attached to the structure. Air or water is fed to the cushion space from an external pump (15), Fig. 1 (not shown), the fluid conduit 16 passing through a skirt-clamping device 9, or alternatively, through a passage (31), Fig. 4 (not shown), in the concrete structure, or directly through the wall of the skirt (Fig. 5, not shown) To enable the cushion to be primed wooden strips 19 are disposed beneath the structure, or alternatively, grooves or recesses (not shown) may be formed in the bottom of the structure. Cushion fluid may also be supplied through valve-controlled ducts 40a in the slip. An impermeable sheet 20 of for example polythene may be laid on the slip to prevent erosion.