The news has been showing images of houses flooded over, cars completely covered in water, etc. This is specifically in the areas of major rivers in the U.S. These areas are dealing with spring thaw and large amounts of precipitation. With climate change well underway, it is likely we will see more images like these in the coming years, unfortunately.
I am proposing that a new style of house, a hybrid of a regular house and a houseboat, be built in areas that are prone to flooding. The idea is to combine the waterproof aspects of a houseboat with the comforts of home. When the area is dry, the home appears mostly normal to the casual viewer. When flood waters come, however, these houses will have the ability to rise with the water level, and will contain waterproof basements that are sealed and will remain dry.
One thought is to just have traditional style houseboats with long, but solid anchors, all set together in a kind of houseboat park.
Another is to have homes that will elevate, sort of with an elevator shaft style, to a certain height.
This is a high-level idea, and I am no architect, so I cannot fathom the challenges that might go along with creating such a hybrid home. However, I do think this is an idea worth looking into. I don't want to see the same, sad scenes on the news over and over without any progress being made.
I welcome your comments on the possible details.-- XSarenkaX, Mar 21 2008 (?) 1 http://findarticles..._200408/ai_n6854525 [jhomrighaus, Mar 21 2008] Native Suburbia http://www.icode6.n...ia/about/about.htmlNative plants are much better at sucking up water and minimizing floodwaters than Kentucky Bluegrass. My husband Don and I have converted our entire yard to a native plant garden. Why don't more people do this? [XSarenkaX, Mar 21 2008] 2 http://www.planetizen.com/node/24200 [jhomrighaus, Mar 21 2008] (?) 3 http://www.building...workshop/water/1545 [jhomrighaus, Mar 21 2008] (?) 4 http://www.sfgate.c.../09/HOG9RFI0IJ1.DTL [jhomrighaus, Mar 21 2008] this has been featured in magazines numerous times over the years, its really not a new idea at all.-- jhomrighaus, Mar 21 2008 Link 1: I was thinking of something a little more substantial than a foundation consisting of a floating raft made of bamboo.
Links 2 & 3: Yes, this is more like it.
I see this has already been baked, though I had not been able to find anything about this without your help, [jhomrighaus]. Mind if I keep the idea up for a while, just to raise a little awareness? I also like the collection of links conveniently grouped together on this one page. Thanks.-- XSarenkaX, Mar 21 2008 I went to Google and typed "Floating homes for flood prone areas", and these are just some of the links that popped up. Just a hint there are many of us here who would prefer that you did such basic research before proposing an idea. you would be amazed what you can find with an internet search.
I am not asking or implying that you should remove this, simply pointing out that it is not a new idea to the world and not overly challenging to find, but that is how we learn.-- jhomrighaus, Mar 21 2008 I completely agree with you. I did attempt to search both the HB and the WWW, but apparently could not find the proper search word combination that produced all the results you did. Thanks for providing that.
I'm usually pretty good at Googling, so this is a particularly embarrassing public failure on my part. Many apologies...-- XSarenkaX, Mar 21 2008 On the upside it is apparently a pretty good idea. You should be proud of having come up with it, very insightful.-- jhomrighaus, Mar 21 2008 Climate change may be less of an issue than the population increase which leads people to try building in more flood zones.
Well... that and the fact that most rainwater is just diverted straight from the city to the nearest flooplain.
Native plants are well and good, but you can also use rainwater to replenish the groundwater. Investing in such rare technology as premeable driveways, permeable walkways, and collecting rainwater runoff from the house for such purposes as watering one's lawn may help the situation a bit.-- ye_river_xiv, Jan 31 2011 Climate change may be less of an issue than the population increase which leads people to try building in more flood zones.
Native plants are well and good, but you can also use rainwater to replenish the groundwater. Investing in such rare technology as premeable driveways, permeable walkways, and collecting rainwater runoff from the house for such purposes as watering one's lawn may help the situation a bit.-- ye_river_xiv, Jan 31 2011 random, halfbakery