In Dutch they are called "waterwoningen". The project mentioned in Maasbommel is this one,I ran across an interesting article about some homes being built in the Netherlands that will float in a flood. I did a search and found quite a few articles. I really wanted to find a webpage for the company that is building these homes. It sounds like an awesome idea, especially for the flood prone areas. I would say that this will be one of the few, if not the only, long term urban development plan for areas like New Orleans that are on the coast and below sea level where one good storm surge could cause considerable flooding.
If anyone knows of, or runs across, the webpage of the manufacturer of these house, please pass it along. I am specifically interested in how they did the electrical and plumbing work as well as the general design.
The only REAL problem I think would be debris hitting the home as it is floating.
Gary
floating homes.... http://tinyurl.com/2j4xk
http://tinyurl.com/22nd5
floating greenhouses.... http://tinyurl.com/322jj
An independent assessment of flooding in the UK http://tinyurl.com/ywsc4
Google search....
http://tinyurl.com/2bxwx
http://www.goudenkust.nl/rustveilig5.htm Unfortunatly in Dutch. Let me know if you need help with translation.
They were building a number of vacation homes along the coast. The uniqueness of the concept was that normally these buildings are on a solid and not a floating support and only when there is a flood they become a floating home. As for floating homes in particular that's a very well established concept in The Netherlands. I remember something about the ones in Maasbommel in the news a couple of years back. Something to do with environmental concerns because of the location they wanted to build them in. Not sure. You can apply at the website for more info. The architects for the project are factor architecten in Arnhem http://www.ingburoarnhem.com/factor/projecten/recreatie/29921.htm
Hope this helps. Let me know if you need more.
Sonja GCU: Service
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