Floating building

[AggieSE]

I am about to begin working on a project that includes a floating restaurant. We are not going to be designing the flotation structure, but just the structure sitting on it. I am curious what design guides/codes are out there for this type of structure. Also, any ideas on what dynamic loads(from the waves) this type of structure would need to designed by? Thinking I might be able to ignore these loads, but curious what others think.

 

[msquared48]

Any wave action could be mitigated with suspended weights/baffles below the water surface, that could act like hydraulic dampers. Same idea as a sea anchor, only vertical instead of horizontal.

What length of fetch do you have? Salt or fresh water?

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

http://mmcengineering.tripod.com

 

[AggieSE]

This is fresh water. Don't have a lot of info yet, project kick-off meeting next week. I plan on trying to get info from whoever is doing the floating support, could be they will take care of it.

Not sure even without doing something any loading from wave action would control over wind/seismic.

 

[hawkaz]

I would expect this to be loosely tethered (with slack to allow for water level changes)- so wave action shouldn't push it around too much. I would be more concerned about rocking of the platform. If the platform is a single unit and is rigid, you can design for the rocking easy enough. If the platform is flexible, or built with multiple segments, you may have a differential deflection issue to deal with.

 

[msquared48]

If you're on a small body of water where the distance between the wave crests is small relative to the least dimension of the structure, there should be no problem.

Your main concern should be wind, not seismic here since it is not attached to the gtound as it were.

I assume there is no current to deal with, so that should not be a problem. Sometimes, as I found out the hard way, the current forces will overide the wind forces. But that's another story for another day.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

http://mmcengineering.tripod.com

 

[MiketheEngineer]

Depending on bldg size and wave action -- I would be wary of floor wracking/twisting and that all transferring up to roof??