Floating Pipe?

[feldomatic]

So there's this feature at my local quarry (Lake Phoenix in Virginia) that's a 10-20 foot long by 2-3 foot diameter pipe (open ended both sides) for doing a traverse (super fun on a night dive btw)

Only thing is, it's...floating? off 2 anchor lines coming off the bottom.

Last I checked steel definitely wouldn't do that and concrete...shouldn't?

Any idea what this might be made of? Walls are kinda thin for concrete but thick for any kind of metal and it's got enough stuff growing on it that I couldn't make out the original material.

I'd guess plastic, but the only one's I've seen that big were corrugated and this isn't.

 

[Gone for diving]

Wood?
Do a bit of scraping with your BFK

 

[Jared0425]

So there's this feature at my local quarry (Lake Phoenix in Virginia) that's a 10-20 foot long by 2-3 foot diameter pipe (open ended both sides) for doing a traverse (super fun on a night dive btw)

Only thing is, it's...floating? off 2 anchor lines coming off the bottom.

Last I checked steel definitely wouldn't do that and concrete...shouldn't?

Any idea what this might be made of? Walls are kinda thin for concrete but thick for any kind of metal and it's got enough stuff growing on it that I couldn't make out the original material.

I'd guess plastic, but the only one's I've seen that big were corrugated and this isn't.

PVC. They are typical in quarries to help divers zero in their buoyancy. The growth of algae makes it look like a cement pipe.

 

[Gone for diving]

I am quite sure PVC doesn't float....
Unless it's not solid and has a porous core, like some ABS pipe has.

 

[Jared0425]

I am quite sure PVC doesn't float....
Unless it's not solid and has a porous core, like some ABS pipe has.

The one at the lake near me was a massive plastic green pipe used in coverts. Two large cement anchors hold it down.

 

[2TH DIVR]

Some of the larger pvc pipes are 2 walled with a honeycomb between them making them buoyant.

 

[PBcatfish]

Sometimes, growth can cause buoyancy. Sargasso weed has been known to refloat old shipwrecks in the Sargasso sea. but in this case, I think double wall PVC is more likely.