11 may

Today evening was Tency’s enlightening presentation on ferrocement. He started by showing us the first ever boat made by Lambot in the 1850s. It was interesting to learn that the ferrocement is not something novel but a technique that was developed way back. He also mentioned that during that very time, rcc was also born but while rcc made it big, ferrocement could never come out of the shadows. Till date rcc is widely used but ferrocement is yet to gain acceptance. Then he showed how the technique evolved and was used to make boat hulls and yachts. Quite contrary to the belief that ferrocement corrodes easily, these boats worked efficiently. The reason for corrosion is simply exposed mesh or reinforcement which starts degrading thus affecting the strength of structure. Proper care has to be taken to ensure that there is no steel mesh on the surface. There has to be atleast 5mm of mortar on the edges to seal them well and prevent corrosion.

In ferrocement structures, form plays a vital role. Use of curvatures, ridges, folds, cavities help increase the strength of the structure. It’s similar to how in plastics ridges and curvatures are used to give it strength. Like the monobloc chair or a simple plastic packaged water bottle. The thin sheet of plastic gets the capacity to hold the water due to the form. This works to my great advantage as it will be easier to break free from straight and rectilinear forms.

Then he showed us the process of making moulds for the casting process, demoulding and curing. It gave a lot of answers to my queries and concerns but still more remain to be answered. I am waiting to get a hands on experience to discover it. I was literally awed to see the variety of applications of ferrocement at auroville. Roof channels, biogas plants, doors, prefabricated panels and sections, toilets, composting bins, water tanks, scultures, buildings and the very beautiful workshed. Its not just designing and execution that should be taken care of but also transportation, packaging and installation need to be addressed.

The beautiful workshed