Concrete Dock Float

The finished product.

 

Is that macerated waste? Which tank is which and why is one round? Guessing that is graywater, but maybe the shape is important for b/w? Or for the pumping to land? So curious..

 

The spherical tank recieves the raw waste by gravity feed. From there the mascerator pump lifts the waste up the hill to the two digesters, EcoFlows in this case. Their efluent goes to a dispersal field.
The dosing tank is spherical because the septic engineer ordered the wrong tank, so I was obliged to build an octagonal base for it and set it in cement.
I definitely would have preferred a cylindrical tank, because that would have lowered the CoG of the entire assembly some.

Any thoughts on the mounting system of three turnbuckles?

 

Flimsy is the first thought that comes to mind.
What happened to the dock hinge idea?
And where did the rectangular tank from post #16 end up?

EDIT: Don't forget about snow loads.

 

The top turnbuckles are rated 6500# each. More than theweight of the assembly. The lower turnbuckle is rated 11000#, which is well over twice the weight of the assembly. The turnbuckles can swing 180° in the plane of their shackles, and 30° normal to that plane. The float floats, and bears all the weight. The turnbuckles keep it all from floating away.

The float still has an extra ton of reserve displacement.

@BlueBell , the attachment hardware are indeed the dock hinges you recommended. I realized the system needed to allow for relative movement between the float and the big concrete float, because the water is gravity fed down the mountain, but the mascerator pump is electric. If the generator dies people can still flush the toilet, filling the black dosing tank and pushing down the float.

The big box tank is a grease trap. We moved it off the float.

 

I wonder if you need ventilation on the barge to keep the smell tolerable or is it a closed system?

 

It only has three sides.

 

Hello, all I can say is that is a Shitty Situation... New to forum and I cannot figure out how to message directly. Dogcavalry, I am going to start a aluminum v bow boat to landing craft conversion and I noticed you mentioned you had a friend doing the same thing. I would greatly appreciate an introduction of sorts to bounce ideas with etc. Hope your shitty project goes well. Looks good so far! Thanks

 

When did I say that? Might be years ago. I do not recall.

 

I'm not sure when that post was. But thank you for the reply. My project is a 28 Marinette to landing craft. It's going to be a few months out but will post pics and questions for sure. Thanks again,
Mark

 

I guess "vulnerable" may have been a better term to describe my thoughts regarding the turnbuckles.
Doesn't really matter, you seem more interested in defending there use than the feedback you asked for.
I'm sure you're right but what factor of safety ( n ) is designed into dynamic loading come winter storms,
snow, water saturation, etc?
Carry on. Nice job.

 

What alternate attachment do you suggest, if turnbuckles seem flimsy?

 

DogCavalry I don't want to sound alarmist or picky, but your float seems to have a bit of warping, already, unless it's the camera lens, but the boards at the waterline don't lie. How many years is it meant to last ? On the turnbuckles, the weakest points would be the attachment to the woodwork, and the dockside bolts into the concrete. You can always go bigger turnbuckles, but I think it's the ends where any issues may present. I hope you have no tides or flows to wrench it around, and considerate boaters not making wakes. It's an interesting project anyway.

 

The float has a tiny lengthwise sag from construction. I am impressed you could see it.

Attachment to the superstructure is good. Attachment to the concrete is my concern. I used 8 of 10mm SS expanding wedge anchors set 10cm deep each at the upper turnbuckles for roll control and standoff, but I think I will replace them with 12.7mm epoxy anchors.

In operation the sewage rises and falls in the dosing tank enough to move the CoG toward or away from the wall causing a slight loll. The poop don't mind.