Why did the cement ship disappear?

As an ocean-going sailor, first of all, I want to ask you, how many people have heard of cement ships? In fact, ships in China used to be made of cement, which is similar to the houses we are building now. The ship is made of reinforced concrete and cement, sailing in the water! This seemingly funny ship once left a wonderful history in China shipping industry!

The ships we see now are all welded pieces of steel plates, while the cement ships in those days were tied together with steel bars in advance to form the keel of the ship, and then poured with cement. With a little trimming and power equipment, a cement ship is built! This kind of ship basically meets all the functions of the current ship, and can be used for fishing, salvage and even inland river transportation. The largest cement ship in the world is made by French oil company, with a total length of more than 220 meters, which is not much shorter than the current aircraft carrier! Gutian, the largest cement tanker in China, has a total length of over 100 m, a maximum cargo capacity of 3,000 tons and a maximum speed of 14 knots. Its performance can be completely comparable to that of the current steel ship!

First: First of all, a ship made of cement will definitely not sink. Just like the ship made of steel now, it looks heavy, but it is actually very buoyant! Many steel ships are hollow inside, leaving enough buoyancy space. At that time, many cement boats were hollow, similar to the "cement slabs" we use to build houses now. As long as there is enough water depth and wide river channel, the cement ship can sail normally without worrying about sinking.

Second: The heyday of China cement ship was probably in the 1970s, and many parents may have seen it. At that time, New China had just been established, the development of heavy industry was relatively backward, and even the basic steel products could not meet the demand. Coupled with the blockade of western countries at that time and the breaking of diplomatic relations with the former Soviet Union, we had no place to buy steel even if we wanted to. What's more, in that poor and white age, there was no money to buy steel. In order to achieve self-sufficiency and meet the needs of water transportation, the idea of hydrodynamic ship was put on the agenda and quickly implemented.

Thirdly, cement ships have existed for more than ten years in China's maritime history! It also fully proved the spirit of self-improvement and hard struggle of our people at that time. In fact, as early as World War II, western countries had a precedent of building ships with cement, which was quickly eliminated by western countries due to problems encountered in practice. At that time, we were confident that we could surpass the western countries and certainly overcome the problems they encountered in building ships with cement. In order to show their determination, many shipyards began to build ships with cement.

First of all: building a ship with cement is very funny! Although the spirit of that era is commendable, it is really not desirable in practice. The ship has been sailing in the water, and the ship made of cement has to stay in the water. After a long time, the firmness of cement will decrease. Although the cement ship is corrosion-resistant, it is less affected by plankton similar to shells in the water, but its life is too short! And you can only sail in the inland river, because the inland river is not stormy! In those days, cement ships could even fall apart in an instant if they sailed in a big storm. Ships are used for transportation, and the navigation area is limited, so they are naturally eliminated by history.

Secondly: the ships we usually see have certain channels when sailing! Cement ships must also sail in waterways. Due to the inherent shortcomings of cement ships, it is easy to collapse and sink into the river bottom in an instant. Salvage is a very troublesome thing at this time. If it is not salvaged, it will block the waterway for a long time and affect the passage of other ships. In addition, the most taboo of cement ships is overloading. Nowadays, steel ships are flexible, so it doesn't matter to carry more goods. However, once the cement ship is overloaded or stranded, the deck can split in two in an instant. In addition, after the cement ship collided, the fate was unique, that is, sinking. However, the steel ship will leak water after collision, so stop the leakage in time to avoid sinking.

Finally: nowadays, ships need to sail not only at home, but also around the world. The cement boat sailing in the Yangtze River is a great challenge, and it is impossible to get into the sea at all. Huge waves can make it collapse instantly. In addition, the waterway is getting busier and busier now, and the slight collision between ships is particularly common, but cement ships can't accept this reality. Resistant to wind and waves, regional, unsafe, difficult to maintain, etc. Are the shortcomings of cement ships. Although it witnessed the indomitable spirit of our people, there were too many practical disadvantages, so it was quickly eliminated by our country and withdrew from the historical stage.

Unexpectedly, the nanny at home is a local tyrant who made his fortune by cement boat!

I invited an aunt. She is young, honest-looking, dressed simply and works quickly. One day, I happened to talk to her about cosmetics, and found that the cosmetics brands she casually mentioned were basically reluctant to buy or could not afford. This person must have a story, so I started talking to her. It turned out that her family used to have millions of cash, but later went bankrupt and owed a lot of debts. There is really no way to make a living. Her husband went to work on the construction site, and she found a job.

She and her husband started from scratch, and after several years of hard work, they finally bought a cement boat, and the couple ran and transported together in the inland river. I didn't expect this profit to be so big. In a few years, they have four boats and millions of cash in their hands. She doesn't have to go with the flow and can be a rich woman at home with peace of mind, so she has rich experience in cosmetics and clothing.

Later, unfortunately, arrival sank two ships in succession and compensated the owners for their losses, leaving little cash at home. Sadly, it wasn't long before another ship sank because of the collision, and his brother was also killed in the accident. In order to guarantee my credit, I took all the cash at home this time and borrowed some foreign debts to compensate the owner for the loss. The rest of the boat was their last chance to turn over, so the couple began to bet on it themselves. Who would have thought that just after paying off all the foreign debts, the ship collided again, and the husband and wife swam ashore by luck.

I forget where I read this story about 20 years ago. There are two things in the story that amaze me: one is that the cement ship is really profitable to run and transport, and the other is that the cement ship is too easy to sink after collision.

What is a cement ship? Cement ship is a ship made of cement and steel wire or steel bar, which has the advantages of corrosion resistance, durability, easy material acquisition, simple construction, low cost and easy maintenance. Cement ships are divided into reinforced concrete ships and steel wire mesh cement ships.

Reinforced concrete ship is a hull made of reinforced concrete.

Steel wire mesh cement ship is a ship made of steel bars and steel wires and coated with cement.

Construction history of cement ship 1848, Frenchman Lambert built the world's first reinforced concrete cement ship. The early cement ship was simple in technology and low in cost, and was gradually popularized and applied.

Due to the advantages of saving steel, during the period of steel shortage in the two world wars, the construction of cement ships reached a climax and the construction technology of cement ships also developed greatly.

1945, the Italian Nervi built the world's first steel mesh cement ship. Compared with similar wooden boats, the ship lost 5% weight and reduced the cost by 40%. As soon as this new technology appeared, it attracted great attention from all countries and began to develop vigorously.

In the 1960s, European and American countries found that no matter how to improve the manufacturing technology of cement ships, the cost performance of cement ships was always inferior to that of iron ships under the condition of sufficient steel supply, so there was no large-scale development of cement ships.

1995, France built the largest cement barge in the world, with the length, width and height of 220m, 46m and 16m respectively, with a tonnage of 70,000 tons.

China's cement ship China started to develop cement ships from 1958. At that time, all kinds of industrial raw materials in China were in short supply, especially steel, and all kinds of production and construction projects were in urgent need. In the rapid development, China had a great demand for all kinds of ships. At this time, the advantages of cement ship as a means of water transport are reflected.

The construction materials of cement ship are very cheap and easy to produce, and the construction of cement ship does not need very advanced shipbuilding technology, only a few masons need to be trained to build it. The shipbuilding process is also relatively simple. Simply weave the skeleton of the ship with steel bars and steel wires, and then coat it with cement. A few days later, the cement dry boat was built.

Therefore, cement ships are widely used as fishing boats, agricultural ships, coastal and inland river cargo ships, inland river barges and so on in China. The number of cement ships in China ranks first in the world, reaching millions of tons.

Lao Zhu, a 63-year-old fisherman from Guazhou, experienced the replacement process from wooden boats to cement boats and then to iron boats. He made a simple comparison between the three. In Lao Zhu's impression, the wooden boat has no engine and uses a mast. When fishing in the Yangtze River, it uses sails. When there is no wind, it can only paddle.

In the past, they used to eat and live on ships. When he was a child, there were many people in his family, including seven. The boat built by his father is larger than that of ordinary families, estimated to be about 15 tons, and the shipbuilding material is Chinese fir. Even with such a big boat, it is crowded for a family to live on it. Similarly, because the boat is too big, at least three people need to paddle together in windless weather.

He can't remember when cement boats became popular, but he can only guess that it was in the late 1970s. At that time, the price of cement boats was much lower than that of wooden boats and iron boats. Cement boats cost about three or four thousand, and the cheapest iron boats cost tens of thousands, so fishermen have chosen to buy cement boats. In this way, in the 1990s, almost all fishermen used cement boats.

Cement boats are not only cheap, but also much bigger than wooden boats. His ship weighs about thirty or forty tons. His boat has a living room, a bedroom, a floor on the ground, tiles on the wall, air conditioners, televisions and other electrical appliances, which is not much different from other people's homes on the shore. It was not until a few years ago that they replaced the tin boat.

Why did the cement ship disappear in 2005, 2006 and 2007? In three years, the state issued a document prohibiting cement boats from passing through the river, so the cement boats that used to be everywhere disappeared. The country once vigorously promoted cement ships, why did it suddenly ban them? Let's take a look at the examination and approval opinions of relevant state departments on Gutian, the largest cement ship in China.

Gutian is105.2m long and14.5m wide, with a displacement of 5,773 tons. 1974, Gutian sailed from Fuzhou to Shanghai for the first time, and returned smoothly with wheat. During the period of 1977, the approval opinions given by the relevant state departments were that the ship had many advantages and was very good, but it was not crashworthy and too heavy to be popularized.

Inland waterways are crowded, and collision accidents occur from time to time. The disadvantage of non-collision resistance makes cement ships very prone to shipwreck accidents. The cost of cement ships is very low, and the cost of salvaging sunken ships is much higher than that of ships. So who will salvage the sunken ship?

With the increase of cement shipwrecks, many river sections have been blocked, and there have also been accidents in which normal ships sank because they hit the bottom of the river.

Of course, there are also some reasons, such as too much noise from cement ships, affecting the daily life of residents on the river bank, oil spill accidents, environmental pollution, high oil consumption and waste.

The most important reason is that in the absence of steel in China, the use of cement boats is only an emergency method. After decades of development, China's steel production capacity has been very sufficient, and it is fully capable of building enough iron ships, so cement ships have gradually withdrawn from the historical stage.

China is not short of steel now, and it is still building ships with steel ships, with a large tonnage of several thousand tons.

When I was an educated youth, I drove a cement boat and was often knocked out of one big hole after another. It's easy to repair! Just fill it with mixed cement.

The impact force before loading (carrying goods) is quite large, and it is easy to sink and difficult to master when braking and reversing. If the other ship hits a big hole, the height of the empty ship is easy to be hit. In rural areas, fertilizers and agricultural materials (crops, pesticides, red bricks, etc. ) is often dragged.

In addition, cement ships are unsafe, and road transportation is better than dry river transportation.

Come uninvited!

During the production team in the sixties and seventies, the cement ship was definitely a "hero" of the production team!

Because in that era of extreme poverty, agricultural production did not have so many fertilizers and pesticides now! About 90% of the nutrients for crop growth depend on farmyard manure, and even if all the rural human and animal manure and silt at the bottom of the river ditch are collected, it still can't meet the crop growth needs of the whole team!

No way, the Committee members turned their attention to the provincial capital! But the provincial capital at that time did not have such spacious roads and transport vehicles! In this case, all production teams have considered that the simplest, most direct and most economical way to transport chemical fertilizer (yellow fertilizer and city river mud) from the provincial capital is to buy cement boats and pull water by manpower! You know, even if we are close to the provincial capital, there are at least 70 miles of waterways.

At that time, due to the yellow manure in the toilets in the provincial capital, it was necessary to spend money to buy it in a planned way, and the production team at that time was particularly poor and could not afford it at all. There is no way. In order to buy more food to serve the motherland, farmers can only take special measures to "steal" in the dead of night!

According to my eldest brother, he was once sent to a cesspit to dig out dung. He took off his cotton trousers and went to the swimming pool wearing trousers forks. Note (cold winter) that the tears smoked by amine flow directly, sneezing one after another, and the excrement lump is still rubbing the hair on the leg, which itches to death! Because it's a shit lump, I dare not scratch it with my hands! Then, the people above pick cement boats one by one until they are full! Set sail when it is full, and drive back immediately before dawn to avoid the pursuit of urban management during the day ...!

Of course, the cement ship at that time had another task, which was to collect fertile urban river mud in the inland river of the provincial capital. Note (At that time, all the mud at the bottom of the river in the countryside was robbed, and there was no mud at the bottom of every river ditch, so people slipped and fell on it, which was untenable). After all the cement boats are full, we have to pull them back by hand ...! That kind of suffering is only known by people who have experienced it!

At that time, there was a strong cow named Zhao Genzi in Lishui District (then county), Tangzhe Town (commune) and an administrative village (brigade) in Li Jiacun.

At that time, when the production team went to the provincial capital, it had to pull at least three or four large cement ships of five to seven tons, pulling four or five strong laborers in a row! Because it was still in the period of not having enough to eat and not wearing warm clothes, as long as several other people each gave him half a catty of rice and cooked food, he was responsible for pulling several large cement boats to the provincial capital 70 miles away from home after eating! Four people play cards on the boat for entertainment after dinner.

It was not until 1980 that the cement boat, the great hero of the production team, was eliminated by history and withdrew from agricultural production! The ultimate fate of those cement boats was sold and stolen, and a large part of them rotted at the bottom of the ancient Qinhuai River ...!

In the sixties and seventies of last century, in addition to plowing cattle, cement boats were the largest means of production in rural areas. Tonnage is also small, generally only two to seven tons, up to five tons.

At that time, the cement ship played a great role, and the production team relied on it to sell grain, buy fertilizer and transport.

I remember that the wastewater (ammonia water) from the chemical fertilizer plant was transported to the city by cement ship. We all went to Liyang, Shanghai to load the goods, and all of them were loaded by the largest tonnage ship (seven tons). Usually equipped with three to five people, eat and live on the boat, and sometimes sleep in a safe warehouse. At that time, the ship had no power, supported by paddles and fibers, and then loaded with diesel engines.

The elimination of cement ships is inevitable, because cement ships have too many defects and security risks. Small agricultural cement ships basically don't need steel bars, all of them use steel wire mesh, and large and medium-sized professional transport ships only use steel bars.

Cement boats are not durable. If they are not careful, they will be damaged and knock out a hole and a crack. Safe houses are also stuffy. The deck of the ship is hot in summer, and the people on board are like in a steamer. In winter, it is cold, and people are like in an ice room.

In 1990s, road transportation gradually replaced water transportation. In the 20th century, the roads were better and better, and every village was connected with roads. With more and more vehicles, the elimination of cement ships is inevitable. Now the professional transport ship on the water is also an iron ship.

There are still many cement boats in use in my family, but now all the villages are connected by roads, and many of them are closed.

With the changes of the times, ships also carry earth-shaking changes and the development track of economy and society. Because of this, cement ships have come out of people's field of vision. Cement ships are not collision-resistant, and the maintenance cost is high.

The hull is too heavy and prone to cracks. After a long time, the firmness of cement will decrease. Although the cement ship is corrosion-resistant, it is less affected by plankton similar to shells in the water, but its life is too short! And you can only sail in the inland river, because the inland river is not stormy! In those days, cement ships could even fall apart in an instant if they sailed in a big storm. Ships are used for transportation, and the navigation area is limited, so they are naturally eliminated by history.