5 ms·
Couldn't these floating cities get completely owned by tropical storms, hurricanes, etc? Due to the proximity to (warm) water, storms would be much worse than
by mizzao 11y ago
Couldn't these floating cities get completely owned by tropical storms, hurricanes, etc?
Due to the proximity to (warm) water, storms would be much worse than on land - and there would be nothing to affix large structures to.
- nmrm2 11y agoOh definitely. But TBF it's far easier to move what's essentially a giant fancy boat than it is to uproot a structure on land. When it comes to really massive (predictable) storms, I'd rather be living on an easily movable boat than a small island.
- stefantalpalaru 11y agoYes, but with the inevitable rise of the ocean level it's worth looking into solving the problems related to artificial islands.
- imaginenore 11y agoNot even a storm. On a windy day, let's say 30 knots, go to the ocean shore and see what the waves do. When the wind gets to 55 knots, a good category 10 storm, things get pretty mental. To build a structure that can withstand category 12 storm and above would require ridiculously good engineering. Water isn't wind, it's fucking heavy, and it hits like 100 trains. The costs to build something like that must be in the billions. Heck, modern cruise ships cost more than a billion dollars.
- abandonliberty 11y agoHey, while we're dreaming we may as well make them submersible. I wonder what's the more challenging engineering: a submersible city or one that can survive cat 12 storms.
- fia_bui 11y agoSubmersible accomodation isn't actually that hard or expensive: You don't have to go very deep to reduce wave action to next to nothing, only 10-20 meters, and you only need to submerge in heavy weather. There's one guy on the forums who built a couple of concrete teardrop hulls and used them as yachts. He said they were pretty comfortable.
- bandrami 11y agoCouldn't these floating cities get completely owned by tropical storms, hurricanes, etc? Umm... unlike cities on land, which never have problems with those?
- fia_bui 11y agoSeaworthyness isn't something that's been ignored, it's a serious issue of discussion. Three main solutions have come up so far: * Build above the surface, like an oil rig or a spar buoy * Build under/go under the surface, like a semi submersible * Brute force, using floating breakwaters TSI is currently running with option three, although they were looking at option one a few years back.