[Pengyou]

i have been reading threads and forums about people talking about underground shelters and the cost/time it takes to build them Has anyone considered buying 100"+ sewage trunk - i.e. concrete pipe that is 100" inches or more in diameter? This kind of piping is usually buried underground, so can endure the weight of the earth on top of it...you would need to fabricate some end pieces and an entrance but that should not be too difficult. has anyone looked into this? I have tried googling for this material but cannot find it.

 

[Cygnus]

I have a large 10ft cast iron pipe buried in the ground for a well house. It's about 6 ft ceiling and I would only use it for an emergency like tornado. Wouldn't want to be in a small space like that for more than a few hours myself.

 

[Ripon]

Not sure how you would come across it. Very few private parties buy such a thing. I have a little experience in working with my city when they put in some massive storm drain lines and I think some of that were at least that big - one I think was a 120 inches as I recall. Now the line / job cost millions but I have no idea what they actually spent on 20 - 30 linear feet of that pipe nor do I have any idea how you'd buy it?

I do know you can buy 8-20/24/30 steel containers for $3k pretty easy. I saw ads for one recently at $2k plus 150 for delivery but doubt that was delivery to where I wanted.

i have been reading threads and forums about people talking about underground shelters and the cost/time it takes to build them Has anyone considered buying 100"+ sewage trunk - i.e. concrete pipe that is 100" inches or more in diameter? This kind of piping is usually buried underground, so can endure the weight of the earth on top of it...you would need to fabricate some end pieces and an entrance but that should not be too difficult. has anyone looked into this? I have tried googling for this material but cannot find it.

 

[Pengyou]

Are you talking about shipping containers? I have recently seen threads talking about the fact that these would not hold up under the pressure of 2-3 feet of soil, and would not be safe options to use for an underground shelter without modifying them. Also, corrosion would be an issue.

 

[Verteidiger]

i have been reading threads and forums about people talking about underground shelters and the cost/time it takes to build them Has anyone considered buying 100"+ sewage trunk - i.e. concrete pipe that is 100" inches or more in diameter? This kind of piping is usually buried underground, so can endure the weight of the earth on top of it...you would need to fabricate some end pieces and an entrance but that should not be too difficult. has anyone looked into this? I have tried googling for this material but cannot find it.

Here is a link for you - a company in Utah will build one to order - steel corrugated pipe:

Utah Shelter Systems - Because Survival Is The Highest Priority

 

[Will2]

an alternative to these might be a tank with an entrance door/welded onto it.

Used Stainless Steel Storage Tanks : Pipe Culverts : Carbon Steel Tanks : Pressure Vessels : D & K Tanks

But that is probably somewhere in the 10k ballpark, maybe less plus shipping.

This one here looks room size

tem #185 & Item 186
4,500 gallons
8' diameter
12' sidewall
12'8" overall
UL-142 Labeled
Sidewall: 1 - 2" coupling low ~ 1 - 1" coupling low
Roof: 2 - 2" couplings ~ 1 - 18" loosebolt manway ~ 2 lifting eyes

$3,500.00 each plus freight from Robinson, IL

This one is 9'
TEM BAT-1

10,000 gallon
Steel tank on skids
8 feet diameter by 27 feet long
Overall - 9 feet tall - 32 foot long skid
Skid is 5 feet wide
Located in Robinson, IL

$4,500.00 plus freight

As mentioned elsewhere is to build multple layers to hold dirt above the object to divert structural load beraing back to the earth I posted the mult layer shelter model in another thread

What you can do is slope the wall downward you could create boxes on the layer to hold the dirt, if it colapses it shuold collapse to the space left to the size of the shelter rather than ontop of the shelter. You should have air intakes and outlets that are covered to protect from cloging on your air intake.

3 layers provides for 3 separate 1 ft surfaces to hold.

3ft of soil provides for 99.9% of blocking. this allows you to have multiple layers all your layers shold be sloped for drainage. having them plastic sealed should provide water accumulation prevention. the key is to make sure you have room for drianage, a drainage well and that you divert surface water away from the shelter to keep soil weird low as possible.

This allows you to have multiple layers of load bearing so it isn't all supported by your object.

Instead of having 10 ft of dirt on your home, you have multiple levels each supporting a smaller amount of dirt.

This one looks pretty good too

Item 172

6,360 gallons approximately
Carbon steel tank
8'6" diameter
15'8" sidewall
18'8" overall height
Top:
1 - 18" manway
1 - 3" emergency vent
2 lifting eyes
Bottom:
Sump with 2 - 2" flanges
Sidewall:
Electric heater
1 -1-1/2" coupling
1 - 18" manway
8" flange mixer on sidewall
Insulated

$4,000.00 plus freight

You could actually instead of having air between layers put insulation between the layers which fills up greater volume but is much lighter than dirt.

Even a natural insulator like leaves in garbage bags could be used.

just attempted to explain in more detail