SEMINAR REPORT

VERY LARGE FLOATING STRUCTURES

Submitted by
HAYANA. M. U

(REGISTER NO. 19018358)

In partial fulfillment for the award of the diploma

in
CIVIL ENGINEERING

Guided By

Mrs. HIMA M U

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

GOVERNMENT POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE

CHELAKKARA – 680586

2021
 DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
GOVERNMENT POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE
CHELAKKARA

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Seminar Report entitled

VERY LARGE FLOATING STRUCTURES

was presented by
HAYANA. M. U
(Reg.No:19018358)

Seminar Guide Head of the Department

HIMA. M. U Dr. ANITHA JACOB
Lecture in Civil Department Department of Civil Engineering

INTERNAL EXAMINER EXTERNAL EXAMINER

 VISION OF INSTITUTION

To be an institution par excellence in technical education, striving

for the upliftment of society and sustainable environment

MISSION OF INSTITUTION

• To impart quality engineering education through state-of-the-art

methodologies and infrastructure
• To equip students with appropriate technical competency, professional
ethics and relevant social values for leading a meaningful career
• To foster sustainable environment through various rural development
initiatives
 VISION OF DEPARTMENT

To be a leader in the field of Civil Engineering education that moulds competent civil
engineers with social values and environmental concerns

MISSION OF DEPARTMENT
1. To impart state of the art technical knowledge through socially relevant projects,
industry exposure and entrepreneurship activities
2. To equip students with appropriate skills through rural development initiatives
for the upliftment of nation
3. To create civil engineers who successfully adapt and innovate solutions for a
sustainable environment

PROGRAMME EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES

The program educational objectives of Diploma in Civil Engineering are

• Graduates will have concrete knowledge in the application of necessary mathematical

tools, scientific theories and modern developments in civil engineering.
• Graduates will be able to make use of their practical knowledge and field experience, to
face challenges in contemporary society.
• Graduates will be able to make use of their technical, analytic and software skills to
effectively communicate the ideas and resolve the challenges.
• Graduates will be developing leadership qualities in diverse teams, and will be able to
promote and practice appropriate moral and professional ethics in their fields.
• Graduates will be able to pursue higher education or entrepreneurship apart from being
employable.
 PROGRAMME OUTCOMES (POS)
PO1. Basic and Discipline specific knowledge: Apply knowledge of basic mathematics, science
and engineering fundamentals and engineering specialization to solve the engineering problems.
PO2. Problem analysis: Identify and analyse well-defined engineering problems using codified
standard methods.
PO3. Design/ development of solutions: Design solutions for well-defined technical problems
and assist with the design of systems components or processes to meet specified needs.
PO4. Engineering Tools, Experimentation and Testing: Apply modern engineering tools and
appropriate technique to conduct standard tests and measurements.
PO5. Engineering practices for society, sustainability and environment: Apply appropriate
technology in context of society, sustainability, environment and ethical practices.
PO6. Project Management: Use engineering management principles individually, as a team
member or a leader to manage projects and effectively communicate about well-defined
engineering activities.
PO7. Life-long learning: Ability to analyse individual needs and engage in updating in the context
of technological changes.

PROGRAMME SPECIFIC OUTCOMES

Students will be attaining following specific outcomes:
PSO1: The diploma holders will be able to apply specific civil engineering principles to do the
field surveying, planning, designing, estimating, constructing, testing, evaluating and documenting
various Civil Engineering projects.
PSO2: The diploma holders will be committed for providing good service to the society by
repairing and maintaining quality products with utmost environment safety.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This seminar has been possible only due to support and help from various people. This report would
not complete unless their contributions are acknowledged. First of all, I wish to express my profound
gratitude to my seminar guide Mrs. Hima M U, Lecture, Department of Civil Engineering,
Government Polytechnic College Chelakkara. For her help, inspiration, guidance, suggestions,
cooperation and innovation ideas.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to Dr Anitha Jacob , Head of Department of Civil
Engineering for giving timely support he gave whenever required.

We would like to thanks Dr.Ahamed Seyed P T, Principal, Government Polytechnic College

Chelakkara ,and to the management government polytechnic college chelakkara. For giving me an
opportunity and encouragement to do this work.

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to our seminar coordinators Mrs. Manasa P S, Mrs. Hima M
U, Mrs. Sanuja D V, Mr.Sreejith Lectures, Department of Civil Engineering Government Polytechnic
College Chelakkara, for their guidance and timely help rendered. Also, I would like to thanksto all
teaching and non-teaching staffs of our college, who are involved in this work for their valuable help
for the successful completion of the project.

I would like to express our gratitude to my family and friends, for their unending support. Love and
encouragement. Finally, I express my gratitude to all of those who are remotely involved in this work.

Above all, I thank God almighty for giving us strength, encourage and blessing to complete this work.

HAYANA .M.U
 Abstract

Very large floating structures (VLFS) have attracted the attention of architects, city planners, and
engineers because they provide an exciting and environmentally friendly solution for land creation
from the sea as opposed to the traditional land reclamation method. The applications of VLFS as
floating piers, floating hotels, floating fuel storage facilities, floating stadia, floating bridges, floating
airports, and even floating cities have triggered extensive research studies in the past two decades.
The VLFS technology has developed considerably and there are many innovative methods proposed
to minimize the hydro elastic motion, improve the mooring system and structural integrity of the
VLFS. The use of a floating house or an amphibious house can now be seen in various cities across
the planet. These houses are attached to the shoreline and can easily adapt to the sea-level change.
Although this idea is not entirely new, for some reason a floating city has not yet been successful.
Various designs have been presented at different times but so far, no design has succeeded. However,
shifting development towards water isn't a simple task. It needs to overcome some challenges. This
keynote paper summarizes the components, construction, applications, developments, advantage and
disadvantages of VLFS.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

No. TITLES Page No.

1.0 INTRODUCTION 1
2.0 COMPONENTS OF VLFS 3
2.1 Very Large Semi-submersible or Pontoon Floating Structure 3
2.2 A Mooring Facility 4
2.3 Floating Bridge 5
2.4 Floating Breakwaters 5
2.5 Super Structure 6
3.0 CONSTRUCTION OF VLFS 6
Analysis Program of Hydroelasticity and Design of Hydroelastic
3.1 7
Response
3.2 Approval By Government 9
3.3 Fabrication and Towing Process 9
3.4 Joining at Sea 9
3.5 Inspection and Maintenance 9
4.0 SHAPE AND STABILITY OF STRUCTURE 10
5.0 APPLICATIONS OF VLFS 12
5.1 Floating Bridge 12
5.2 Floating Dock, Pier and Terminal 13
5.3 Floating Power Plants 14
5.4 Floating Emergency Bases 15
5.5 Floating Storage Facility 15
5.6 Floating Airports 16
5.7 Floating City 16
6.0 DEVELOPMENT OF VLFS TECHNOLOGY 18
6.1 Mooring System 18
6.2 Mitigation of Hydroelastic Response 19
6.3 Connector Design 20
6.4 Other Developments 20
7.0 MALDIVES FLOATING CITY A CASE STUDY 21
8.0 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF VLFS 22
8.1 Advantages of VLFS 22
8.2 Disadvantages of VLFS 22
9.0 CONCLUSION 23
10.0 REFERANCES 24
 LIST OF FIGURES

Fig No. Titles Page No

1 Floating deck constructed by US navy 1

2 Semi-submersible type VLFS 2
3 Pontoon type VLFS 2
4 Components of VLFS 3
5 Steps for construction of VLFS 7
6 Floating polygonal platform under wave action 10
7 Evergreen point floating bridge, Washington 12
8 Yumeshima- Maishima floating bridge in Osaka, Japan 12
9 Ujina port ,Hiroshima 13
10 Port at Valdez, Alaska 14
11 Largest power plant, Indonesia 14
12 Emergency rescue bases in Osaka Bay 15
13 Oil storage facility located in Shirashima 15
14 Ahmad Yani airport model 16
15 Lilypad model of floating city 17
16 Maldives floating city project 17
17 Mooring image 18
18 Types of Mooring 19
19 Maldives floating city model 21

LIST OF TABLES

No TITLE Page No
1 Various regular polygonal shapes created by the cosine-type radial perturbation 11
1.0 INTRODUCTION

There are over 510 million square kilometre of area on the surface of Earth , but only 30% of this
area includes land and the rest 70 % is covered by Ocean’s, lake’s, rivers etc. From this area
approximately 66 million square kilometre land is habitable for 7.9 billion population. As the area
of land decreases by melting of glaciers and the growth of urban development we need more space
for settlement. Here emerges the idea of floating structures .

Very large Floating structures (VLFS) are artificial land parcels floating on the sea. They appears
like giant plates resting on the sea in a way that total load of the structure is less than or equal to
the uplift force of water which helps the structure to float on the sea surface. Concept of very large
floating structures was first introduced by Edward Armstrong in 1920. In the Second World War.
The US Navy civil engineers used this concept to construct floating deck (fig 1) in 1943 they made
a Mobile offshore bases (MOB) too. From here the construction of very large floating structures
begins. The VLFS technology has developed considerably with the help of many innovative
methods. The use of a floating house or an amphibious house can now be seen in various cities
across the planet. The applications of VLFS are floating piers , bridges , hotels , stadia , airports ,
fuel storage facilities , docks , breakwaters , power plants , mobile offshore bases etc. And the
dream of habitation facility will be accomplished soon by completing the floating city project at
Maldives Islands which will start the next year (2022).

Fig 1– floating deck constructed by US navy in 1943

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The basic classification of VLFS are Semi-submersible type (fig 2) and the pontoon-type (fig 3).
The Semi-submersible VLFS has a raised platform above the sea level by using column tubes and
it is suitable for sea surface with large waves. The pontoon-type VLFS has a platform which rests
on the water surface and they are suitable for calm water. The pontoon-type VLFS are also known
as mat-like VLFS because of its small draft related to the length dimensions.

Fig 2– Semi-submersible type VLFS

Fig 3 – Pontoon-type VLF

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2.0 COMPONENTS OF VERY LARGE FLOATING STRUCTURES

As per general concept ,

VLFS system ( also named as Mega Float ) usually include (fig 4)

1. A very large semi-submersible or pontoon floating structure

2. A mooring facility to keep the floating structure in place
3. An access bridge or floating road to get to the floating structure from shore
4. A breakwater for reducing wave forces from affecting the floating structure
5. Structures , facilities and communications located on a VLFS

Fig 4 - Components of VLFS

2.1 Very Large Semi-submersible or Pontoon Floating Structure

➢ The design of the floating structure must comport with safety and strength requirements,
operating conditions, etc. Steel, concrete (prestressed or reinforced hybrid) or steel-
concrete composite materials may be used to build the semi submersible floating structure.
➢ Pontoon structures have a flat-bottomed hull that relies on long cylindrical tubes, called
pontoons, for buoyancy. Pontoon structures float, via their pontoons, due to the principle
of flotation that states when a structure displaces an amount of weight in water that is equal
to its own weight then the structure will float.

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2 .2 Mooring Facility

➢ Characteristics of mooring of VLFS

The proportion of the cost of mooring equipment of VLFS is comparatively small in the
total construction cost, However, the mooring system is the very keystone of the concept
of VLFS since it determines safety, the reliability and function of the floating structure
through preventing it from drifting out of place under typhoons, and restricting its
behaviour in the horizontal plane in accordance with the required functions of the service
facilities on it.
There are widely varied types of mooring equipment and the most adequate mooring
method and equipment arrangement have to be selected in consideration of factors such
as the natural period of the system in accordance with the size of the floating body, its
object and the condition of the waters where it is constructed. The mooring system has to
be so planned, in the context of an overall system, as to enhance the economy, safety and
reliability of VLFS as compared with other alternatives. The aspects to be studied in the
planning include: the relationship between required calmness of the sea obtainable by
arrangement of breakwaters and mooring capacity limit; influence of the mooring system
on access facilities; and its use for temporary mooring of sections (floating units) during
their assembly work into the large structure.
System concepts, design examples and design methods are described in this section in
relation with the mooring of VLFS.
➢ Concept of mooring system
There are examples of moored floating structures such as those of the offshore oil storage
facilities at Shirashima and Kamigoto, some recreation facilities, tanker berths, and
mooring wharves. In any of these, the size of the floating structures is several hundreds of
meters and they are not "very large," nevertheless they are meaningful references of the
mooring of floating structures for long periods under the offshore conditions. Methods
such as a combination of dolphins with constant reaction fenders, use of chains and the
like are employed for mooring these structures. Functions required of the mooring
equipment for VLFS and selection of the mooring type are discussed hereafter.
➢ Required functions
The floating structure is moored by multiple dolphins and the dolphins are arranged on
one side of the floating structure in order to allow for the thermal expansion by solar

4
 radiation, which will amount to I m in the whole length of the structure. 50 dolphins are
installed along one of the long sides and 20 along a short side. A dolphin connects to the
floating body via constant reaction rubber fenders and a guide frame as shown in Figs.
Requirements of the mooring equipment for VLFS are as follows:
(1) To restrict VLFS's displacement in the horizontal plane against winds, waves and
tides in accordance with the required functions of the service facilities on it.
(2) To provide sufficient bearing force against winds, waves and tides in emergency
conditions and earthquakes and, at the same time, control the mooring force so that it may
not become excessive.
(3) To absorb the relative displacement in the horizontal plane be-50 dolphins along
long side.

2.3 Floating Bridge

Floating bridges are made of large water-tight concrete pontoons connected rigidly end-to-end,
upon which the roadway is built. Despite their heavy concrete composition, the weight of the water
displaced by the pontoons is equal to the weight of the structure (including all traffic), which allows
the bridge to float.

2.4 Floating Breakwaters

Floating breakwaters are commonly divided into four general categories: box, pontoon, mat, and
tethered float.

➢ Box type breakwaters are composed of reinforced concrete modules with a rectangular
cross-section. A typical module is 15–20 m long, 2.5–5 m wide, and 1–2 m high. They
are either empty inside or, more often, filled with a polystyrene or similar materials. In
the former case, the risk of structure sinking is not negligible. Connections are either
flexible, allowing preferably only the roll along the FB axis, or pre- or posttensioned, to
make them act as a single unit. In the latter case, the efficiency is higher, but the risk of
damage is also larger. Interconnection between adjacent modules and mooring system
are primary points of concern for this kind of structures.
➢ Barge-type Floating breakwaters are sometimes built with used barges and ballasted to
the desired draft with sand or rock.

5
 ➢ Pontoon-type floating breakwaters include several models such as the catamaran type,
the Alaska type, and the A-frame type. These shapes aim at increasing the ratio between
width and the incident wavelength, and therefore the ability to attenuate the waves, in an
economic way.
➢ The mat and tethered float types are wide, on the order of 10–20 m, but draft is quite
small (less than 1.0 m). Within the mat category, most are made with tires. They are
subjected to lower anchor loads, reflect less, and dissipate relatively more than previous
floating breakwaters types. Although the effectiveness is low, they also have a low cost
and they can be easily removed and constructed with unskilled labour and minimal
equipment.

2.5 Super Structures

Carbon fibre composite panels, also known as epoxy sandwich panels can be used as the
superstructure material, for walls. It is a material having lesser density compared to other building
materials, but at the same time, has high strength. The basic advantage is the resistance of the
separate panel components to full impact loads. The weight density of the material is 1600 kg per
cubic mere. For roof slab, the material selected was light weight aggregate concrete, with a weight
density of 1440 kg per cubic metre. Light weight concrete was selected so that there is no risk for
the wall panels to carry roof load.

3.0 CONSTRUCTION OF VERY LARGE FLOATING STRUCTURES

Steps for construction of VLFS project ( Fig 5)

1. Analysis program of hydroelasticity and design of hydroelastic response

2. Approval by Government
3. Fabrication and towing process
4. Joining at sea
5. Inspection and maintenance

6
 Fig 5- Steps for construction of VLFS

3.1 Analysis program of hydroelasticity and design of hydroelastic response

The analysis and design of floating structures need to account for some special characteristics
when compared to land-based structures; namely:

➢ Horizontal forces due to waves are in general several times greater than the(nonseismic)
horizontal loads on land-based structures and the effect of such loads depends upon how
the structure is connected to the seafloor. It is distinguished between a rigid and compliant
connection. A rigid connection virtually prevents the horizontal motion while a compliant
mooring will allow maximum horizontal motions of a floating structure of the order of the
wave amplitude.
➢ In framed, tower-like structures which are piled to the seafloor, the horizontal wave forces
produce extreme bending and overturning moments as the wave forces act near the water
surface. In this case the structure and the pile system need to carry virtually all the vertical
loads due to self weight and payload as well as the wave, wind and current loads.
➢ In a floating structure the static vertical self weight and payloads are carried by buoyancy.
If a floating structure has got a compliant mooring system, consisting for instance of
catenary chain mooring lines, the horizontal wave forces are balanced by inertia forces.
Moreover, if the horizontal size of the structure is larger than the wave length, the resultant

7
 horizontal forces will be reduced due to the fact that wave forces on different structural
parts will have different phase(direction and size). The forces in the mooring system will
then be small relative to the total wave forces. The main purpose of the mooring system is
then to prevent drift-off due to steady current and wind forces as well as possible steady
and slow-drift wave forces which are usually more than an order of magnitude less than
the first order wave forces.
➢ A particular type of structural system, denoted tension-leg system, is achieved if a highly
pretensioned mooring system is applied. Additional buoyancy is then required to ensure
the pretension. If this mooring system consists of vertical lines the system is still
horizontally compliant but is vertically quite stiff. Also, the mooring forces will increase
due to the high pretension and the vertical wave loading. If the mooring lines form an angle
with the vertical line, the horizontal stiffness and the forces increase. However, a main
disadvantage with this system is that it will be difficult to design the system such that slack
of leeward mooring lines are avoided. A possible slack could be followed by a sudden
increase intension that involves dynamic amplification and possible failure. For this reason
such systems have never been implemented for offshore structures.
➢ Sizing of the floating structure and its mooring system depends on its function and also on
the environmental conditions in terms of waves, current and wind. The design may be
dominated either by peak loading due to permanent and variable loads or by fatigue
strength due to cyclic wave loading. Moreover, it is important to consider possible
accidental events such as ship impacts and ensure that the overall safety is not threatened
by a possible progressive failure induced by such damage.
➢ Unlike land-based constructions with their associated foundations poured in place, very
large floating structures are usually constructed at shore-based building sites remote from
the deepwater installation area and without extensive preparation of the foundation. Each
module must be capable of floating so that they can be floated to the site and assembled in
the sea.
➢ Owing to the corrosive sea environment, floating structures have to be provided with a
good corrosion protection system.
➢ Possible degradation due to corrosion or crack growth (fatigue) requires a proper system
for inspection, monitoring, maintenance and repair during use.

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3.2 Approval by Government

The plan of Mega float must be evaluated and approved by the authority. The general plan of Mega
float must be compliant with both the Port and Harbour Law and the Fishing Port Law. Buildings
on the Mega float shall be regulated by both the Building Standard Law and the Fire Defences
Law. Floating Structures are regulated by the Ship Safety Law. Approval processes differ from
law to law. A Mega float Safety Evaluation Committee must be proposed and accepted by the
government. Experts and all government bureaus in charge of the approval gather in the committee
and evaluate the application. Once the plan is judged to be acceptable, each bureau approves the
plan. The Fig 1.4 represents approval process.

3.3 Fabrication and towing process

Units of a Mega float are simple structure and construction itself is not a difficult task. Most of the
technology developments in the construction phase are related to construction operation at sea.
Experiments to test the towing of Mega float units should be carried out during the construction
of onsite experimental models.

3.4 Joining at sea

Mega float is constructed by joining unit structures that were fabricated in shipyards. Unit
structures are fabricated in the well-controlled environments of shipyards but the joining of the
units take place at sea and are exposed to the natural environment of the installation site.
Construction by dry welding with a water draining device and wet welding at sea must be
investigated. The influence of both wave conditions and unit joining sequences on the responses
of structure and performance of construction were investigated.

3.5 Inspection and maintenance

The VLFS structure should be well maintained for at least 100 years. Environmental impact studies
should also be conducted. Inspection and maintenance must be done regularly.

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4.0 SHAPE AND STABILITY OF STRUCTURE

Consider a floating rigid polygonal platform in a constant water depth h as shown in

Figure. The incident wave has a wave period T, a wave amplitude A, and incidents the
floating platform at an oblique angle of β. The freeboard is assumed to be high enough
to prevent wave overtopping. The draft of the platform is d. The floating platform is allowed
to oscillate freely but is assumed to be kept in place. The cylindrical coordinates (r, θ, z)
are adopted with its origin at the centre of the regular polygonal platform

Fig 6 - Floating polygonal platform under wave action

The plan shape of the polygonal platform is generated by using a radius function defined by the
cosine-type radial perturbation given by

R(θ) = R0{1 + ε cos nr(θ − θ0)} (1)

where R0, ε, nr and θ0 are parameters to be chosen by a user. This radius function can be used to
construct all types of regular polygonal shapes. For example, polygonal shapes such as a triangle,
square, pentagon, hexagon and octagon can be straightforwardly created by choosing the
appropriate values for the dimensionless parameters ε, nr and θ0, which are summarised in Table
The size of the polygonal shape is predominantly controlled by R0. For a given R0 value, the
polygonal shapes have similar plan areas S0 equal to about πR02 is convenient when comparing
with a circular platform of a similar size. In addition, one can freely orientate the polygonal shape
by changing θ 0.

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 Table 1 - Various regular polygonal shapes created by the cosine-type radial perturbation.

(Note: S0 denotes the plan area of platform)

Density plays a crucial role in Archimedes Principle because of the fact that, density of the object
will be the ultimate determination factor whether an object will float or sink. A submerged body
or floating body is said to be stable if it comes back to its original position after a slight disturbance.
The positions of centre of gravity and centre of buoyancy are key terms in determining the stability
of a floating body. For the floating structure, structural stability is very important to prevent failure
of the structure caused by overturning due to angular displacement. For the study of floating
stability of a structure, it is very important to determine the positions of the various forces acting
upon the structure. Stability can be defined as the extent to which an object to return to the stable
equilibrium position.

The stability is calculated first by determining the centre of buoyancy, which also happens to be
the centre of the volume of the submerged part of floating construction. The extent to which the
buoyancy centre (FB) moves in a certain angle depends on the width of the float base. The wider
the float base, the small the shifting distance of the buoyancy centre (B) will be from the centre.
When the body is given a small angular displacement, its starts oscillating about a point known as
the Meta-Centre. The distance between the meta-centre of a floating body and the centre of gravity
of a floating body is called meta-centric height. The lower the centre of gravity the greater is the
distance between centre of gravity and meta-centre. This leads to more stable structure.

11
5.0 APPLICATIONS OF VLFS

5.1 Floating Bridge

A floating bridge or a pontoon, uses floats or shallow draft boats to support a continuous deck for
pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the support limits the maximum load that they can
carry. Most pontoon bridges are temporary and used in wartime. Wooden floats and sometimes
boats are lashed together and flat planks are laid over creating roadway, allowing men and
materials to cross bodies of water. Pontoon bridges have been used to great advantage in many
battles throughout history , including the second World War and during the Iran-Iraq War. At that
time floating bridges were build from wood.

Fig:7 - Evergreen point floating bridge , Washington

Around 20 Floating bridges exist in the world. The Washington state department of transportation
(WSDOT) has achieved the Guinness World Records title for the longest floating bridge. The
Evergreen point floating bridge ( Fig 7) measures 2349.55 meters approximately equal to 7708.49
feet and it connects Seattle to Bellevue, both cities in Washington state, USA. Yumemi Bridge ,
Osaka ,Japan (fig 8) Is the world’s first floating swing bridge, it connects two artificial islands
,Yumeshima and Maishima which have a length of 410 meters.

Fig 8– Yumeshima – Maishima Floating bridge in Osaka, Japan

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5.2 Floating Docks , Piers And Terminals

A dock that floats on water and can be partly submerged to permit entry of a ship and raised to
keep the ship high and dry. The first floating dock built and used in great Britain was one built in
1776 by ship write named Aldersly . Then came Christopher Watson’s dock , built in 1785 and
put into use at Rotherhithe on the river Thames. A print is extant showing the dock there in 1800,
lifting the brig Mercury. Floating pier is a platform or ramp supported by pontoons. It is usually
joined to the shore with a gangway. The pier is usually held in place by vertical poles referred to
as pilings, which are embedded in the seafloor by anchored cables.

There are in existence many floating docks, piers and Terminals. For example the 124 m × 109 m
Floating dock in Texas shipyard built by Bethlehem marine construction group in 1985. floating
structures are ideal for players as the ships can come alongside them since their positions are
constantly with respect to the waterline. An example of a floating pier is the one located at Ujina
Port, Hiroshima ( fig 9) .The floating pier is 150 m × 30 m× 4m. Vancouver has also a floating
pier designed for car ferries. Car ferry piers must allow smooth loading and unloading of cars and
the equal tidal rise and fall of the pier and ferries is indeed advantageous for this purpose. A
floating type pier was also designed for the berthing the 50,000 ton container ships at Valdez,
Alaska( fig 10). The floating structure was adopted due to the greater water depth.

Fig 9– Ujina port , Hiroshima

VLFS are ideal for application as Floating emergency rescue basis in seismic pro neareas owing
to the facr that their bases are inherently isolated from seismic motion. Japan has a number of such
floating rescue bases parked in the Tokyo Bay, Ise Bay and Osaka Bay . Another advantage of

13
VLFS is its Attractive panoramic view of the water body. Waterfront properties and the sea appeal
to the general public. Thus, VLFSs Are attractive for used as floating entertainment facilities such
as hotels, restaurants, shopping centres, amusement, and recreation parks , Exhibition centres, and
theaters.

Fig 10– Port at Valdez, Alaska

5.3 Floating Power Plants

Power plants are the floating structures which made a revolutionary change in the production of
electricity. There are different ways to produce electricity like that we have different power plants
such as Floating windmill, Floating solar power plants etc.

Fig 11 – Largest power plant , Indonesia

A floating structure consisting of two sections was constructed in 1978 in Brazil. One section of
the structure is built for a pulp plant while the other section is for a power plant. It was towed to
its site at Munguba as a floating structure but was installed in its location on piled foundations. In
1979, Bangladesh purchased from Japan a floating power plant. The power plant is located at

14
Khulna, Bangladesh. In 1981, Saudi Arabia built a floating desalination plant and towed to its site
where it was sunk into position and rests on the seabed. In 1981, Argentina constructed a floating
polyethylene plant at Bahia Blance. In 1985, Jamaica acquired a floating power plant.

This plant was built in Japanese shipyards and towed to Jamaica and moored by a dolphin-rubber
fender system. Studies are already underway to use floating structures for wind farms sewage
treatment plant and power plant in Japan. Sunseap Groups Floating solar plant will be located on
the Duriangkang Reservoir in Batam Island , Indonesia spanning around 1600 Hector’s will be
largest solar floating plant un the world ( fig 11)

5.4 Floating Emergency Bases

As floating structures are inherently base isolated from earthquakes, they are ideal for applications
as floating emergency rescue bases in earthquake prone countries. Japan has a number of such
floating rescue bases parked in the Tokyo Bay, Ise Bay and Osaka Bay. (Fig 12 ) show the
emergency rescue bases at Tokyo bay and Osaka bay, respectively (Watanabi, 2004).

Fig 12- Emergency rescue bases in Osaka Bay

5.5 Floating Storage Facilities

Fig 13- Oil storage facility located in Shirashima

15
Very large floating structures have been used for storing fuel. Constructed like flat tankers (box-
shaped) parked side by side, they form an ideal oil storage facility, keeping the explosive,
inflammable fluid from populated areas on land. Japan has two major floating oil storage systems.
One oil storage facility is located in Shirashima (fig 13) with a capacity of 5.6 million kilolitres
while the other is at Kamigoto with a capacity of 4.4 million kilolitres.

5.6 Floating Airports

A floating airport is an airport built and situated on Very large floating structure (VLFS) located
many miles out at sea utilizing a flotation type of device or devices such as pneumatic stabilized
platform (PSP) technology
As the population increases and land becomes more expensive and scarce, VLFS such as floating
airports could help solve land use, pollution and aircraft noise issues. Ahmad Yani International
Airport owned by Indonesia started in 2014 and is completed in 2018 the first floating airport (fig
14)

Fig 14- Ahmad Yani airport model

5.7 Floating City

It is not easy to create such a floating city and to shift the settlement to the water. This is why the
floating cities are obsolete. There are many models of floating cities was presented the important
one is Lilypad model of floating city invented by Leah Buechley (Fig 15 ). With a shape inspired
by highly ribbed leaf of Victoria water lilies, the double skin of the floating ecopolis would be

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made of polyester fibres covered by a layer of titanium dioxide, which would react with ultraviolet
rays and absorb atmospheric pollution via photocatalic effect.

Fig 15 – Lilypad model of floating city

In the face of the reality of climate change, Maldives is getting the worlds first truly floating Island
city. Appropriately called Maldives Floating City (MFC) which starts on 2022. The government
of Maldives, an island republic in the northern Indian ocean that has the lowest terrain of any
country in the world per NASA , They revealed the plans for MFC ( fig 16).

Fig 16 – Maldives floating city project

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6.0 DEVELOPMENT OF VLFS TECHNOLOGY

6.1 Mooring systems

Fig 17- mooring image

The mooring system ensures that the VLFS is kept in position so that the facilities installed on the
floating structure can be reliably operated as well as to prevent the structure from drifting away
under critical sea conditions and storms. A freely drifting very large floating structure may lead to
not only damage to the surrounding facilities but also to the loss of human life if it collides with
ships. The station keeping system of floating structure may be grouped into two main types: The
mooring lines the caisson or pile-type dolphins with rubber fender system .The former type uses
chains, wire ropes, synthetic ropes, chemical fibre ropes, steel pipe piles, and hollow pillar links.
These mooring systems are used for VLFS operating in deep sea such as the tension leg floating
wind farm and the floating salmon farm. However, the motions of a floating structure become
large when the length of mooring line is rather long. Especially in deep seas, the tension leg system
is adopted to which the pretension is applied to the mooring line in order to restrain heaving
motion. In such a station keeping system, it is difficult to restrain.

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 Fig 18-Types of mooring

The horizontal motion and usually the mooring lines experience significant tension forces. The
rubber fender-dolphin mooring system was first adopted for the two floating oil storage bases at
Kamigoto and Shirashima islands in Japan. The mooring system has since been used for other
facilities such as floating piers, floating terminals, floating exhibition halls, floating emergency
bases, and floating bridges. The rubber fender-dolphin type is very effective in restraining the
horizontal displacement of the floating structure. As the large size rubber fenders are able to
undergo a large deformation of up to approximately one-third of their lengths, a considerable
amount of the kinetic energy of the floating structure can be absorbed.

6.2 Mitigation of Hydro elastic response

Various methods have been proposed by engineers to minimize the hydroelastic response of the
VLFS. One of the earliest methods is by constructing bottom-founded breakwater close to the
VLFS as was done for the Mega-Float. Studies by Utsunomiya (2001)and Ohmatsu (1999) showed
that the bottom founded type breakwater is very effective in reducing the hydroelastic response as
well as the drift forces. However, such type of breakwater still possesses some drawbacks that
include massive construction material requirements, difficulty in construction, occupying precious
sea space, difficulty in removing the breakwater if the VLFS is to be relocated elsewhere, not
environmentally friendly, and the reflected waves from the breakwater could result in coastal

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erosion. The floating box-like breakwater moored with mooring lines has been proposed as an
alternative to the conventional bottom-founded type breakwater for protecting VLFS from a severe
sea. Floating breakwaters do not disrupt the ocean current flow and cause relatively little damage
to the seabed. Furthermore, the floating box-like breakwater (being the most common type)
constructed around the FFSF.

6.3 Connector Designs

VLFS is usually constructed in modules due to its massive size. The modules are fabricated in
shipyard, and then connected on site in the sea by welding or by using rigid connectors. More
recently, Fu (2007) and Wang (2009) proposed the use of hinge or semi-rigid connectors instead
because they found that the non-rigid connectors are more effective in reducing the hydroelastic
response as compared with the rigid connectors. There have been various connector designs
proposed and a review paper by Lei (2007) gave a wide range of these connector systems.
However, there is still work tube done on developing a robust and economical connector system
for very large floating modules.

6.4 Other Developments

The shapes of the VLFS may take on more arbitrary geometries such as the irregular-shaped
floating island in the han river instead of the conventional rectangular shape VLFS. Various
researchers have also considered VLFS of different shapes that could reduce the hydroelastic
responses. For example, okada (1998) has investigated VLFS with different edge shapes and
confirmed that the notched edge is able to reduce the propagation of deformation over the VLFS.
With the view to reduce the hydroelastic response, VLFS with moon pools and different stiffness
are proposed and they are found to be very effective in reducing the hydroelastic response of the
VLFS when the wavelength is small. Wang (2006) have also introduced the innovative gill cells
in very large floating container terminal in order to provide an effective solution for reducing large
differential deflections of a VLFS under uneven static loading.

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7.0 MALDIVES FLOATING CITY A CASE STUDY

The Earth is currently undergoing a climate change of historic proportion, with sea levels rising
noticeably from the melting of glaciers and icebergs. If the trend continues, the Maldives will be
completely submerged in 30 years. For the people of Maldives, a Floating city is an urgent
necessity. Within the next few years, there will be no Maldives and because of these reasons, this
is the most suitable site for testing this idea.

The Maldives Floating City is planned by Dutch Docklands. Each house will be about 1,000 square
feet and cost 18,50,000/- . The city will also have all the facilities such as stores, public spaces,
and schools.

Fig 19 Maldives floating city model

The hexagon-shaped floating segments are modelled on the distinctive geometry of local coral.
These are connected to a ring of barrier islands, which act as breakers below the water, thereby
lessening the impact of lagoon waves and stabilizing structures on the surface.

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8.0 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF VERY LARGE FLOATING
STRUCTURES

Their advantages and disadvantages will be assessed according to the depth in which they work
and their proximity to the coast.

8.1 Advantages of VLFS

➢ They are cost effective when the water depth is large (note that the cost of imported sand
for land reclamation in some countries has risen significantly and it may come a time that
sand may not be even available from neighbouring countries)
➢ Environment friendly as they do not damage the marine eco-system, or silt-up deep
harbours or disrupt the tidal/ocean currents
➢ They are easy and fast to construct (components may be made at different shipyards and
then brought to the site for assembling) and therefore sea-space can be speedily exploited
➢ They can be easily removed (if the sea space is needed in future) or expanded (since they
are of a modular form)
➢ The facilities and structures on Mega-Floats are protected from seismic shocks since they
are inherently base isolated
➢ They do not suffer from differential settlement due to reclaimed soil consolidation
➢ Their positions with respect to the water surface are constant and thus facilitate small boats
and ship to come alongside when used as piers and berths.
➢ Their location in coastal waters provide scenic body of water all around, making them
suitable for developments associated with leisure and water sport activities.

8.2 Disadvantages of VLFS

➢ Mat like VLFSs are only suitable for use in calm waters associated with naturally sheltered
coastal formations – using of breakwaters, anti-motion device, anchor or mooring as a
solution for this
➢ They may not be sufficient stability for the airport control systems – by keeping them on a
shore it can be neglected
➢ Low security from terrorist attacks

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9.0 CONCLUSION

The definition, applications, analysis and design of very large floating structures have been
presented. It is hoped that this report will create an awareness and interest in structural and civil
engineers on the subject of very large floating structures and to exploit their special characteristics
in conditions that are favourable for their applications.

VLFSs can be constructed to create floating airports, bridges, breakwaters, piers and docks, storage
facilities (for oil), wind or solar power plants, for military purposes, industrial space, emergency
bases, entertainment facilities, recreation parks, space vehicle launching, mobile offshore
structures and even habitation (it could become reality sooner than one may expect). VLFSs may
be classified under two broad categories: the pontoon-type and the semi-submersible type. The
former type is a simple at box structure and features high stability, low manufacturing cost and
easy maintenance and repair. The pontoon-type/mat-like VLFS is very flexible compared to other
kinds of offshore structures, so that the elastic deformations are more important than their rigid
body motions. Thus, hydro elastic analysis takes centre stage in the analysis of the mat-like VLFSs.

Large differential deflection encountered in pontoon type , Very large floating structures (VLFS)
may be minimized by introducing gill cells at appropriate locations.

I hope this report will give you more information about very large floating structures. Even though
lots works are still going to complete the floating structures for the future. The size of these
structures can be minimised by using gill cells. This types of projects will be realised in the
upcoming years. The importance of floating structures in the upcoming years is the aim of this
seminar paper. As engineers one day our journey end up in floating world.

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10.0 REFERANCES

1. Ali adnan “Floating cities from concept to creation” A discussion of the challenges that
are pending the floating city through literature review , October 2020
2. Amit Roy , Rehan Wangle , Ronak Vaghasiya , Pranit Wadekar “Floating Construction”
Viva- Tech international Journal for research and innovation , volume 1 Issue 2 2019
3. Chi Zhang 1,2 and Allan R. Magee 1* “Effectiveness of Floating Breakwater in Special
Configurations for Protecting Nearshore Infrastructures” Journal of marine science and
Engineering , July 2021
4. Emilin Sara Varkey, Fayiz Ameen M M, Sonam G Bose, Syamlal V, Linda Lawrance
“Design and Analysis of floating residence” International Research Journal of Engineering
and Technology, Volume 6 Issue 5, May 2019
5. E. Watanambe , C. M. Wang , T Utsunomiya , T. Moan “ Very Large Floating Structures:
Applications, Analysis, And Design” Centre for offshore Research and engineering
National University of Singapore 2005
6. Jeong Cheol Park* and Chien Ming Wang “Hydrodynamic Behaviour of Floating
Polygonal Platforms under Wave Action” Journal of Marine Science and Engineering,
August 2021
7. Neven Hadzic, Marko Tomic , Nikila Vladimir, Ivo senjanovic , “Some aspects of Mega-
Floating Airport Design and production”, Article in Journal of Maritime and
Transportation Science , special Issue 1 , April 2016
8. Xiantao Zhang1, Da Lu2, Yibo Liang3 and Feargal Brennan4 “Feasibility of Very Large
Floating Structure as Offshore Wind Foundation: Effects of Hinge Numbers on Wave
Loads and Induced Responses” Article in Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal and Ocean
Engineering , January 2021

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