Design Proposal

Problem Overview –

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, it was clear that new methods for self rescue needed to be created. “Racial and ethnic minorities and individuals with low income and little education tend to have higher perceptions of risk from natural hazards, perhaps due to their lack of resources and their vulnerable positions in society…According to Brian Wolshon and others writing in Natural Hazards Review, there may have been 250,000 people in New Orleans with no means of private transportation”[1]. Experts believe that thousands still remained in New Orleans when hurricane Katrina struck and about a thousand people died from the flood water.

  During water-based disasters such as hurricanes and tsunamis, people have trouble escaping flood zones.  They do not have any floatation devices to save themselves from high waters.  Federal aid often takes a significant amount of time and may not even come at all.  This makes it hard to leave the unsafe area and can sometimes make one trapped in their home.

Figure 1: A man and his dog stranded on their house during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Design Constraints – ­­

• Cost: This needs to be kept at an absolute minimum. Since it is primarily low-income people who lack private transportation, the solution needs to reflect that. 
• Materials: Recycled materials will need to be used, materials that are common in most households. During a flood, people cannot go to the store to buy materials.
• Time: When disaster strikes, there is usually very little warning. At most, people have a day or two to prepare. As such, the entire solution, from resource gathering to construction, needs to only take about a day.
• Construction: This needs to be easy to build because it serving all walks of life. It should not take any special skills or knowledge to build, or any prodigious strength.
• Environment: The materials need to be environment friendly in case the boat comes apart. All the materials should be able to withstand the extremes of the environment.
• Weight: The boat itself should not be heavy in case it needs to be transported across land. The boat should also be able to hold around 450 pounds which is enough for two average sized people and supplies.

Pre-Existing Solutions -
The idea of creating a boat for the purpose of rescuing yourself during a natural disaster has not yet been explored. What has been becoming a new trend throughout the United States is competitions where people are required to make boats from recycled materials. Many different approaches have been explored. A librarian from Massachusetts has been holding these competitions since 1986 when the boats would originally be constructed from plastic sheeting and milk bottles. In more recent years, cardboard has been the chosen material to create the boat with along with other miscellaneous materials that can be found in homes such as nuts, bolts, tape and staples. The boats are not expected to make it very far though, the competition requires contestants to race the length of the town beach, turn around and return, there are even awards presented to those whose boat has “the most spectacular sinking” [2]. Someone who did have distance in mind was David de Rothschild who created a 60-foot catamaran out of nothing but recycled plastic. He successfully took a 11,000 mile voyage from the Golden Gate across the Pacific to Syndey Harbor. One technique they used was to place dry ice powder into the cap of the bottles so that they would become solid and not crush under the force of the waves. [3] Our hopes for this project is to combine both aspects of this project so that it includes the use of materials found in homes with the distance that David de Rothschild was able to go.

Figure 2: David de Rothschild's boat made of 12,500 2 liter plastic water bottles.

Figure 3: An example of a boat constructed of recycled materials.

Design Goal - 

The ultimate goal is to have a working prototype of the boat by the end of the lab cycle. This boat will be able to hold up to 450 pounds, which is enough weight to support two people and supplies. Most of the materials will be made of recycled goods. There will be two large cylindrical nets on each side of the raft filled with empty plastic bottles. These will be placed about five feet apart from each other. Then, a floor will be made by positioning interlocking layers of cardboard. Plastic sheeting will be used to protect the floor and make it impermeable to water. Two 2 X 4 slabs of wood may be connected between the nets, under the cardboard, to provide further support if need be. This boat will enable a family with very little income a means of transportation during a flood. They will not be trapped in their house, or carried away by the raging waters. This design is better than current options for two reasons. First, it is much smaller in scale than de Rothschild boat, and thus will be much more practical for people who need to build the boat quickly. The construction should not take more than a couple of hours. On the other hand, this boat will be much sturdier than the cardboard boats made for competitions. Those boats, which are only designed to last a few minutes, get wet and sink very easily. The bottle-filled nets will keep the cardboard deck above the water level, thus enabling the boat to survive longer.

Project Deliverables -
There will be a full-sized, functional boat created by the last class.  This boat will have meet all or most of the design constraints.  It will also look similar to the design goal unless problems arise from the actual construction of the raft.  The actual raft is the only physical deliverable that is in place right now.  If time permits, other models of the raft will be made.  This will allow us to find out which designs are the most functional.
Apart from the actual boat, lab results and a presentation will be prepared for week 10.  The lab results will show the durability of each material.  The presentation will outline everything accomplished over the 10 week period.

Project Schedule -

• Week 3 - The design proposal will be completed. Designs for the raft will start in lab and be completed throughout the week. The materials for each design will be researched and the projected cost will be assessed.
• Week 4 - The primary design will be picked and materials will start to be gathered. Labs will be set up to test the materials durability.
• Week 5 - The testing in labs will be completed and the data will be organized. Any last minute changes to the design will be made from the information gathered in lab. Following the lab, construction will begin to take place on the boat.
• Week 6 - Finishing touches will be made to the constructed raft in lab. Testing the boat will occur following lab in Bucks County.
• Week 7 - Solutions to any problems encountered while testing will be solved and fixed in lab. A second test will occur later in the week.
• Week 8 & 9 - All testing and research will be assembled into the finished project. The presentation will be created.
• Week 10 - The finish project will be presented in week 10.

Projected Budget -
The project budget should be between fifty and seventy five dollars. The main supplies will be recycled materials such as water bottles and cardboard from empty boxes of food products. There are a few potential costs, however it will not be known until the construction has begun. First, Duct tape might be used to construct the boat. Ideally, one member of the group will already have enough, but one may need to purchase it. The cost of a roll of duct tape is $8.49 at Staples. Another potential expense would be two 2 by 4’s. These 2 by 4’s cost $16.11 on Amazon. Netting to contain the water bottles cost $20.69 on Amazon. Plastic sheeting will also need to be purchased if no recycled sheeting is found. The sheeting cost $15.29 on Amazon.

References

[1]Schmidlin, Thomas W. "On Evacuation and Deaths from Hurricane Katrina." Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 87.6 (2006): 754-6. ProQuest Research Library. 10 Apr. 2012 .

[2] J. Minch, “All hands on deck for Lunenburg's Great Cardboard Boat Race,” Sentinel & Enterprise, June, 2011.

[3] M. R. della Cava, “Hope floats on recycled plastic boat,” USA TODAY, pp. 1D, November, 2009.