News and Information
FERRO-9 The ninth international ferrocement symposium information.
Interview with Paul Sarnstrom- director, FEN
New Classes Scheduled
By popular demand and with great anticipation a Faux Bois Class has been scheduled for this summer. The Laminated Ferrocement Class, and RC Sinks and Countertops Class which we did last year will be returning again this year as well. These classes will again be held in Montrose Colorado. For class details click the appropriate links above .
Check here for Hotel and travel information Click here for Class Info for Attendees Click the links above for details and description of the class. We hope to see you there.
Notes from a Previous Class
In early March the FEN was contacted by Eric Stevens, a structural engineer in Durango Colorado. Eric agreed to help the Fort Lewis College chaper of EWB [Engineers Without Borders] do the designs and drawings for two FC water tanks. The largest of these tanks is 18" diameter and 6' high and since neither Eric or the EWB chapter had ever done FC work in the past they asked for the assistance of the FEN. I consulted with Eric and Don May, professor of engineering at Fort Lewis College by email and phone to answer specific questions and give ideas on the tanks' construction. They decided that it might be a good idea to do a mock-up before they actually went to Thailand to construct these two tanks.
I went to Durango on Saturday, April 7th and on Sunday we built a 1/5th section of the large tank. The 6 students, two professors and two working engineers built the armature on Saturday and Sunday was mud day both literally and figuratively. It rained in the early morning so we all went inside for an hour or so where I went over basic FC principles and procedures and answered questions. Around 10:00AM the rain stopped and we went outside where I showed the crew how to mix and apply mortar to the armature. Bear in mind that the majority of the participants had never handled a trowel much less done FC. It was great fun to witness a point about two hours in where everyone had mastered basic techniques and come together as a crew and in three hours they finished applying all the mortar! Overall I was very pleased with the way things went, especially so as everyone there was very new to FC and I wasn't sure exactly what this group needed when I went there.
Some feedback from the professors and students follows:
- "Very helpful in learning the basics of FC."
- "Greatly improved our confidence that we can successfully construct tanks this summer."
- "I really learned a lot about application techniques working one-on-one with Paul."
- "Getting theory, application and practical assistance was very helpful."
- "FC is great stuff and I will look for other applications."
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