The water has a relaxing effect on many people, whether it is swimming, sailing, fishing, or anything else. Many extreme water sports are becoming more and more popular every year. More and more people decide to buy a small piece of paradise by the lake or river. But to be able to fully enjoy and indulge in the water world, it is not enough to just sit by the water. The approach is very important. At sea, you can also see more and more small docks that people are building for their personal or business needs. In any case, it is something inevitable.
But how to build a dock, is it really that easy? For many people, the first association is concrete pouring and painstaking months of work until it’s all over, not to mention the permits needed to make it happen. Fortunately, today there are much more practical and simple solutions, and equally functional. Wooden docks are very practical solutions. With this type, the most important thing is that the supporting pillars are durable. They can be iron, but also wooden. Yes, this job requires a lot of effort, so prepare a chainsaw, hammer, and other tools, as well as enough manpower. When it comes to wooden docks, it is important to study well which type of wood is the most durable, given that it is constantly exposed to the sun and other weather conditions, as well as water.
Ok, this is certainly easier than painstaking concreting, but what if we tell you that there is another, easier way to make the perfect approach to water in a much shorter period of time? The summer season has already begun and you welcomed it unprepared? Don’t worry, the solution exists and in just a few days you will have the dock just the way and the size you need. What is it really about? In the last few years, floating docks have gained a lot of popularity. These are floating barrels or other shapes, very easy to set up, and do their job perfectly. As we said, you can place planks on floating barrels and your dock is ready to use. If you still think that this is still a painstaking job for which you do not have time, the good news is that there are also floating docks that simply fit like puzzles, forming a platform of the desired size.
Floating while a vessel with larger dimensions and displacement than the ship it lifts from the water by maneuvering its own displacement stock. The construction of a floating dock consists of:
- pontoon and
- towers.
Pontoons are horizontal structural elements that the ship lands on when it is docked and with the help of them an additional supply of displacement is realized, which compensates for the mass of the docked ship.
Towers (superstructures) are vertical structural elements that are located on the side, and serve to maintain the necessary stability when diving or lifting the ship, as the location of the propulsion device for pumps and other drainage devices, to support the ship during docking, and provide the necessary longitudinal strength. In the pontoons and part of the towers, there are ballast tanks whose flood or pumping of liquid while diving or emerging from the seawater.
The pontoon deck is called the working deck, the upper deck of the tower the safety deck (it prevents the dock from sinking over the boundary water line, limiting the filling of the towers with ballast).
The pontoon and dock towers below the safety deck are divided by partitions into ballast and dry areas (tanks)
But let’s start in order to see how easy it is to get what you imagine.
1. Inquire about required permits. If you are planning to build a dock, inquire about the necessary documentation and permits that you must obtain before you begin. Even if it is a removable dock, if you do it on land that is not in yours, but in state ownership, you cannot start construction without prior approval from the department in charge of the activity.
2. Find the perfect place. What you need to take care of is positioning. Try not to place the floating dock too close to the rocks, as this will make it even more difficult for you to access, especially due to storms, when the waves lap the rocks.
3. If you are still someone who wants the pier to be of good quality, but also to meet your aesthetic standards, pay attention to the type of wood, because, as we have already said, it must be durable and resistant to weather conditions. Of course, keep in mind that there will be time to replace it sometime, but it should take at least 10 years. Find out more about floating docks at poralu.com.
4. Water level/weather conditions do not play any role. When building a stationary dock, it is necessary to take into account autumn and winter, ie the seasons with increased precipitation. With floating docks, you don’t have to worry about that, because whatever the water level it is, it will reflect on the surface.
Floating docks are characterized by a great variety, and are most often classified according to the shape of the cross-section, by construction designs, hull material, purpose, ballasting method, degree of autonomy, etc.
According to the construction of the hull, floating docks are divided into:
- monolithic
- detachable:
- pontoon
- sectional
- sectional-pontoon
According to the purpose, floating docks are divided into:
- floating docks for overhaul
- floating docks for transport
- floating docks for handing over the ship lead from a horizontal construction site
This is something you should definitely consider before embarking on an investment.
Final thoughts
What will be your platform, dock – depends on you. It is perhaps the simplest and most demanding fishing bridge made of old planks and logs. Or maybe it’s the right space for recreation with handrails, stairs, a deck chair platform, and a ladder, so it’s convenient to get out of the water. It all depends on your financial capabilities and needs, the desire to take full advantage of the proximity of the tank.
Rhydian Choi 
Kim Marks