[AWPrime]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Bill_White', 'T')he North Sea would be a bad place for a floating city. Big storms.
At the equator, storms would be less severe.

[katkinkate]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AWPrime', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Bill_White', 'T')he North Sea would be a bad place for a floating city. Big storms.
At the equator, storms would be less severe.

[Madpaddy]

Floating cities.
Sad it has got to this. During my training as an army cadet the same mantra was driven into is endlessly KISS. "Keep it simple stupid".
If this mantra had been preached on a societal level we would never have got to the position we are now in.

The AK47 is still probably the best assault rifle ever built - why? because it was simply and ruggedly built and any gobsh..te could maintain it. The same use of rugged and reliable but simple technology handed the Soviets victory in WW11 especially with the T34 tank which outperformed it's German opponents. The welding seams on the tanks were clearly visible.

All the systems and equipment we have now seems to be rendered completely useless if even one component has a fault.
My parents still have a 16 year old colour TV. I bought a TV 2 years ago which has packed in already. Small problems in heating systems where I work require calling out specialised technicians at great expense. I know of a couple who installed a state of the art geothermal heating system in their house. They nearly died of shock when they received a €750 monthly electricity bill. Why? The heating controls were not calibrated properly.

So, the next time you think about floating cities. Balloon mounted wind turbines, solar towers etc. Just remember KISS
Sorry for the rant.

[Heineken]

Perfectly expressed, Irish.
Today's world, of course, has turned such practical and sensible advice on its ass---a natural if foolish outgrowth of the false optimism, hubris, and general excesses of this brief era of peak energy use.

Today's world says to KISS, "Kiss my a**. I prefer complexity and lots of chrome. It's flashier and more fun. Why move to higher ground, or curb our numbers, when we can build vast FLOATING CITIES?"
It's an engineer's dreamworld, and it is doomed.

[flip]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Madpaddy', 'S')ad it has got to this. During my training as an army cadet the same mantra was driven into is endlessly KISS. "Keep it simple stupid".

[mgibbons19]

These people!
No imagination whatsoever.

I get a kick out of the idea, and if a few engineers sit around and CAD these ideas up, we're none the worse off for it.
Waterworld did suck as a movie, but the visuals were fun. Costners trimaran was cool, and the came by the valdeez was fun too.

[Heineken]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mgibbons19', 'T')hese people!
No imagination whatsoever.

[AWPrime]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Madpaddy', 'F')loating cities.
Sad it has got to this. During my training as an army cadet the same mantra was driven into is endlessly KISS. "Keep it simple stupid".

[Heineken]

Are you familiar with how much maintenance a boat requires? With how much extra it costs to design and build anything intended to float? (In the boat business, they call that "marinizing.")

Now extrapolate those costs from a houseboat or rowboat or barge or yacht to something the size of a city.

[nocar]

In all fairness, the Dutch are famous for living in houseboats. They might know what they are doing.
And I do not believe Holland will be drenched, even if sea water level rises 2 m. The Dutch know all about dykes and locks and can reinforce what they have and add more pumps. It will be costly though, no doubt about that.

And I have seen pictures of places in South Asia, as well, where lots of people live in small boats close together, like a floating city already. I do not know what they do about sanitation and drinking water - though I fear the worst. Perhaps there are limits to the advantages of simplicity!
nocar

[AWPrime]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Heineken', 'A')re you familiar with how much maintenance a boat requires?

[Heineken]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('nocar', 'I')n all fairness, the Dutch are famous for living in houseboats. They might know what they are doing.
And I do not believe Holland will be drenched, even if sea water level rises 2 m. The Dutch know all about dykes and locks and can reinforce what they have and add more pumps. It will be costly though, no doubt about that.
And I have seen pictures of places in South Asia, as well, where lots of people live in small boats close together, like a floating city already. I do not know what they do about sanitation and drinking water - though I fear the worst. Perhaps there are limits to the advantages of simplicity!
nocar

[Laughs_Last]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('nocar', 'T')he Dutch know all about dykes

[Madpaddy]

I have a fibreglass hulled boat which needs to be taken out of the water and antifouled every single year.

Live in your giant floating city if you want and wonder at each storm if this is the one that will breach your defences.

[AWPrime]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Madpaddy', 'I') have a fibreglass hulled boat which needs to be taken out of the water and antifouled every single year.
Live in your giant floating city if you want and wonder at each storm if this is the one that will breach your defences.

[Madpaddy]

Sorry not fibreglass.

Glass reinforced plastic. Like 90% of sail boats.

[Madpaddy]

Lets face it. Fighting nature is in the long run a pointless exercise. A floating city requires constant maintenance. The Netherland didn't build it's dykes and dams for fun. They did it for political reasons. The Dutch weren't willing to go to war to expand their borders to the East. They solved their problem by claiming land from the sea. Eventually the sea was always going to take it back.

[AWPrime]

I knew what you were trying to say. But that type of construction (and its problems) just won't be used in such a manner.

[AWPrime]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Madpaddy', 'L')ets face it. Fighting nature is in the long run a pointless exercise. A floating city requires constant maintenance.

[Madpaddy]

AWPrime wrote,
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')ctually it was easier and the resulting soil is very fertile.