Environmental Products

Coral Reef Study, Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Read More about this coral reef study shown here in our blog.


      A Simple looking bag does an important job for Clmate change 
These bags look deceptively simple, but they are just the right size and shape to protect 
sensitive electronic equipment that is used to measure climate at the tops of old-growth trees.  
This equipment is required so that sensitive measurements of tree growth can be compared 
with local climate to determine which climate conditions are important and at which times 
of the year.  Understanding this is critical to determine how climate change will affect 
Northwest conifer growth.  I would hope to have more information for you, but the science 
involved here is over my head.  I am a humble bag maker.

Manatee Rescue Platform made with inflatable tubes and Drop stitch.

Read about how it works here

See a video about the product

We hope to have videos of an actual rescue soon.

Inflatable cataraft for scientific river study

After using my Stretch Flyer Cat for channel mapping on the Snake in 2010, I was asked by Carl Legleiter, a University of Wyoming geomorphologist, to build a research boat for the 2011 field season. Having built several modular whitewater frames with SpeedRail fittings, I designed a new one to mount the equipment we planned to use for measuring the depth, current speed, current direction, reflectance, turbidity, and other characteristics.

See the whole story with multiple pictures and explainations at this web site.

Universtiy of Wyoming river research

Inflatable floating weir fence helps control salmon

As of July 21, 2011 we are under contract to build this unique inflatable device to help control salmon runs near the City of Seattle. The part you see in the picture above is the weir fence, and it is supported by an inflatable in 3 separate sections, that are tied to the fence to keep it afloat. Twice a day the tubes are deflated and debris washes off of the fence. For this reason the hoses must run inside of a skin that is attached to the fence. The inflation tubes are 1.5 inches in diameter. For more detail, have a look at the single tube and skin.

Cory Cuthburtson Is the fellow who I worked with on the design of this thing, and he is the operator of the facility. I appreciated his patience with me since I did not really know what we were doing for quite some time. He helped me get it. Here is what he had to say about this design and the product. So a lot of the credit goes to having good customers who are willing to work with us to get us to understand the issues involved.

THE PONTOONS ARE AWESOME!!! They worked perfectly as soon as we hooked them up, exactly as we hoped. You guys do really good work and we are totally happy with the product that we got. We're already seeing operational advantages over our old equipment and as the river flows pick up this fall we'll be appreciating those pontoons even more.

.I'll definitely be recommending you guys if anyone is looking for a similar product in the future. I'm totally confident that you would be able to provide a top quality product.

Industrial Composting Tubes
These industrial composting tubes are called CompDogs™. They are the brain child of engineering team at Engineered Compost Systems. ECS has a number of ways to compost material that would otherwise go into landfills and take up valuable space. This one uses three 90 ft long air chambers (shown here with and without the cover bag so that the locating straps and pull d rings can be seen). They are installed with the back end inserted into a suction hose. The suction hose is along the cinder block wall. This triple tube design is inflated, and then buried under compost with the suction hose in place. After the compost has settled, the comp dog is deflated and pulled out from under the pile and this action leaves a cavity. The front of the cavity is caved in with a shovel, and the air suction is turned on. Air being pulled through the pile eliminates the need to turn the compost, and reduces the composting time and increases the quality of the compost. If you are interested in this product please contact Engineered Compost Systems, 206-634-2625, www.compostsystems.com

CompDogs™ are Trademarked and patented by Engineered Compost Systems.

USGS Clear Plastic Chamber for Ocean Water Chemistry Studies
Nathan Smiley form the USGS in Florida commissioned us to build something we have never done before. To do this work we had to re think our process so we could weld unsupported vinyl film into a cataraft tube shape. The USGS be suspends this tube inflated with sea water under water for water quality analysis. We also built large clear tarps for the Sharq project. These studies will help find answers to why coral reefs are dieing world wide. This study is critical to our survival since 70% or more of our oxygen comes from healthy oceans. To learn more about the work that they do visit these web sites.

http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/ofr/00-361/sharq.html
http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/ofr/00-166/
http://soundwaves.usgs.gov/2004/07/staff.html

Oil and Gas Spill Containment - Inflatable and Self Inflating
This is a compact rapid deployment system that rolls up and fits into a dry bag that is mounted behind the cab of a semi tractor. If there is a fuel tank rupture, the unit can be rapidly deployed, by pulling a cord on an inflator. The inflator punctures a co2 gas bottle. It takes seconds for the unit to inflate. The inflatable ring rides on top of the fluid trapped inside the skirt. The one pictured here is the original proto type. See the Solid Works drawing of the final design.

It has a Schrader valve for emergency inflation and only 2 handles. Both designs have 180 gallon capacity. With a higher skirt the capacity could be much more.

Please have a look at the press release we are sending out on this product.

Oil and Gas Spill Containment - Foam Filled
These containment systems are used every day in industries where it is undesirable to get contaminants spilled on the ground or worse into the water shed from pipelines, engines, or even stored chemicals. These foam filled units can be driven over without damage. The foam just expands back into shape. They are light enough to be portable. They can be made in a wide range of sizes and colors. The foam inside is polyurethane foam rubber, the bottom is 42 oz pvc coated polyester, and the ring is 18 oz pvc coated polyester truck tarp material.

Inflatable containment system 18 ft by 24 ft 9.5 inches high

This containment was purchased by a nuclear power plant in South Carolina. It has the 42 oz material bottom, and is super stout. It is built around the inflatable tray system. In other words, the tray is built and attached to the inflatable. In this same way we can make the tray and put individual tubes on the outside so that a truck could drive in and out. This gives the capability to decontaminate a vehicle and keep the water from draining off. See the corner detail concept, the tray detail concept, and the big picture. This next link is a 10 x 10 ft inflatable containment with a lighter duty truck tarp bottom material. This containment floated on the water under a bridge to keep lead paint chips out of the water when the bridge was being repainted. We are happy to work with our customers on all variations.

Floating Fish Finder
This system of keeping track of endangered species is the brain child of Mark McKinstry of the Bureau of Reclamation, and Peter Mackinnon from Utah State University. Mark and Peter combined efforts to design this floating transmitter/ receiver system. Fish are first caught with traditional methods, then are implanted with a self-excited transmitter about the size of a grain of rice. Latter trips can detect the fish when the Antenna device floats over top of them. The tiny transmitters in the fish are excited, disclosing the location of the fish. This is a non-intrusive way to keep track of endangered species.

Here are Mark’s Comments: "I just wanted to send you a couple of pictures on our floating PIT tag antenna that you built for us. It actually worked pretty well and we are thinking about building some more. We were able to detect about the same number of fish as an electrofisher that was going down the river at the same time. We may also try to build some that are 20 feet long and rig them in series so they can span the entire river."

Contact Mark or Peter at these email addresses for more information. Mark’ specialty is Fish Biology, and Peter’s specialty is the antenna and electrical hardware that was built into the large rectangular floats.
mmckinstry@usbr.gov
peter.mackinnon@usu.edu

Industrial Sled Tubes For Greenland Traverse
We built these tubes for the Engineering Company CH2M HILL. They were the prime contractor for the National Science Foundation. This is just a small part of a sled that started out from Thule Greenland in the Northwest corner. The Sled will travel Southeast for 1500 miles until it reaches the sumit. The summit is an an elevation of over 10,000 ft. I think it is all snow, but you may want to read more for your self.

More on the GRIT project, and more about the Arctic.

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