http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTtf5s2HFkA&feature=player_embedded Bank of England Bullion Vault Some observations: 1. Shelving resembles my workshop shelving 2, Paitwork is flawless - no rust or signs of age (funny for such an old institution) 3. Metal frames look very thin 4. I estimate at 400oz / bar and roughly 72 bars per shelf = 1 metric ton (1000kg) per shelf. 5. Each stand has 6 shelves - >6000kg (my workshop shelves support a few tins of paint and start sagging) 6. The wood is perfect no sagging Does this sound strange or are we looking at gold chocolate bars as was suggested ?
Gold is the money of kings; silver is the money of gentlemen; barter is the money of peasants; but debt is the money of slaves
looks like the very maximum possible for each shelf, I would say the slab would be 150mm reinforced 40 MpA though
If you look closely, the shelves are actually a series of modular steel racks sitting on top of each other. There's a single one sitting on the floor near the beginning of the vid and you can see the feet of some other higher up ones not quite aligned in some of the other shots. I've see similar racking used for heavy stuff that has to be moved around by forklift and the racks in the vid look like they're moved around the same way.
Heavy I accept but 6 tons / unit? That is the weight of the largest male African elephant. No sagging of the wooden beams ?
They don't really show the underneath of the shelves so they might have additional steel beams through the middle to support the wood (which I'm assuming is a strong hardwood like oak). The wood runs longways so supports in the midsection would be a sensible way of building the rack. 6 tonnes isn't that much.
Excellent vid.... Posted Dec 7 and nearly 1 million veiws..... No wonder they say its this exact vault that manipulates all the prices!
consulted a shelving guy who told me it would just support the weight ! We learn something new each day
Look at the hap hazard way the bars are pack. This way up and that. The building itself looks in a dilapidated state. So little care for something so valuable. Also, imagine you had to track down a single bar. No visible serials on the ends, and stacked 12 x wide, 2 x deep and 4 x high. How do you audit that?
I an in the Engineering industry and we have racking very similar to the ones in the video and they are rated to 2T per shelf, so I would say this is legit.
My thoughts when looking at this were exactly the same. How on earth would you be able to determine what you had in each level unless there was some sort of barcode or notation on the rack for lotting them. Also find it unusual that there is no dust on any of the bars that could be seen. Maybe it is dust proof but why bother with gold in any case. Maybe they have a lady that comes in once a week?