Pontoon
Pontoon boats generally run slower and are
less likely to cause harm to themselves or other vessels, and are thus
less expensive to insure. As such, they are the most popular vessel
style for rental operations. They also offer the largest value in terms
of capacity to price. A pontoon is a flat-bottomed boat or the floats
used to support a structure on water. It may be simply constructed from
closed cylinders such as pipes or barrels or fabricated as boxes from
metal or concrete. These may be used to support a simple platform, creating
a raft. A raft supporting a house-like structure is one form of houseboat.
Pontoons are also used as small vehicle ferries to cross rivers and
lakes in many parts of the world, especially in Africa. Pontoon ferries
may be motorised, such as the Kazungula Ferry across the Zambezi River,
or powered by another boat, or pulled by cables.
A type of ferry known as
the cable ferry (called 'punts' in Australia and New Zealand) pull themselves
across a river using a motor or human power applied to the cable, which
also guides the pontoon.
Pontoons may be used to
support docks or floating bridges. In the case of a dock the entire
device is sometimes called a pontoon.
Pontoons of sophisticated
construction and shape are used to support aircraft so they may be operated
from water. Such pontoons may also contain landing gear so that the
aircraft may operate on both land and water. Such aircraft are called
amphibious floatplanes. Floatplanes are distinct from flying boats in
which the aircraft fuselage forms a watertight hull.
Pontoons are useful in the
salvage of sunken vessels. They may be used to support cranes that lift
the boat via cables. In other cases they may be sunk and attached to
the vessel underwater. The water inside the pontoon is then displaced
with compressed air to float the pontoon.
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