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Graduation Project

Architecture

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2013 Bashar G . A Tahtamouni

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All-Aqaba Fish Market

Thesis

August 2013Irbid, Jordan

Committee:

Arch : Yasmien OkourDr. Raed S. Al Tal, Course Coordinator and Vice Dean.

By

Bashar Tahtamouni

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of Bachelor in Architecture

in College of Archetecture and Design

in Jordan University Of Science and Technology

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DEDICATION

I dedicate this effort to proudly serve our nation and our people

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This project would not have been possible without the sup-port of many people. Many thanks to my adviser, who read my numerous revisions and helped make some sense of the

confusion. Also thanks to my committee members who offered guidance and support

And finally, thanks to my parents, and numerous friends who endured this long process with me, always offering support

and love.

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Brief

Civilization generally refers to polities which combine three basic institutions: a ceremonial centre, a system of writing, and a city.

A birth of a civilization goes through stages; these stages are considered the conditions that qualify a society into a civiliza-tion.

The birth of a civilization can be marked by the beginning of a human assembly, the human existence; where ever humans settle on a life conditioned land, civilization is sparked.

the accumulation of multiple human experiences, tradition appears, and culture is shaped with its totalitarian features.

Comes next the agriculture, the true back bone to the rise of any civilization, no civilization ever existed without it.

Then the industry appears, giv-ing a new path for human be-

ings to create and invent, in order to pursue happiness and comfort.

With tradition and culture giv-ing form and identity to agri-cultural and industrial prod-ucts, commerce takes its place to enrich the collective needs of different civilizations, and like agriculture and industry, com-merce becomes a vital essence towards a new path of a civili-zation’s evolution.

The existence of these elements gives positive results of ad-vancement and growth, lead-ing to the appearance of arts and artists, in literature, poetry, writing, critic, music, drawing and sculpture. This huge advancement is later crowned with an “Architectural language”, which points out the existence of civilized humans, the legitimate rightful owners of the land their civilization oc-cupies.

We, the people of Sham, have civilization, a history and an architectural language, which meets the needs of our environ-ment and reflects our thoughts

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and beliefs, and it falls in our hands to preserve this language and this civilization.

It is a duty for every individual, where ever this individual oc-cupies a position in the body of this great nation, to put for-ward what can be given, time and effort, in his specialty and hard work.

It is from the realization of this divine duty, this study was put forward, in a hope to serve the area of Al-Aqaba, explain one of its issues, in attempt to tackle this issue. Al-Aqaba was ever known to host large numbers of fisher-men, as it is located to the coast of the red sea; fishing was one of the major trades of Al-Aqa-ba’s people, and they had great reliance on it.

This trade gave this city its spe-cial features.

In the near past, this trade evolved; fish farms appeared so as fish merchants.

As Al-Aqaba evolved into a

tourist town - nowadays - this trade was getting abandoned, and now, it is faced with extinc-tion, many voices were raised to fight this phenomenon, a great spectrum of these voices considered the abandonment of this trade an act of endan-germent to the city’s identity.

As mentioned before, this is-sue should be considered a top priority to be solved; therefore this study will attempt to offer a well-studied solution, in a hope to preserve Al-Aqaba’s identity from extinction.

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Chapter One _ Introduction

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Introduction

Definition

While fishingtrade must surely be one of the oldest recorded sources of livelihood,it is only comparatively recently that fish have become im-portant componentsof the diets of the majority of the world’s people especially those living in developing countries. Fish are an important component of the rapid growth of the consumption of animal products in developing countries over the past two decades and into the foresee-able future.

What’s The project ?the project is Fishmarket , But , What’s Fishmarket ?

Before talking about fishmarket , I will talk about Markets in general .

Markets are of fundamental importance in the livelihood strategy of most households, rich and poor alike. Markets are where, as producers, they buy their inputs and sell their products; and where, as consumers, they spend their income from the sale of crops or from their non-agri-cultural activities, to buy their food requirements and other things.Markets of varying types can spontaneously arise whenever a party has interest in a good or service that some other party can provide.

Hence there can be a market for cigarettes in public facilities, another for chewing gum in a playground, and yet another for contracts for the future delivery of a commodity. There can be black markets, where a good is exchanged illegally , and virtual markets, such as eBay, in which buyers and sellers do not physically interact during negotiation.

Introduction

Chapter One

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Chapter One

What is fishmarket ?

A fishmarket is a marketplace used for marketing fish products. It can be dedicated to wholesale trade between fishermen and fish mer-chants, or to the sale of seafood to individual consumers, or to both. Retail fish markets, a type of wet market, often sell street food as well.Fish markets range in size from small fish stalls, to the great Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, turning over about 660,000 tonnes a year.

The term fish market can refer to the process of fish marketing in general, but this article is concerned with physical marketplaces

small fish stalls

the great Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo

The problem :

Aqaba has been an inhabited settlement since 4000 BC profiting from its stra-tegic location at the junction of trading routes between Asia, Africa, and Europe. It was a center of the early settlement Edomites, and then of the Arab Nabataeans, who populated the region extensively. Aqaba probably dates back to Iron Age. The Romans called it Aila and Aelana. During Roman times, the great long distance road

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Chapter One Introduction

Aqaba city is strategically important to Jordan as it is the country’s only seaport at the Red Sea. The port is jordan’s most important import/export hub. It plays an important role in the economic life of Jordan and hasmany attractions to offer the vacationer.

industrial activity remains important to the area, and the town is an ex-porter of products. The town is also an important administrative center within the far south of Jordan.

the Via Traiana Nova (The King’s Highway) led south from Damascus through Amman, terminating in Aqaba, where it connected with a west road leading to Philistines and Egypt.

On the other hand , because Aqaba is an old city , that’s mean there’s a Civilization , Culture, .. or there’s an Identity , and we should conserve it .

One of the most important activities in Aqaba is “Fishing” , and fishing is an ancient craft on Aqaba ..Now, with modernism life this identity is fading away, and this project addressed this problem .

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Chapter One

Why a fishmarket ?

• Tohelppeopleaccessefficientandmoreequitable markets.• Theimportanceofthehistoricalphenomenonofcatchingfish and its entry into the identity of the city of Aqaba ...• Aqabaisacoastalcity,andthefishingtradeisoneofits main identities. • andmanyotherreasonsmakepeoplethinkaboutthe disaster that will be realized as a result of negligence...

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES :

• PreservetheidentityofthecityofAqaba and protecting it from being lost• Createnewjobopportunitiesforresidents adequate with their culture• tradedevelopmentwithvariouscountries• Exploitexistingresources• Tourismdevelopment• Increasepeople’sawarenessofthe importance of preserving the identity of the region

• Increasesthestandardofliving

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Chapter One Introduction

project location

this project will be in the city of Aqaba - Jordan .

Aqaba is a Jordanian coastal city situated at the northeastern tip of the

Red Sea. Aqaba is the largest city on the Gulf of Aqaba and Jordan’s

only coastal city. The city of Aqaba is the southernmost part of Jordan.

Aqaba is one of the major tourist attractions in Jordan, and famous for its

warm water and rich marine life. It is best known today as a seaside

and diving resort and also as a home for Jordan’s mega projects. How-

ever, industrial and commercial activities remain important, due to the strategic

location of the city as the country’s only seaport.

Tourism

Aqaba is well known for its beach resorts and luxury hotels, which ser-vice those who come for diving, fun in the sand as well as watersports like windsurfing and Scuba diving. It also offers activities which take advantage of its desert location. Its many coffee shops offer mansaf and knafeh, and baqlawa desserts. Another very popular venue is the Turk-ish Bath (Hamam) built in 306AD, in which locals and visitors alike

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Chapter One

come to relax after a hot day. Aqaba and Wadi Rum are the sites of the annual Jordan – Middle East Distant Heat Festival, an annual electron-ic dance festival. It takes place on 31 July and 1 August. DJs from Jor-dan, the Middle East and around the world participate in this unique dance festival. Some famous artists who participate in the festival are Armin Van Buuren, Ferry Corsten, Above & Beyond, and Josh Gabriel.

Trade & Economy

Benefiting from its location and status as Jordan’s special economic zone, Aqaba’s economy is based on the tourism and port industry sectors. The economical growth in Aqaba is higher than the average economical growth in the country. Under the special economic zone status some investments and trades are exempted from taxation, as a result, new resorts, housing developments, and retail outlets are being constructed.

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Chapter One Introduction

Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA)

The ASEZA is the financially and administratively autonomous institu-tion responsible for the management, regulation, and the development of the ASEZ. ASEZA is a service – oriented organization offering one – stop assistance covering all investment needs4.ASEZA has a juridical personality with financial and administra-tive autonomy. The Authority may perform all legal acts necessary to achieve its objectives. The Authority is associated with the Prime Min-ister. It offers integrated services and assistance to every concerned business and ensures all governing laws and regulations of ASEZ are made public.

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Chapter Two _ Literature Review

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Literature Review

Chapter Tow

Literature Review

Brief History of fish market-

There is a long history of fish markets from the time of ancient Greece . They served as a public space where large numbers of people could gather and discuss current events and local politics.

Because seafood is quick to spoil, fish markets are historically most of-ten found in seaside towns. Once ice or other simple cooling methods became available, some were also established in large inland cities that had good trade routes to the coast.

Since refrigeration and rapid transport became available in the 19th and 20th century, fish markets can technically be established at any place. However, because modern trade logistics in general has shifted away from marketplaces and towards retail outlets, such as supermarkets, most seafood worldwide is now sold to consumers through these ven-ues, like most other food types.

Consequently, most major fish markets now mainly deal with wholesale trade, and the existing major fish retail markets continue to operate as much for traditional reasons as for commercial ones. Both types of fish markets are often tourist attractions as well .

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Chapter Two

The importance of fishing trade for the poor

Rural households have diverse livelihood strategies, encompassing a range of activities. For most, agriculture is a key element of their strat-egy; however, many are also engaged in non-agricultural activities, in-cluding microenterprises (agro-processing, trading and other off-farm occupations). Through these various activities, households seek both toensure their food requirements and to generate the income they require to satisfy their immediate consumption needs, social purposes and in-vestments.

Interacting with agricultural markets is thus an important aspect of the livelihood strategies of many rural households, rich and poor alike. Mar-kets are where, as producers, they buy their agricultural inputs and sell their products; and where, as consumers, they use their income from the sale of crops, or from their non-agricultural activities, to buy their food requirements and consumption goods. Virtually all households in rural areas are, by preference, both producers and consumers, buyersand sellers; and many sell agricultural produce and buy their food at dif-ferent times of year.

However, rural households that, for one reason or another, are unable tointeract with these markets are prevented from adopting these diverse livelihood strategies; and indeed, in many parts of the world, rural poor people often say that one reason they cannot improve their living stand-ardsisthattheyfacedifficultiesinaccessingmarkets.

For these reasons, improved market access is not an issue of conse-quence only to better-off producers, and it is not relevant only to cash crop, rather than food crop, production. It is of importance to all rural households, and assisting rural poor people in improving their access to markets must be a critical element of any strategy to enable them to enhance their food security and increase their incomes.If it is true that markets, and improved market access, are of critical and immediate importance to rural poor households, it is also evident

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Literature Review

that they are a prerequisite for enhancing agriculture-based economic

growth and increasing rural incomes in the medium term. Rural in-

comes will not be substantially increased by exclusive emphasis on sub-

sistence food crop production; rather, more market-oriented production

systems are needed. These require the intensification of agricultural

production systems, increased commercialization and specialization in

higher-value crops.

Andthesemustbebuiltupontheestablishmentofefficientandwell-

functioning markets and trade systems – ones that keep transaction

costs low, minimize risk and extend information to all players, and that

do not either exclude, or work contrary to the interests of, the poor –

particularly those living in areas of marginal productivity and weak in-

frastructure.

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Chapter Two

Some of fishing Equipment

Lots of snacks “bait “

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Literature Review

Sunscreen

Sunscreen should be applied at least 30 minutes prior to go-ing outdoors, even on a cloudy day, and reapplied every two hours.

Fishing cap

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Chapter Two

Sunglasses

Batteries

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Literature Review

in general, battery means electricity, and it’s important to be on the fishing boat for many things like light, small balance, screens and etc...

Camera

Flashlight

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Chapter Two

Floating architecture & structural system

Abstract

Structural and civil engineers are introduced to the world of verylarge floating structures (VLFS) that have been gradually appear-ing in the waters offdeveloped coastal cities (and countries with coastlines). Their presence is largely due to asevere shortage of land and the sky-rocketing land costs in re-cent times. After providing adescription of a VLFS and high-lighting its advantages (under certain conditions) over the

traditional land reclamation in creating space from the sea, the authors bring to attention theearly, the present and future appli-cations of VLFS.

As population and urban develop-ment expand in land-scare island countries (or countries with long coastlines), city planners and engi-neers resort to land reclamation to ease the pressure on existing heav-ily-used land and underground spaces. Using fill materials from seabed, hills, deep underground excavations, and even construc-

fishing hooks

These information is useful for design, because these tools should be available on educational spaces, that’s mean it’s need an additional space and storage..

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Literature Review

tion debris, engineers are able to create relatively vast and valuable land from the sea.

Countries such as the Nether-lands, Singapore and Japan, have expanded their land areas signifi-cantly through aggressive land reclamation programmes. Proba-bly the first large scale and system-atic land reclamation work was carried out by KiyomoriTaira off Kobe’s coastal waters in the 12th Century.

However, land reclamation has its limitation. It is suitable when the water depth is shallow (less than 20 m). When the water depth is large and the seabed is extremely soft, land reclamation is no long-er cost effective or even feasible. Moreover, land reclamation de-stroys the marine habitat and may even lead to the disturbance of toxic sediments. When faced with these natural conditions and environmental consequences, very large floating structures may offer an attractive alternative solution for birthing land from the sea.

There are basically two types of very large floating structures

(VLFSs), namely the semisub-mersible- type and the pon-toon-type.

Semi-submersible type floating structures are raised above the sea level using column tubes or ballast structural elements to minimize the effectsof waves while maintaining a constant buoyancy force.

Thus they can reduce the wave induced motions and are there-fore suitably deployed in high seas with large waves. Float-ing oil drilling platforms used for drilling for and production of oil and gas are typical exam-ples of semi-submersible-type VLFSs.

When these semi-submersibles are attached to the seabed us-ing vertical tethers with high pretension as provided by ad-ditional buoyancy of the struc-ture, they are referred to as ten-sion-leg platforms.

In contrast, pontoon-type floating structures lie on the sea level like a giant plate float-ing on water. Pontoon-type floating structures are suitable for use in only calm waters, of-

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Chapter Two

ten inside a cove or a lagoon and near the shoreline.

Large pontoon-type floating structures have been termed Me-ga-Floats by Japanese engineers.

As a general rule of thumb, Me-ga-Floats are floating structures with at least one of its length di-mensions greater than 60 m. System consists of a (a) very large pontoon floating structure, (b) mooring facility to keep the floating structure in place, (c) an access bridge or floating road to get to the floating structure from shore, and (d) a breakwater (usually needed if the significant wave height is greater than 4 m) for reducing wave forces impact-ing the floating structure.

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Literature Review

These Mega-Floats have advantages over the traditional land reclama-tion solution for space creation in the following respects:

•theyarecosteffectivewhenthewaterdepthislarge(notethatthecostof imported sand for land reclamation in some countries has risen sig-nificantly and it may come a time that sand may not be even available from neighbouring countries),

•environmentalfriendlyastheydonotdamagethemarineeco-system,or silt-up deep harbours or disrupt the tidal/ocean currents,

•theyareeasyandfasttoconstruct(componentsmaybemadeatdiffer-ent shipyards and then brought to the site for assembling) and therefore sea-space can be speedily exploited,

•theycanbeeasilyremoved(iftheseaspaceisneededinfuture)orex-panded (since they are of a modular form),

•thefacilitiesandstructuresonMega-Floatsareprotectedfromseismicshocks since they are inherently base isolated,

•theydonotsufferfromdifferentialsettlementduetoreclaimedsoilconsolidation,

•theirpositionswithrespecttothewatersurfaceareconstantandthusfacilitate small boats and ship to come alongside when used as piers and berths.

•theirlocationincoastalwatersprovidescenicbodyofwaterallaround,making them suitable for developments associated with leisure and wa-ter sport activities.

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Chapter Two

Brief history of VLFS

Very large floating structures have been used for a variety of purposes. Below, we highlighttheir applications from early times to present times as well as their applica-tions in the nearfuture.Floating BridgesThis section summarizes the large floating bridges pointed out by Wa-tanabe andUtsunomiya (2003). Early applica-tions of very large floating structures take the form offloating boat bridges over rivers that date back to antiquity (Brown 1993). About 480 BC,King Xerxes of Persia led his army across the Hellespont, now called the Dardanelles, usingtwo rows of floating bridges, each consisting ofabout 300 boats laid side by side as shownin Fig. 2 (Study Group of World Cit-ies, 1988).

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Literature Review

In 1874, a 124-m long float-ing wooden railroad bridge was constructed over the Mississippi River in Wisconsin and it was re-peatedly rebuilt and finally aban-doned. Brookfield Floating Bridge is still in service and it is the sev-enth replacement structure of a 98-m long wooden floating bridge (Lwin 2000).

In 1912, the Galata steel floating bridge was built across Istanbul’s Golden Horn where the water depth is 41 m.

The 457-m long bridge consists of50 steel pontoons connected to each other by hinges. However, in 1992, soon after a new bridge was erected just beside the original bridge, a fire broke out and the old Galata floating bridge was burned down (Maruyama et al. 1998).

The sunken bridge is placed up-stream after having been raised from the seabed. The lesson that one can learn from this steel bridge is its amazing resilience against the corrosive sea environ-ment, contrary to engineers’ per-ception that corrosion would pose a serious problem to such floating steel structures.

Other floating bridges include Seattle’s three Lake Washington Bridges, i.e. (i) the 2018- m long Lacey V. Murrow Bridge which uses concrete pontoon girders and opened in 1940, (ii) the 2310-m long Evergreen Point Bridge completed in 1963, and (iii) the 1771-m long Homer Hadley Bridge in 1989; the 1988-m long Hood Canal Bridge built in 1963 (see Fig. 3); the Canadian 640-m long Kelowna Floating (concrete) Bridge which was opened to traf-fic in 1958, the Hawaiian’s 457-m long Ford Island Bridge which was completed in 1998.

More recent floating bridges built from 1990s include the two fa-mous Norwegian floating bridg-es: 845-m long Bergsoysund Floating Bridge built in 1992 near Kristiansund over a fjord depth of 320 m and the 1246-m long Nordhordland Floating Bridge built in 1994 at Salhus over a fjord depth of 500 m (see Fig. 4).

Both bridges are horizontally curved (in the form of funicular curves) to better resist the wave, the water current and wind forc-es.

An interesting pedestrian float-

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Chapter Two

ing bridge is the 94-m long West India Quay Footbridge which was constructed in 1997 (see Fig. 5).

This bridge resembles a giant pond skater.

An outstanding floating bridge that was built at the turn of the millen-nium is the 410-m long Yumemai Bridge (see Fig. 6).

The bridge is constructed across a water channel, and it floats on two hollow steel pontoons (each of di-mensions 58 m x 58 m x 8 m).

The bridge can be swung around a pivot axis near one end of the girder when a passage way for very large ships in the channel is needed (for more details of this fascinating bridge, the reader may refer to the paper by Watanabe et al. 2001).

It is worth noting that many armies have in their pos-session floating bridges and floating causeways.

Army engineers assemble the floating modules rapidly to form floating bridges for sol-diers and vehicles to cross riv-

ers and lakes.

Long floating causeways are used by the navy to transport soldiers and equipment from ships to shore (Ertekin and Riggs 2003).

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Literature Review

Floating Entertainment Facilities

As the waterfront and the sea appeal to the general public, VLFSs have been constructed to house entertainment facili-ties with a scenic 360 degrees view of the surrounding water body.

There is a very large Floating Is-land (130 m x 40 m x 5 m) at Onomichi, Hiroshima.

Designed to resemble the Par-thenon of Greece, this amuse-ment facility has a 3D visualimage theatre, an aquarium and a marina (see Fig. 7).

Another floating amusement facility is the Estrayer (128 m x 38 m), shaped like a ship, which is moored at the leisure pier in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, Ja-pan.

The top deck is used as an event plaza while its deck below hous-es a movie theatre, restaurants and a game centre.

The first floating hotel in Aus-tralia was located at the Great Barrier Reef. It was built in Sin-gapore and is seven storey high, 90 m long and 27 m wide. In

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case of a cyclone, one mooring end was disconnected and the wind would blow it around in a circle after everyone has evacu-ated.

The floating heliport, tennis courts and pool may be discon-nected and towed some distance from the hotel to ride out the storm. After one year of opera-tion, the hotel was towed to Ho-Chi-Minh, Vietnam.

It is now located in North Korea.Hong Kong boasts of having a famous floating restaurant called Jumbo Restaurant.

In 1991, Japan built a floating restaurant (on a 24 m x 24 m x 3.2 m pontoon) in Yokohoma (see Fig. 8).

The pier, next to the restaurant, is also a floating structure.

Very large floating structures are also used as fishing piers. For ex-ample, the 101.5 m x 60 m x 3 m floating fishing pier at Awaji Island.

Floating Island at Onomichi,

Hiroshima, JapanFloating Restau-rant in Yokohoma,Japan

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Literature Review

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 stor-age facility, keeping theexplosive, inflammable fluid from populated areas on land. Japan has two major floating oilstorage systems. One oil storage facility is located in Shirashima with a capacityof 5.6 million kilolitres while the other is at Kamigoto with a ca-pacity of 4.4million kilolitres.

Shirashima Floating Oil StorageBase, Japan (Photo courtesy ofShirashima Oil Storage Co Ltd)

Kamigoto Floating Oil StorageBase, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan

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.

Table 1 shows their specifications (Takahashi 2003) and Figs show the emergency rescue bases at Tokyo bay and Osaka bay, respectively.

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Emergency Rescue BaseIn Tokyo Bay

Floating plants

A floating structure consisting of two sections was constructed in 1978 in Brazil.

One section of the structure is built for a pulp plant (230 m x 45 m x 14.5 m) while the othersection is for a power plant (220 m x 45 m x 14.5 m).

It was towed to its site at Mun-guba as a floating structure but was installed in its location on

piled foundations.

Fig. Emergency Rescue BaseIn Tokyo Bay Fig. Emergency Rescue Base in Osaka Bay In 1979, Bangladesh purchased from Japan a 60.4 m x 46.6 m x 4 m floating power plant.

The power plant is located at Khulna, Bangladesh.

In 1981, Saudi Arabia built a 70 m x 40 m x 20.5 m floating de-salination plant and towed to its site where it was sunk into posi-tion and rests on the seabed. In 1981, Argentina constructed a 89 m x 22.5 m x 6 m floating pol-yethylene plant at Bahia Blance. In 1985, Jamaica acquired a 45 m x 30.4 m x 10 m floating power plant.

This plant was built in Japanese shipyards and towed to Jamaica and moored by a dolphin-rub-ber fender system.

Studies are already underway to use floating structures for wind farms (see Fig. ), sewage treat-ment plant and power plant in Japan.

Emergency Rescue BaseIn Osaka Bay

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Literature Review

Concept Design of a Clean Energy Plantby Floating Structure Association of Japan

Floating docks, piers, berths and container terminals

There are in existence many float-ing docks, piers and wharves.

For example, the 124 m x 109 m floating dock in Texas Shipyard built by Bethlehem Marine Con-struction Group in 1985.

Floating structures are ideal for piers and wharves as the ships can come alongside them since their positions are constant with respect to the waterline.

An example of a floating pier

is the one located at Ujina Port, Hiroshima (see Fig.). The floating pier is 150 m x 30 m x 4 m.

Vancouver has also a floating pier designed for car ferries. Car ferry piers must allow smooth load-ing and unloading of cars and the equal tidal rise and fall of the pier and ferries is indeed advanta-geous for this purpose.

A floating type pier was also de-signed for berthing the 50000 ton container ships at Valdez, Alaska.

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Chapter Two

The floating structure was adopted

due tothe great water depth.

Floating Pier at Ujina, Japan

Floating Airports and Mobile Offshore Base

In circa 1920, Edward Arm-strong proposed the concept of a seadrome (an aerodrome in thesea) as stepping stones for air-crafts flying across the oceans. At that time, the planes could not travel long distances and needed refueling.

In 1943, US Navy Civil Engineers Corps constructed a floating air-field (1810 ft x 272 ft) consisting

of 10,920 pontoons. It has a flightdeck and a parking area. How-ever, the enthusiasm for build-ing these floating airfields was dampened by the extraordinary non-stop flight of Charles Lind-bergh from New York to Paris in 1927.

In more recent times, a different sort of problem arose.

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Literature Review

Land costs in major cities have risen considerably and city plan-ners are considering the possibil-ity of using the coastal waters for urban developments including having floating airports.

As the sea and the land near the water edge is usually flat, land-ings and take-offs of aircrafts are safer.

In this respect, Canada has a floating heliport in a small bay in Vancouver.

Moreover, this busy traffic heli-port is built for convenience as well as noise attenuation. Japan has made great progress by con-structing a large airport in the sea. Kansai International Airport at Osaka is an example of an air-port constructed in the sea, albeit on a reclaimed island.

The first sizeable floating runway is the one-km long Mega-Float test model built in 1998 in theTokyo bay (see Fig.).

This floating runway was award-ed the world’s largest man-madefloating island in the Guinness book of records in 1999.

Studies on the test model in-clude the investigation of facil-ities and equipment for float-ing airport, development of simulation technology of func-tions of airport, instruments for landing, landing and taking off tests on a floating runway, effects on the environment and verification of construc-tion technologies of a floating airport.

The Mega-Float is a precursor to a 3.6-km floating runway which will augment Haneda airport facilities.

The decision to proceed build-ing this ultra-large floatingHaneda runway (see Fig. 16) will be known by the March 2005.

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Chapter Two

Mega-Float in Tokyo Bay,Japan (Photo courtesy of SRCJ)

Proposed Floating Runway atTokyo International Airport (Haneda)

TheOfficeofNavalResearch,US,hasbeenconductingstudiesonthetechnical feasibility and costs of building a mobile offshore base (Taylor 2003). A mobile offshore base is a self-propelled, modular, floating platform that could be assembled into lengths on the order of one mile to pro-vide logistic support of US military operations where fixed bases are not available. We may be seeing these huge mobile offshore bases in the oceans in thefuture.

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Literature Review

Floating CitiesPerhaps in this 21st Century, floating cities may become a reality with the advancing technology in construction and the shortage of land. Ar-chitects and engineers have already made design sketches of how such floating cities could look like. Figures 17-20 show artist impressions of some floating cities that are proposed by various Japanese corporations.Focus A and Focus B are named after their proposed locations at the two foci of the elliptical Osaka Bay.

Marine Uranusby Nishimatsu CorporationPearl Shellby Shimizu Corporation

Osaka Focus A by JapaneseSociety of Steel ConstructionOsaka Focus B by JapaneseSociety of Steel Construction

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Vision

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Vision

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Vision

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Vision

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Vision

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Chapter Five _ Program

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Chapter Five

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Program

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Chapter Five

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Program

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Chapter Five

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Program

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Chapter Five

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Program

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Chapter Five

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Program

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Chapter Five

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Program

Height more than 4.0 m

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Chapter Five

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Program

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Chapter Five

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Program

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References:• promotingmarketaccess• Fishto2020supplyanddemand in changing global market• fishingbasics• wikipedia.com• flwoutdoors.com• verylargefloatingstructure

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