http://www.vtechsolutionsindia.com/index.php/products/pontoon/
Pontoons or floating platforms
VTech Solutions, has been custom designing and manufacturing pump barges, floating platforms and walkways for over 8 years. Fabrication is of carbon steel, complete with railings and maintenance provision. Floatation is either pontoon or unitized construction, depending on installation. All flotation contains bulk headed and ballast compartments.
Options include complete electrical wiring, cabinetry, enclosed quarters, lighting, piping, valves and anchoring systems.
Stability of the floating units are proved for stability, based on conditions supplied by the customer.
Specialty coatings and paint can be provided, as well as galvanized or fiberglass railings and walkways.
To date single pump barges have been supplied for requirements as small as a 2-1/2″ pump to a platform containing three 12″ verticals, pumping 6,500 gpm each. Multiples include 20 platforms, each containing one 10″ vertical pump with a 400 HP V-Belt drive motor. This installation had thirty-six walkway floats and two platforms thirty-six feet wide by ninety feet long and five feet high. All wiring, workstations, motor controls, walkovers, and mooring winches were provided.
Application Areas of Pontoon-
1. Floating Pump House-
Traditional pump houses can be replaced by these pontoons or floating platforms.
Advantages – pontoons or floating platforms are portable, easy for transportation, cost effective, long life, sturdy and rugged.
2. pontoon bridge-
A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, uses floats or shallow-draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the supports limits the maximum load they can carry.
Most pontoon bridges are temporary, used in wartime and civil emergencies. Permanent floating bridges are useful for sheltered water-crossings where it is not considered economically feasible to suspend a bridge from anchored piers. Such bridges can require a section that is elevated, or can be raised or removed, to allow waterborne traffic to pass.
3. Temporary Mooring Facilities
Floating Pontoon Hire will design, assemble and install a temporary mooring facility suitable for inland waterways or sea areas wherever it is needed, giving the right mooring and docking system for the boats that will be operating from it. The pontoons can be customised with access ramps, walkways, handrails, mooring cleats and fenders.
4. Temporary Harbours
The Pontoons may be used to create platforms that are small or large in scale. We can built temporary harbours for major events such as Boat Show, all suitable for accommodating dozens of boats.
5. Suitable for Commercial Marine Operations
Very often the floating pontoon system is used in conjunction with work boats on inland waterways and reservoirs to access water intake stacks and other pumping facilities. With a long enough walkway, the system may reduce the requirement for work boats to just a standby boat suitable for safety cover.
6. Floating Helipads –
Pontoons or floating platforms can be used for creating helipads on water. The design for floating helipad will depend on maximum thrust and weight of the helicopter.
7. Rafts and platforms
Pontoons can be easily configured to meet the most varied of needs. Whatever the application, units can be assembled to provide an effective and economical solution. For example, a simple square or H shape configuration should be appropriate, when producing a crane platform for all round cranage. For pile driving or dredging applications, a U shape may be more appropriate. Other applications may require a hollow square or rectangle configuration.
Irrespective of configuration all rafts and platforms are constructed using the basic units, which ensures complete stability. Buoyancy checks are kept as simple as possible to allow the most suitable configuration of platform or raft to be easily and quickly selected.
8. Ferries and barges
Shore loading ferries can be independently powered with propulsion units or towed using either underwater or overhead wire rope and shore based winches. Ship to shore and offloading ferries can be constructed with ramps at the bow end and propulsion units at the stern.
Pontoon maintain a hire fleet of propulsion units, workboats and winches that can be used for the movement of ferries and barges.
9. Landing stages and causeways
With the simple addition of decking, mooring bollards and ramps, a wide range of landing stages and causeways can be formed using Pontoons.
Landing stages can be constructed in any size or shape to suit customer requirements. Where heavy loads are placed on a long landing stage it may be necessary to fit articulating connections to reduce bending stresses.
By fitting ramps at each end of the pontoons landing stages and causeways, vehicles can drive straight across without difficulty. Depending on customer requirements steel or timber decking/mats may be used, to spread loads.
10. Floating Houses
With no available barge capable of providing the required ‘foundations’ for the house, VTech Solutions working on designing, engineering and building the bespoke floating structure. The project depended on the creation of a specific size of barge that would enable the house to float.
In UK floating house was fully functional and had two bedrooms, a living room, bathroom and garden with real grass, a dog kennel and an apple tree.
In India we hope in future it may be the requirement of common peoples when our population will exceeds beyond certain limit.
Configuration requirements
VTech Solutions can provide advice on Pontoon configurations and applications. All buoyancy and stability checks, specific to an application, must be undertaken by the customer.
Transportation
VTech Solutions units and equipment can be readily transported on standard commercial vehicles. Once off loaded they can be easily connected together in the water without mechanical assistance, thanks to the precision engineered close tolerance coupling system. Once assembled the full pontoon can be towed or self-propelled to its working location.
Vijaykumar A. Kakade
VTech Solutions
9922955643
12/1, J SEI Block, Bhosari MIDC, PCMC, Pune 411026, Maharashtra, India.
(Design & Development of SPM, Jig & Fixture, Material Handling, Automation & Engineering Services.)
