Floating structures
Floating structures are designig to float on water, the most common may be called a pontoon, used as a mooring or access for boats. This is opposed to a pier which is raised on legs that are drop in to the bed beneath the water, the equivalent being the difference between floating houses and houses on stilts.
The size and use of floating structures can vary dramatically from small fixed raft structures, such as work platforms and launching rafts to fishing huts or temporary shelter, from individual houses to hotel complexes and complete settlements, offices or even farms, right up to very large floating structures (VLFSs) or platforms (VLFPs). There are a variety of terms that might be associated with this kind of construction such as aqua architecture, aquatecture, water architecture, floating buildings and floating communities etc.
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