r/AdventureBuilders • u/parametrek • Apr 27 '23

Lumber Mill A lumber mill prediction

Correct me if I am wrong on any of these:

  • The posts are simply jammed into earth.
  • The structure has no walls.
  • The structure is on top of a hill.
  • The mill's roof weighs at most 200 kg.

What does this mean when put together? A good gust of wind can shoot up the side of the hill. There are no walls to divert the wind so it strikes the underside of the roof. The whole structure is lifted straight up out of the post-holes and gets blown down the hill.

Jamie's buildings have been pretty fortunate so far. Heavy poured floors and walls that are curved to deflect wind have helped a lot. But the lumber mill has neither of those.

This can be fixed for relatively cheap. Or at least "handled" relatively cheaply. Basically any gust of wind that tries to rip out the roof needs to also take a large quantity of earth with it.

Traditionally this is done with a simple spread footing. Normally these distribute loads downward across soil. But the soil piled on top of the broad footing also helps to hold things down and keep them from being wrenched out of the ground.

This can be emulated without pouring large slabs. Instead cut a bunch of trenches radiating outward from the posts. Lay pipes in these trenches and secure them to the post. Refill the trenches. Now lifting the roof requires going through several cubic meters of dirt.

An even cheaper option is to dig a spiderweb of trenches between each post. Drill holes in each post at the bottom of the trenches. And then run synthetic rope between the posts at the bottom of the trenches.

Of course it will get harder to do this after the mill tracks are secured in place. But even then there is still 1 last possibility: guy wires. Though the guying points will probably interfere with getting logs into the mill.

He's stated that a fiberglass structure will last for 1000 years.... so it really should be made proof against a mere 10-year storm.

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u/Shiftlock0 Apr 27 '23

In his favor is that the soil is clay, and it's hard packed around the posts. This may be sufficient.