GRP Barge

How do you intend to heat up the interior? FRP burns. Not the glass itself but the resin. There is an additive that can be mixed with the resin to make it fire resistant but only on selected areas of the boat.

 

I plan on using a wet system underfloor heating. I will use slate both as a floor and ballast with heating pipes under neath. With good insulation and double/tripled glazed windows heating bills will be kept low.

 

Two vertical constraints on inland waterway barge design. One is the water draft limitation - ie how far below the water surface the boat can extend. The other is the air draft limitation - ie how far above the water surface the boat can extend and clear bridges, tunnels, etc. The water draft will need to be sufficient to allow for the desired interior headroom while keeping the air draft below the limitations of the waterways the boat will be used on. An early step in design should be to check that the vertical stack of boat bottom and structure, ballast needed to obtain sufficient water draft, any underfloor systems, flooring, headroom height, "ceiling" if any, and boat top and associated structure will fit between the water draft and air draft limitations.

 

Any calculations done on amount of insulation versus capacity of the heating system. Six inches of insulation on either side of the boat will take one foot out the available interior width.

Any investigation of specifying a better quality of steel? My thought is maintenance and corrosion is very dependent on the coating system used and its application.

How important is it to you that the boat be a "new idea" and not traditional? What tradeoffs are you prepared to make to have a "new idea"?

 

An alternative would be to build a GRP hull with a much thinner or no core, and install the foam insulation inside the hull. An uncored hull will usually be considerably more resistant to local impacts, such as contact with part of a lock, than a cored hull of equivalent strength. Given that ballast is likely to be needed to achieve sufficiently deep draft there may be little or no advantage to a cored hull over an uncored hull with interior insulation.

 

Are you thinking about UK or USA regs as they will be different. If I build new they will be similar to steal UK widebeams only in GRP.

 

My boat will be either 12 or 11 feet wide and 11 or 10 feet wide on the inside which is plenty. There are many 10 feet wide beams that people live on. You may like to take a look at some of the better wide beam manufacturers that are in Poland and the Czech Republic.
No locks on the Norfolk Broads but plenty of tidal rivers and numerous boats especially in summer.

 

Aqualine is probably one of the best on the market. Narrowboat & Widebeams Built By the UK's Leading Boat Builders http://newandusedboat.co.uk/widebeam-boat-builders/

 

Its interesting, but didn't really answer the question - what IS the Budget.

"not a complicated design" doesn't mean the design of a FG barge will be inexpensive. As you and 200 other people over the years have found, knowing the layup specs IS the nub of the matter. Getting an insurable, reliable design will not be cheap.

Also, people who are envisaging a single sided layer of FG are forgetting that cored FG is a whole lot stiffer and stronger than single layer, and would end up costing a whole heap more.

The optimum design will incorporate engine bulwarks, accommodation walls, tankage etc, and will not just be a straightforward "box" , if you want to get the most efficient result out of FG.

 

The budget will depend on what route I take, (buying an existing hull or starting from scratch) and I do not want to disclose it until I have done some more research.

I totally agree with you about the cored FG which is why I would prefer that if possible. I plan on partly building it myself with the help of a FG specialist so that should help to keep costs down.

One thing I have forgot to mention is that steal barges are not best suited to the Norfolk Broads due to their flat bottomed hulls which can make problems with steering them, although there are owners with Dutch barges on the Broads. All Broad cruisers are v shaped hulls better suited to the tidal waterways.

I will be using electric propulsion with at least 3kw to 4kw of Sunpower solar panels (currently the best on the market although there is very interesting research going on by a Swiss group into new panels producing 35% efficiency) in conjunction with suitable batteries (may be the Tesla 13kw power wall), possibility of using electric outboards so will need to reinforce the rear wall of the stern to take what power I decide to use. I hope to make the boat all electric with a small backup portable generator for use in the winter when solar power will be much less, but I will also have at least 2 marine wind generators as in Norfolk the winds can blow plenty. Cruising will be a lot less in the winter months so I will not require as much electric power for propulsion.

With UK barges they use plywood for internal walls based on a stud system and plastic piping for water, although I would prefer to use continuous runs of copper with the minimum amount of joints.

I will be talking to a fibreglass marine specialist here in Eastleigh tomorrow so hope to get some good feedback from them.

Yes, this will all take time and money but the future is electric, electric cars, electric boats and electric trains. Electric planes are somewhat in the distance although research is going on with light aircraft. Virgin have just teamed up with the Hyperloop research group although that technology is unproven as of now.

With loads of help from others I know this project will be successful.

 

Cored composite is the way to go if you want to insulate the outer skin from the inner skin. This would make for a very light, stiff structure. However, your choice of core is styrofoam which would require you to use epoxy, increasing the cost of building.

I would go with what most others have suggested. Build it out of poly resin and glass (lots of CSM), insulate the walls with Styrofoam the finish the walls with wood which is a better/tougher insulator. The whole of the boat need not be insulated. The engine room, the cold storage, and the bow section. Also the sides can be thinner than the roof and bottom. Heat goes up and the idea is to prevent heat from migrating so the primary concern would be a minimum contact from the outside skin to the inner skin.

I suggest you draw a preliminary sketch of what it is going to be, separating the functions of each. Boat do have a lot of plumbing and electrical so be prepared in advance how you will embed it in the insulation. Engine and steering room needs a lot of hard points and thru hull connections. It might be impractical to have a cored structure in that area.

 

Thanks for your input. Cored GRP it would be if I build even though more costly.

No engine room as electric outboard. No gas on board therefore no need for gas lockers.

All wiring and plumbing in conduit, runs will be fully accessible for maintenance.

 

You may have missed an important point. " your choice of core is styrofoam which would require you to use epoxy,".

IF you used a more acceptable high density foam, INSTEAD of Styrofoam, you could use Polyester Resin - and save yourself money because
A) Poly Resin is Cheaper,
B) You wouldn't need as much Resin and Glass because hi density foam contributes a lot of extra structural strength to the structure.

 

Fair point. What high density foam would you recommend? Needs to have good insulation properties.

 

That will be up to the designer, density anywhere from 12 to 50 lb.sq ft . It may not be very thick (say 12mm - 25mm ) , but it will add to insulation values. The designer will know what brands are available locally.

It's there for structural purposes only, so for livability you may need to arrange further foam inside, which can be styrofoam ( as long as its fire retardant) , but you may prefer to use higher density foam in a fibreglass skin for decks and cabin tops, if the overall strength of the boat can be augmented.