[GSBN] Earthen Floors (resilience)

[RT]

Below is a forwarded message from Woof-Man (aka "Sleeps With Sled Dogs"  
Sherwood Botsford" one of the earliest contributors to the old CREST SB  
List).

re: Dancers

It might be useful to mention the technique of creating "sprung floors"  
for wooden floor surfaces like those in gymnasia.

The "give" is not from the surface material (ie the hardwood) which you'll  
agree isn't very resilient ... just have someone smack you with a baseball  
bat or hockey stick if in doubt).

Also it might be worth mentioning the "barefoot running" phenomena that  
seems to be popular these days amongst "joggers", most of which one notes,  
are doing so in urban scenarios (ie pavement).

Don't ask me what's going on there. I stopped "jogging" decades ago and  
prefer cycling (easier on the old knees).

The "finding comfort even when sleeping on the rock of the Canadian  
Shield" which Woof-Man mentions:
Here in Southern Ontario we call it finding a spot with "bum holes" ...  
hollows or indentations in the earth or rock which allow our bums to be at  
a different level than the rest of our bodies.

------ Forwarded message -------
From: "Sherwood Botsford" <sgbotsford at gmail.com>
To: archilogic at yahoo.ca
Cc:
Subject: Resiliant floors.
Date: Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:07:36 -0500

I'm not sanctioned on this list, so I'll respond to you directly.
Feel free to forward to the list if you feel it appropriate.

Bob has a point about dancers. I know my mom said that standing at the
sink doing the dishes was NOT the same as standing by the wringer
washer (concrete floor) doing the laundry.  I know that putting a pad
down on the floor makes a big difference, even though the deflection
at human foot pressures probably requires a micrometer to measure.

  From personal experience when running barefoot, asphalt 'feels' more
giving than concrete.

Into my 50's I spent 2-3 weeks a year canoeing on the Canadian shield.
   Some of the most comfortable nights I spent were on glacially planed
granite.  An absolutely flat chunk was painful.  But most of the time
the glaciers were good enough to scoop hollows.  Squirm around a bit,
and you'd find one that fit.

Consider that for a stone floor on wooden joists, they tell you to
stiffen up the floor until the deflection is 1/720 of the span.  Which
again translates into far more deformation of the foot than of the
subfloor.

Whatever we are perceiving, I don't think it is the 'give' of the surface.


Respectfully,

Sherwood of Sherwood's Forests

Sherwood Botsford
Sherwood's Forests --  http://Sherwoods-Forests.com
780-848-2548
50042 Range Rd 31
Warburg, Alberta T0C 2T0
=============== end of forwarded material ===============

-- 
=== * ===
Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada

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