EWB Bristol - NIGERIAN BOAT LIFT PROJECT Client Supervisor Team Members Dr David Donovan of the New Foundations

Organisation James Clark Peter Lai Sophie Payne Edward Reid Stephen Way

SPRING 2008

______________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION A medical centre on the Niger Delta uses fibre-glass hulled boats to move supplies up and down the river. These boats have been stolen in the past, and a system was required to remove the boat from the water and lock it down near the medical centre itself. The materials provided were rudimentary, bamboo, rope, some wood, concrete and reinforcing bar, and the only power available was that provided by the local population. ENGINEERING CHALLENGES Unknown parameters specific soil conditions, properties of materials available, availability of suitable tools Significant change in water level - The water level can vary between 3 and 10 feet depending on the season from the sandy and steep bank Size of boat to be lifted solution designed for a boat of 5m long, mass of 350 kg Designing commercially available components from scratch (winches/trolleys) Producing a solution to be constructed by local labour and materials, (probably no engineering expertise) Ensuring robustness and longevity to withstand loading (from the boat and river flow), damp expansion, weather, and be resistant to theft DESIGNS CONSIDERED N.B. This is extracted from a document sent to the client part way through the design phase, and details the majority of the engineering and design thoughts

Here are the three initial design proposals that we came up with that were the main contenders
for getting the boat out of the water, with associated information, and a summary of each design. Crane-type design using either a lift-twist-drop motion, or a lift-slide-drop motion A variable bamboo slipway that can raise and fall with the tide, including rollers to assist movement. Winch incorporated to ease movement Remodel bank to form slipway and use winch system again

INITIAL DESIGN PROPOSAL I LIFT AND SLIDE

The winch used for this design is the same as that used in design proposal 2. Design 1 Pros No dragging of boat Design 1 Cons Increased mechanical complexity Uncertain anchoring pillars in river Uncertain structural rigidity (in roller and struts) Only construction possible during dry season Any crane based mechanism is based on strong foundations in terms of large axial forces and large bending moment very uncertain of the banks properties

INITIAL DESIGN PROPOSAL II VARIABLE BAMBOO SLIPWAY WITH BUOYANCY AIDS

Design 2 Pros Simple construction disposable components easily reconstructed Reduced friction Least reliant on bank composition and structure Should be able to operate with 2 people Doesnt require dry season to assemble majority Design 2 Cons Dragging of boat INITIAL DESIGN PROPOSAL III BANK CUTTING This design simply involves cutting through the bank to create a much shallower incline for the boat, then supporting the cut away surfaces with bamboo driven into the remaining earth on the surface of the ramp and the sides of it. This would use a similar winch design to that for the previous design. Design 3 Pros Most solid support of boat Strongest design structurally Simplest to implement if conditions correct Design 3 Cons Dragging of boat Requires dry season to model ramp Effectiveness of rollers in ramp uncertain Effectiveness of bank remodelling uncertain

CONCLUSION If the details of the soil and the river could be found accurately, then it would have been more likely that the bank cutting would have been used, however this lack of knowledge combined with the continual wetting and drying of any cut surface, led to the 2nd design of a floating ramp being used. This led to a design with a solid plinth with a floating slip way, combined with a constructed trolley and winch. This design had minimal unknowns, simple construction, and increased maintainability, at the tradeoff of using excess materials. BIBLIOGRAPHY Foundations http://environment.uwe.ac.uk/geocal/foundations/founbear.htm Foundation Design and Construction, MJ Tomlinson Strength of rope types http://www.harwoods-yacht-chandlers.co.uk/chandlery/rope2.htm Strength of bamboo http://www.bambootechnologies.com/bambooresearch/pp01.htm http://www.americanbamboo.org/GeneralInfoPages/BambooAsMaterial.html http://www.bambooliving.com/research.html http://www.bambootechnologies.com/PDF.cfm/BambooICCESR1636.pdf http://www.bamboocentral.org/whybamboo.html
http://bambus.rwth-aachen.de/eng/reports/mechanical_properties/referat2.html

Flow Velocity in Niger Delta http://www.cig.ensmp.fr/~iahs/hsj/380/hysj_38_03_0231.pdf River flow http://www.cig.ensmp.fr/~iahs/hsj/380/hysj_38_03_0231.pdf Bamboo http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/ARTICLE/WFC/XII/1015-A1.HTM