Problem:
Traditional floating docks found on inland lakes and even the bay and ocean include something buoyant (like a plastic high-density polyethylene cube or foam filled barrel) and a surface (like 1 x 6) treated wood combined to create a floating platform. Over time the wood needs to be replaced and the overall maintenance of the material can be expensive. Composite decking material is an alternative but can be much more expensive and also hot to bare feet.
There are several plastic high density polyethylene ( HDPE ) alternatives on the market. One of the downsides to these configurations is the walking surface tends to spring due to the thin plastic shell. In addition, they can be difficult to get a boat or jet ski on top of their surface due to lack of rolling mechanism.
Solution:
We designed a modular floating system that can be used as a dock, ramp, boat lift, jet ski lift or swimming platform. It is modular because it is configured using small (roughly 2ft x 2ft x 2ft ) lightweight concrete cubes that when attached together create a floating platform. Cast concrete cubes surrounded by an aluminium frame are connected and hinged using a unique looking mechanism. For larger boat lifting and drydocking we have an air lift and support mechanism that will flood and drain air chambers for easy entry and exit on to the boats modular dock.
Innovation:
The materials used in our approach provide an advantage over those currently found in the floating dock marketplace.
Lightweight concrete is very common outside of the United States. Lightweight concrete ( aka aircrete, cellular concrete ) has many commercial and industrial applications. It is most recently used in construction of wall structures as it is relatively strong, a good insulator and fire proof material. To my knowledge this is the first use of it in a modular docking application.
We use a proprietary formula to make up a "lightweight concrete" that will float. We cast the concrete in several configurations, some are solid and some have an "air chamber" to help reduce the weight. Our current design is a square cube with a metal frame used for rigidity. The assembly begins by aligning two blocks connected by lengthy longitudinal and short transverse rectangular bars.
Specifications-
Cubes are roughly 2 x 2 x 2
