Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:More citations needed A floating dock, floating pier or floating jetty is a platform or ramp supported by pontoons. It is usually joined to the shore with a gangway. The pier is usually held in place by vertical poles referred to as pilings, which are embedded in the seafloor or by anchored cables.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Frequently used in marinas, this type of pier maintains a fixed vertical relationship to watercraft secured to it, independent of tidal, river or lake elevation. The angle of the gangway varies with the water level.
Braby pontoonEdit
'Braby pontoon' was the name given to a type of floating dock used by flying boats in Australia and New Zealand from 1939 to the 1950s.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Frederick Braby and Company was a British manufacturer of tanks and silos, Bailey bridges and pontoons.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The Braby name was also attached to the general type of pontoon made with ship tanks, whether or not they were manufactured by Frederick Braby and Company.<ref>The Braby pontoon built at Wellington, New Zealand in 1951 was constructed locally from re-used tanks.</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Two 1939 descriptions of a Braby pontoon in Auckland stated:
A new type of floating jetty will he used in Auckland for the berthing of the flying-boats. Mr. Turnill stated this morning that this type is known as the "Braby pontoon", and it has been used previously only at Southampton. It has been well tested there and has been found to be most satisfactory. It consists of two twin sections joined in an arc underneath the water.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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Shaped like a U, the pontoon resembles a miniature floating dock, and consists of two parallel decks joined by a submerged framework. Tanks give the necessary buoyancy. When the flying-boat has landed, it is warped into position by the ground crew, and is drawn tail-first into the pontoon, coming to rest with the hull between the two sections of decking and above the submerged frame. Inflated buffers on the inner edge of the decking prevent the delicate hull from being damaged.<ref name=":0" />
A Braby pontoon constructed at Evans Bay in Wellington, New Zealand in 1951 consisted of 124 large square steel tanks connected together and ballasted with water and oil.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The pontoon was U-shaped, Template:Convert long and Template:Convert wide. Flying boats were winched tail-first into the U so that passengers could step onto the pontoon dock.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref>
- Flying boat base, Evans Bay.jpg
A Braby pontoon at Evans Bay, Wellington, New Zealand.
- Mohonk Mountain House 2011 Boat Dock Against Reflection of Cliff FRD 3029.jpg
A floating dock at Mohonk Mountain House
- 16 07 231 florence marina.jpg
A floating dock at Florence Marina State Park
- Floating dock at North Haven.jpg
A floating dock at a private marina. The vertical "spud" only anchors the dock sections in place, and does not provide structural support for loads upon the dock.
- PontoonHuntleysPoint.jpg
A pontoon in Sydney
See alsoEdit
- Gaza floating pier, a floating pier built during the Israel–Hamas war
- Floating dock (impounded), other types of floating docks
- Floating dry dock, other types of floating docks