Concrete pontoons and concrete piers

Pontoons with an open bottom are the dominant construction on floating docks, this is because they are relatively cheap to produce. They are built of EPS (cellular plastic) as a permanent form for the concrete on the walls and deck, otherwise the EPS is unprotected at the bottom of the structure. Because of this we call this an open structure which works excellently as a floating dock or pier, but is less suitable if you are going to place a building on it, because the EPS absorbs water over time.

A closed pontoon structure has, in addition to the walls and deck, also a concrete bottom, which prevents water from reaching the EPS, which in this case primarily serves as a permanent form for the pontoon structure. This structure works great for placing a building on, as it does not absorb water over time. The concrete bottom plate is also a prerequisite for being able to cast the AquaEnergySystem collector tubes patented by AquaVilla. An energy system that captures the energy in the surrounding water, an energy that can then be used to heat or cool a building.

An open caisson can be most easily compared to a ship's hull, where the interior is used as a living space or a storage room. AquaVilla uses this type of floating body in most of its constructions, because with an open construction, a house frame can be built several stories high on land, and then lifted into the caisson as a finished unit. It is of course perfectly possible to cast the AquaEnergySystem system into the caisson's bottom plate.

The closed caisson has a concrete vault/deck, which creates a completely closed interior of the caisson. The method is used in the AquaPiers, which AquaVilla uses as infrastructure for the floating communities that Aqua Floating Group is also building. The closed structure can be insulated and furnished and used as a residence or storage space. However, the furnishings must be built on site, as the closed vault/deck prevents the assembly of finished house frames.