4 ms·
Would it be viable to mine the remnants of civilization? Would a garbage dump or the ruins of a 20th century skyscraper be a viable source of iron?
by Athas 5y ago
Would it be viable to mine the remnants of civilization? Would a garbage dump or the ruins of a 20th century skyscraper be a viable source of iron?
- debacle 5y agoAll over your town, drivers work day in and day out harvesting scrap metal on garbage pickup days.
- kevinmchugh 5y agoThere would be plenty of metal to work with, but sources of heat hotter or denser than charcoal will make working the metal difficult.
- jacquesm 5y agoPrecisely.
- sbierwagen 5y agoCollapsed skyscrapers absolutely would be a good source of steel. Depending on the apocalypse, there would also be a good argument for intentionally collapsing any skyscrapers that were still standing, as depressing as that is. An unmaintained skyscraper will be shedding glass panels fairly frequently, and once the window glass is gone it will start accumulating rainwater and corroding the structural steel. Uncontrolled collapses also have a risk of knocking down neighboring buildings. Walking through a downtown area 50 years after it was depopulated would be fairly dangerous. You would want crews stripping empty buildings and knocking them down asap. Not to mention large cities are located at ports where you're going to want to operate anyway, once civilization is rebuilt enough to engage in ocean freight again.
- LargoLasskhyfv 5y agoOr you'd have to dive, like in Waterworld, because every former coastal port is under water.
- decasteve 5y agoIt depends on the scale. I still like the idea of harvesting bog iron and smelting in a homemade bloomery.