BUILDING FLOATING HOUSES ON FLOOD PLAINS

摘要

A different approach to building on flood plains will provide a safe 'built environment' with buildings that prevent the occupiers from getting wet feet. It is a necessity that building methods are used on flood plains that are less vulnerable to flooding. These building methods should ensure that flooding of the building is prevented at all times and also facilitate water storage during times of floods as experienced in England during summer 2007. One of the advantages of building floating constructions is the possibility for movement in the vertical direction (moving upwards and downwards in accordance with the water level), as well as in horizontal direction. This Dutch method allows us to also borrow temporarily a water surface for economic buildings, such as greenhouses and storage buildings. The experience that has been gathered in The Netherlands with the design and building of floating greenhouses have proven that concrete in combination with EPS provides excellent possibilities for floating foundations. The floating body can be stabilised and made rigid and stable by a proven design and by varying the thickness of the EPS blocks the floating capacity can be adjusted to any load.