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Houses on lifts

Houses' foundations float and come on poles
  (+7, -2)
(+7, -2)
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The poles are imbedded into the ground many meters. When the water comes again, the house will rise straight vertically.
saschathecat, Nov 18 2005


Houses on Lifts drawing by [sleeka]
[bristolz, Nov 22 2005]

Dutch floaty houses http://www.csmonito...26/p13s02-lihc.html
What do you expect from people who wear canoes on their feet? [ConsulFlaminicus, Nov 19 2005]


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       Empty tubes, or bouyant material? Clearance is going to have to be maintained from the shaft's edge, and maintenance is going to be a pain, and you're going to need a helluva lotta lift, but those are all real world problems, and this is the bakery. [+]
normzone, Nov 18 2005
  

       House boats are trouble enough in uneven water. I assume the poles have a tilt factor. But how? Dang, the HB needs illustrators again.
sleeka, Nov 19 2005
  

       You volunteering?
DrCurry, Nov 19 2005
  

       Posted to designcommunity.com on 21 Sept: (from user 'JWmHarmon') "I have seen house boats floating on San Francisco Bay. I have read about, and seen videos of concrete boats. What would it take to make the foundations of a replacement house out of concrete that would make the whole house float? It could be built with pylons that would anchor it in place, but still allow it to rise and fall with the flood waters. This might not answer the problem of the storm surge, but it might be enough to solve the problem of the levee breaking. Most houses in New Orleans appear to be flooded rather than wind-damaged.   

       If the adaptations needed to make a house float cost $5,000 additional per house, then 150,000 houses would cost a total of $750,000,000 (seven hundred fifty million) more than conventional houses with conventional foundations. When we are talking about multi-billion dollars in rebuilding costs, maybe the economics of building each house as a floatable house would make economic sense.   

       Why not make a series of levees in a grid system creating a series of hills and valleys in multi-block configurations. This would be less expensive than trying to raise the ground level of the whole city while still providing more protection than a single levee that will cause a catastrophe if it breaks, or should I say when it breaks. There is an old farm expression that says, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket."   

       Floating houses could normally sit on the ground. I don't imagine that there is too much freeze/thaw cycle to deal with in New Orleans. The plumbing and electrical lines could be flexible cables. The plumbing could be fitted with a holding tank and an automatic shut-off valve. A built-in water tank could hold a weeks supply of drinking water, continually refreshed when there is no emergency."   

       <ends/>   

       The post is obviously from someone who doesn't know anything about building or boating, but I think it explains [saschathecat]'s idea in some more detail.   

       Also - see the link to a Christian Science Monitor article (slow loading page from my location, but should be OK if you have a fat pipe)
ConsulFlaminicus, Nov 19 2005
  

       I have lived in a house on stilts. It was in Indonesia/Papua New Guinea
DesertFox, Nov 20 2005
  

       Why not just market and sell floating shelters (or rooms). Mounted on a steel frame with own battery power supply you room simply slips up the column on the rising flood waters. A bit like a cross between an Anderson shelter and a gas-o-meter!   

       Anyhow - I thought a floating house was called a boat! Why people need to live near the sea I'll never get, it stinks, fish sh*t in it and people die out there!! Move inland and get a car.
TrapCheese, Nov 21 2005
  

       //You volunteering?// Sure, [DrCurry]. I drew a picture of me on a house on stilts...now I just need some way to post it.
sleeka, Nov 21 2005
  

       Mail it to me and I'll post it.
bristolz, Nov 21 2005
  

       No way. It's quite bad. I just like making ugly pictures.
sleeka, Nov 21 2005
  

       Ha! Bluff-calling doesn't come any sweeter than that.
Texticle, Nov 22 2005
  

       Alright, I sent it to [bris]. So remember, if it gets posted, and anyone else needs an illustration of similar high quality, just let me know.
sleeka, Nov 22 2005
  

       And yes, that picture of me is drawn to scale. <link>
sleeka, Nov 22 2005
  

       with a little help by bris.
po, Nov 22 2005
  


 

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