Story 2016-06-09 1GKEC Houses able to float being developed to address flooding

Houses able to float being developed to address flooding

by
in environment on (#1GKEC)
story imageA radical new solution is being proposed to solve the housing crisis - homes that float. Designers say homes that would rise with flood waters could be built on land otherwise deemed unsuitable because of flooding concerns. Each home can react to flood risk because the guide piles allow the building to rise in significant flood conditions, because of the buoyant basement structure. As flood waters recede the houses resettle to their original levels.

This is hardly the first attempt to develop land vulnerable to flooding. There are 20,000 fully-floating and can-float homes already built in the Netherlands.

Back in the mid-1870s, Sacramento, California raised the level of its downtown by approximately 10 feet (3 meters) to eliminate devastating flooding. They built reinforced brick walls on downtown streets, and filled the resulting street walls with dirt. Building owners either raising their building slowly with the use of numerous screw jacks, or buried the ground floor. Thus the previous first floors of buildings became the basements.

Of course these solutions are no help if it is just the value of your house and mortgage that is "underwater".
Reply 9 comments

An innocent question (Score: 2, Interesting)

by fnj@pipedot.org on 2016-06-09 20:23 (#1GPBW)

If you're afraid your house might be flooded out, and you're bound and determined nevertheless to build it in such an unsuitable place for whatever reason, why not just build it on stilts in the first place, rather than go to all the trouble to put in stilts AND a mechanism to allow it to ride up on those stilts?

The articulation to allow it to climb and descend the stilts constitutes a vulnerability. What if one or more points binds, and it cocks and jams because it's trying to rise crookedly?

Re: An innocent question (Score: 1, Interesting)

by Anonymous Coward on 2016-06-09 21:05 (#1GPG8)

I don't want to be too negative but there's definitely a case for simplicity.
The articulation to allow it to climb and descend the stilts constitutes a vulnerability. What if one or more points binds, and it cocks and jams because it's trying to rise crookedly?
There's an episode of Grand Designs (S14E7) "The Floating House" [1][2], it looks like the same design. They had ballast under the basement floor to help it rise smoothly. You'd have to check it often or have it automated (more points of failure).

Another thought I had was silt washed under the house. Then it may not sit flat or sink to the original level.

[1] http://www.constructionmanagermagazine.com/news/amphibious-grand-design-ready-take-water/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Grand_Designs_episodes#Series_14_.282014.29

Re: An innocent question (Score: 1)

by evilviper@pipedot.org on 2016-06-09 23:12 (#1GPV2)

One thing that comes to mind is maximum height... The homes in question will be 2-stories plus a basement. If built permanently on 13ft tall piles, that would make it stand taller than a 4-story building.

Re: An innocent question (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward on 2016-06-10 09:55 (#1GR46)

Hence why many houses in Brisbane are raised above ground level by half a storey. The water runs or pools underneath during the 1 in 100 year floors

Re: An innocent question (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward on 2016-06-16 12:05 (#1HCP5)

That's a good point, but what if you live somewhere prone to flooding and tornadoes?

Seems like a house on permanent stilts would be more likely to blow down, not to mention not having a basement to hide in.

I'd just say move.

My house floats.. (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward on 2016-06-10 10:16 (#1GR5W)

..away

There's old old tech... (Score: 2, Interesting)

by reziac@pipedot.org on 2016-06-10 23:58 (#1GTF8)

...that already deals well with the problem.

It's called a "houseboat".

As someone envisioned FEMA's new housing specs:
http://www.doomgold.com/images/fema.jpg

Wake me up when the garden floats too ! (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward on 2016-06-20 16:21 (#1HSZQ)

If the garden doesn't also float what's the point ? And a house without a garden (and pets) is not a home !

Re: Wake me up when the garden floats too ! (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward on 2016-07-21 05:53 (#1N0AB)

Let's just build a city that floats. That way we don't have to worry about individual responsibility.