Experiments with Flood Area Pontoon Boat that Forms Pillar & Wall of a Shelter When Not in Use

Experiments with Flood Area Pontoon Boat that Forms Pillar & Wall of a Shelter When Not in Use

If not required as a boat, the pontoons could be filled with soil / rocks to weigh down the floor of a shelter . Another can be raised to act as an insulated wall.

2m Long with foam core grp fibreglass pontoons & Deck made from composite door off cuts.

They are strengthened with 2m door edge strips of grp skin plastic core strips. These strips still floats & is a similar density / weight to hardwood

Wider deck (still 2m long)

Pontoons will be filled with insualted panel 2m long offcuts that consist of polystyrene, plastic & mdf. Voids will be filled with expanding foam.

Showing the 3 basic parts, 2 pontoons & a deck. If the pontoon is attached directly underneath the deck, it may only need 3 sides.

It is intended to bolt the deck to the pontoons

Underside of thinner deck showing panel type construction

 Close up of top of Deck showing stregthening with edge strips & screws using Lumberjack pu glue.

I have started using self tapping torx screws which do not need pilot holes, though a bit more expensive. I dip the screw point in glue to lubricate on entry & stengthen screw join & help stop splitting. 

Lumberjack glue by Everbuild is sea water resistant

I experimented with a second type of pontoon, binding the buoyant core strips together with pvc straps & screws

Then encasing the buoyant core with a grp roofing sheet & screwing shut

Fully enclosed

Folding the front end to make it streamlined, ready to accept a nose cone or fibre glassing (undecided as yet) 

Side view

If a deeper pontoon is required, this is a posibillity, using the curved ends of a door off cut to form the stramlined bottom

Pontoons will most likely be covered in fibreglass.