Best Material to float a house, 5 bedroom

Discussion in 'Materials' started by Ted Smith, Feb 18, 2018.

  1. Tiny Turnip
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    Tiny Turnip Senior Member

    it's a very notional sketch, Ted. under or alongside the gangway is a common way to do it. depends how much detail you need. For instance, if you think about the geometry, as the gangway moves when the water rises, there will need to be a flexible connection to allow the length of the gateway to alter a bit.
     
  2. Ted Smith
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    Ted Smith Junior Member

    yeh ok that makes sense
     
  3. Angélique
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    Angélique aka Angel (only by name)

    The sewage is usually automatically pumped to the sewerage system ashore, a flexible hose under the bridge together with the supply lines is a good option for this.

    But, you can also clean your own sewage in a constructed wetland, it needs about 3 to 5 m² per person in the household for this.

    The constructed wetland can be either ashore, or afloat in a concrete pontoon next to the floating house.

    below some constructed wetland types from the above link . . .

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    Dutch link 1

    ( the drawing won't show here, so here's a pic link )

    [​IMG]

    Dutch link 2

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    The below video shows some Dutch kids who built a special one as a project to clean the blackwater from the toilets at their school, so it can be discharged into the surrounding surface waters. The video tells that before the blackwater goes to the constructed wetland it first goes through a septic tank.

    septic tank
    [​IMG]

    "helofytenfilter" = Dutch for: "constructed wetland"


    Dutch link 3

    [​IMG]

    The above illustration shows schematically what is to be seen in the video.​

    Left side = incoming sewage, consisting of greywater and also blackwater from the toilets.​

    1 = three stages septic tank (turns incoming blackwater into outgoing greywater)
    2 = pump unit in a pump pit
    3 = reed plants
    4 = greywater distribution piping network
    5 = filter bed consisting of various layers of sand and gravel of different kinds in which the reed plants root.
    6 = clean water drainage piping network
    7 = outgoing water check pit
    8 = clean water discharge to the surface water, but it also can be reused to flush the toilets again, by using a hydrophore to get pressure on the recycled water.​
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2018
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  4. Angélique
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    Angélique aka Angel (only by name)

    Thursday, March 1, 2018

    How's the weather Ted ? - Was there school today ?

    Or was there yet another last day for the project ?
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2018
  5. Angélique
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    Angélique aka Angel (only by name)

    Hi Ted, did the teacher get your project yet . . ?

    [​IMG]
    Postcard widely attributed to French artist Jean-Marc Côté ~ 1910

     
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  6. Ted Smith
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    Ted Smith Junior Member

    hahaha yes I have given it in but its only a draft so I can still change. Weather was really bad in England on Wednesday, thurs, and Friday as it was snowing. Got 3 days off school hhaha. For the houses in Netherlands which the solid base yet on the river, how does it work? similar to the sketch from turnip?
     
  7. Angélique
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    Angélique aka Angel (only by name)

    It's not exactly solid concrete, but a concrete bin, the air inside the bin gives it floatation, that's how it floats. The thick bottom of the concrete bin is the heaviest part of the whole structure, that makes it floats stable, since most of the total weight is down below. So the guide poles (dolphins) are only there to hold it in place, since the structure is floating stable by itself, that is if loaded properly. The latter means that the loads brought in by the residents must be ± evenly spreaded over the house, and the heavy stuff below.

    houseboat hoisted by crane.jpg

    houseboat cross section.jpg

    post #12
     
    Last edited: Mar 8, 2018
  8. Angélique
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    Angélique aka Angel (only by name)

    I interpret Tiny Turnip's sketch as the concrete bin having a much larger circumference than the house. And the concrete bin also having a concrete deck which is supported by concrete walls inside the bin standing on the bin's bottom. So the whole thing is mostly a hollow structure, and so it floats. With the concrete slab being the extra thick and extra heavy bottom of the bin, so it is strong and floats stable, since most of the total weight is down below. And then a full size house, two stories high and lightweight built I think, is placed in the middle on top of the concrete deck. The inside of the concrete bin can serve as a huge basement, that can be reached from the house through a basement staircase. So including that huge basement and storage room it's a three story house. The sketch doesn't show a waterline, but I'll guess the waterline is about halfway or on top of the letters ‘‘Barge’’ on the side. This whole thing is not a stationary houseboat, but it's a floating house, which you started the thread with.

    [​IMG]

    For a kinda reality view, here's a floating doghouse on the Charles River in Cambridge (Massachusetts, USA) that looks a bit like a scaled down version . . .

    [​IMG]

    Unfortunately the doghouse wasn't moored properly, and also has no dolphins to hold it in place, so it has drifted away a bit from the dock, and and as a consequence the gangplank has fallen off the dock, and now the dog has to swim to the house . . :(

    The doghouse floats on a decked wooden bin, but this bin doesn't look watertight to me, so I suspect it has something like expanded polystyrene* inside to give it floatation.


    [​IMG]
    Pic source, consisting of 95% air, it says here.
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2018
  9. Angélique
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    Angélique aka Angel (only by name)

    More info about how flotation works: Archimedes' Principle - ---> - Principle of Flotation
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2018
  10. Ted Smith
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    Ted Smith Junior Member

    ok I will include that in my explanation. do you think there is any thing wrong with the sketch? would u include stuff? or is that basic enough to make it float. Also im not sure if you know much about materials, but would a roof of plastic work? (a special plastic btw)
     
  11. Angélique
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    Angélique aka Angel (only by name)

    In my opinion there's nothing wrong with the sketch, but it's very basic and everything needs elaboration when one wants to build from it.
    When want to build then a lot of stuff needs to be added, that's elaboration.
    In principle it will float stably and it will be able to carry a house safely and soundly.

    But no dimensions were given and also the sketch is not to any scale, neither are the items in the sketch exactly scaled to each other.

    So this all needs to be properly worked out to make it really floating safe and sound.

    Also we don't know yet about wave heights and currents were it needs to float when ready. This also needs to be incorporated in the design.

    You could put in your project that elaboration of this project beyond the basic idea needs the cooperation of a Naval Architect for the floating pontoon, and a Architect for the buildings on top of the pontoon. But they must work together since their work is affecting each other. I'll post some examples later.
    About the first not so much, but most of the time just enough to be able to understand what's going on.

    For any floating structure, low weight near the top is crucial to maintain stability, so plastic roofing might be a good idea. I'll post some examples later.
     
    Last edited: Mar 8, 2018
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  12. Angélique
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    Angélique aka Angel (only by name)



    [​IMG]

    SR 520 Floating Bridge and Landings Project - Building the World’s Longest Floating Bridge - April 2017 online booklet - PDF

    PDF page 33 = Appendix one = Pontoon construction and repairs​

    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    BFS - Baltic Floating Structures - ---> - INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURES - Heavy Duty Concrete Pontoons

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    Cranes on pontoons are a risk though, since if not used well then their loads can reach outside the stability capacity of the pontoon, which can cause the ‘‘pontoon effect’’, this is when a large force applied to the side capsizes* a pontoon without much prior warning, particularly on a by crane load top-heavy pontoon...

    ( * the capsize is sometimes stopped when the load slides overboard )



    In the last above video; watch the moving shadows while one of the telescopic crane booms from the first video falls, and note the guy in the blue shirt fixing the pavement near the blue car on the right side.... Miraculously no one was hurt in this crane-pontoon accident . . :)


    Often land cranes are operated by landlubbers, which can cause accidents on floating objects, since they usually don't know how to operate the crane within the stability range of a floating object such as a pontoon.
     
    Last edited: Mar 10, 2018
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  13. Angélique
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    Angélique aka Angel (only by name)

    Hi Ted, scroll all the way through the below links for some options, and click the pics which you like to have more info from...

    | Plastic Roof | Plastic Roof Sheets | Plastic Roof Tiles | Synthetic Thatch Roof |

    | Steel Roof Tile Sheets | Stalen Dakpanplaten = Dutch for: Steel Roof Tile Sheets |

    For better stability a light roof would be good on top of a floating structure, so best check the weight per m² of all the options you are considering.

    Also lighter roofing needs a lighter structure to support the roof, these things accumulate in both ways.

    Coated thin steel roof tile sheets could turn out as a good option for both weight and durability, but this also depends on the climate and the environment* where you want to apply them.

    * eg a marine environment with salt needs a special coating I would think, since I don't know if the quality of the standard coating would be good enough for this.

    A good slope would prevent a snow load on the roof, and it would give you an attic, which you should not overload for stability concerns, a clear warning with limits about this should be mandatory on the access, or the pontoon must be designed with sufficient stability reserves for a heavy attic load.

    Good luck !
     
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2018
  14. Ted Smith
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    Ted Smith Junior Member

    Thanks, I will make sure I use all your notes to elaborate. The house is approx 12m width by 12m height and 14m length, however I have a 6m extension patio to the house. Therefore width of the whole design is 18m. how would this affect the dimensions for the barge and dolphins
     

  15. Angélique
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    Angélique aka Angel (only by name)

    Hi Ted, just a rough guess off the top of my head, to make the pontoon capable of being imagined and drawn up in the project, I'll suggest to take the width and length of the pontoon about 2 × the width and length of the house, or more if you want to have more space around the house.

    Then I'll suggest to put a note in the project that the exact safe width and length and total height and the draft (draft = the depth that's inserted in the water) of the pontoon, and the needed thickness of the bottom and the deck and outside walls, as well as the number and the thickness of the inside support walls, needs to be calculated by a Naval Architect, who at the same time does the calculations for weight and floatation/buoyancy and stability and strength of the structure as a whole, and also calculates the needed size of the dolphins to keep it all in place.

    P.S.​

    When a dolphin (structure) consist of a 'single pile', then it's also called a 'pile mooring', see mooring (watercraft) for more pontoon mooring options.
     
    Last edited: Mar 15, 2018
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