Floating City
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Floating Houses
http://www.ecoboot.nl/artikelen/floating_houses.php

With the sea level rising as a result of global warming, the low-lying Netherlands is fighting back for more space by building communities on water.

Ever thought of buying a house you could move with you?
Recognising the growing scarcity of building ground in the Netherlands, a Dutch construction company has started building houses on water. The houses, made of wood and lightweight aluminium, are linked to each other by walkways but can be detached from the surrounding neighbourhood and individually moved by tugboats.

For centuries the Netherlands has fought against invading water with land fills, dams and dykes. But the philosophy is changing in the wake of global warming, blamed for the 20 cm-rise in sea-level over the last century. Instead of driving out the water, the Dutch is trying to live on it. And since we are getting more and more rain, we are having more and more water in this country which is fifty percent below the sea level as you know, and so we have developed this concept of building villages on the water, Ooms Bouwmaatschappijs marketing director, Gijsbert van der Woerdt told Reuters.

The company Ooms Bouwmaatschappij has built the first eight of the planned 500 floating houses on the outskirts of Amsterdam, capital of the worlds third most densely populated country. The houses are designed to withstand gales and can be located up to 100 metres from the shore.

Spoken comments:
Gijsbert van der Woerdt

Interest in the novel mode of living, a natural progression from the ubiquitous houseboats, has been keen. There are about 5,000 names on the waiting list for the accomodation that sells for between $180,000 and $500,000.
Doctor Dorien Vluchter and her husband Ari Mashiach took a day off to visit the floating estate with their child.

“I have never thought about the possibility and it just appears to me very interesting that something is floating on the water. And the freedom, maybe eventually we can take the house some place else. I think that is more interesting than moving, now you just move your whole house”, Vluchter said. Her husband was more sceptical.
“I can imagine that the water is kind of calming, something very quiet and nice to look at. On the other side, I think, well it is just water, so I cannot open open the door and play in the garden with my daughter, so I don’t know”, Mashiach said.

Spoken comments:
Dorien Vluchter
Spoken comments:
Ari Mashiach

Spoken comments: Frits Schoute A Dutch academic is taking this idea further and has been searching for ways to colonise the sea. Frits Schoute, a former professor at Delft University, is working on a stabilising platform that allows communities to live in the middle of oceans, unaffected by waves.
“We are working on solutions for stabilising a platform and making some kind of barrier around it, such that it is ultimately comfortable to live on the sea”, Schoute said.
Schoute expects people to start living and working on these full-scale platforms by 2020, with floating cities being established in 2050. The world will be a very different place.

Sun City Resort

http://www.sa-venues.com/attractionsnwp/nwp-sun-city.htm
Deep in the rugged bushveld, in the heart of an ancient volcano, lies the world’s most unique resort, the internationally acclaimed Sun City. The Resort has a unique heartbeat and an African rhythm of its own and is unlike any other Resort destination in the world. This is pure fantasy and your every desire is met.

There are four world-class hotels including the magnificent Palace of the Lost City that glitters like a jewel beneath the African sun, brilliant in its rain forest surroundings and luxurious in its detail and design. Adjoining the Resort, is the beautiful Pilanesberg National Park, which will delight game viewers as it is a malaria free zone and home to the “Big 5” (Buffalo, Elephant, Leopard, Lion and Rhino).

The Sun City resort has amazed the international community with its glamorous casinos, gourmet restaurants, extensive sports facilities and star studded spectaculars. The full variety of entertainment on offer ranges from slots to safaris; the theatre extravaganza to a games arcade for children; horse riding to golf; the Valley of Waves to The Lost City … whatever it is you’re looking for, you’ll find it at Sun City.

Sun City Resort
Valley Of The Waves
Valley Of The Waves
The Legend

The Palace of the Lost City is a fantasy world of Africa ‘s jungles, cliff-tumbling gardens, streams, waterfalls, swimming pools, and al fresco entertainment areas. Legend tells us that the Palace of the Lost City was built as the royal residence of an ancient civilisation of South Africa, but was destroyed by an earthquake. It has now been restored to its former glory and offers splendid accommodation in the most sumptuous surroundings in South Africa.

Sun City Resort
Location

Sun City Resort is set in the stark ruggedness of the North West Region of South Africa, and is surrounded by mountains and the untamed majesty of the African bushveld. It is a wedge-shot away from the Pilanesberg National Park, where elephants, rhinos, lions and antelope roam freely.

Sun City Resort
Facilities at Sun City

Valley Of The Waves – Overnight visitors to any of the hotels at the Sun City Resort have free access to the Valley of the Waves. This is the most advanced water park in South Africa. A large lagoon dominates the scene with a wave machine capable of generating 1.8 metre waves every 90 seconds. This water park has five exhilarating flume rides. From the aptly names Temple of Courage swimmers drop a heart stopping 17 metres down a chute and under a bridge before splashing into a small pool at the foot of the slide. For the less adventurous visitor to the Sun City Resort why not take a ride on the ‘Lazy River’.

Watersports and Activities – A variety of sports activities may be enjoyed at Sun City. Year round good weather in this part of South Africa, ensures that Tennis, squash, swimming, golf, mountain biking, horse riding, and parasailing are all on offer throughout the year. Sun City has laid out spectacular jogging trails. Sun City’s Gym and Health spa keep you perfectly toned, and a beauty treatment is the perfect way to wind down after a workout. A wide range of water sports including Water-skiing, Parasailing and Sunset Cruises can be enjoyed at the Resort’s Waterworld.

Sun City Nightlife and Entertainment – The Super Bowl is Africa ‘s finest venue for concerts. Stars such as Queen, Bryan Adams, Frank Sinatra and Rod Stewart have performed at this 6,000 seat arena. This arena is also one of South Africa ‘s favourite venues for beauty pageants and sporting The Sun City Resort spectacular is famed throughout South Africa as a glamorous & sophisticated theatre production. This stage revue pulsates with energy and is well known for spectacular sets, trapeze acts and glorious costumes.
http://www.sa-venues.com/attractionsnwp/nwp-sun-city.htm

How a Hot Air Balloon Works
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Mischa_Weston-Green]Mischa Weston-Green

The working of a hot air balloon is actually much simpler then you could imagine. The basic workings of a hot air balloon are based on the fact that heated air rises in cooler air because it is lighter. Because hot air rises it means that it can’t escape from the bottom of the envelope.

There are 3 main parts to a balloon:

The envelope – This is effectively the balloon, which is the fabric where all the hot air is contained in order to lift the balloon, vital for hot air balloon rides! All the heated air is stored in this area to lift the balloon, as the air in here cools, the burner is used to heat it up.

The Burner – This is where the air in the envelope is heated. The pilot controls the amount of heat which propels the balloon, in order to ascent the pilot increases the flame which is shot up into the envelope.

The basket – this is where the pilot and passengers stand during a balloon ride, surrounding them with breath-taking views. This is usually made from wicker, which works well because it is sturdy, flexible, and relatively lightweight. This flexibility absorbs some of the impacts on landing so the passengers don’t feel the impact force.

The burner uses propane gas to heat up the air which essentially is what keep the balloon in flight. It must be fired regularly throughout rel=nofollow [http://www.goballooning.co.uk/]hot air balloon flights in order to keep the balloon stable. You might be wondering how the balloon moves from side to side? Well, it’s very simple. The wind blows in different directions, depending on the altitude the balloon is at, so in order to move around, the pilot simple ascends of descends to the right height and will be blown along by the wind.

The final step of any hot air balloon ride is the descent; this is equally as simple as the rest of the flight! There is a valve at the top of the balloon which is covered by a piece of fabric. When the pilot decides it is time to descent he simple pulls on a chord which opens the value. This lets cool air into the envelope which lowers the temperature inside the balloon, slowly bringing it back down to earth.

Of course all this depends on the weather, balloons cannot fly in rainy or windy conditions as it will damage the balloon and make for unsafe flying. In order to check this pilots send up a pilball to double check the safety of the wind, and to check which direction the balloon is going to take off.

Go Ballooning have over 100 launch locations throughout the UK providing [http://www.goballooning.co.uk/]hot air balloon flights for customers, you may be looking for hot air balloon rides London or many of our other launch locations.

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?How-a-Hot-Air-Balloon-Works&id=6174654] How a Hot Air Balloon Works

Baloon Advertising For Balooning Sales

Author: John Smi

Let’s face it: most small- and medium-sized companies don’t have huge advertising budgets. Traditional media, such as print, television, and radio advertising are far too expensive. And, for those businesses that rely on walk-in traffic, Internet advertising won’t reach the intended audience. Thankfully, there’s another advertising medium that’s incredibly effective for a variety of businesses: advertising balloons.

Advertising balloons – also known as advertising blimps and advertising inflatables – are an incredibly cost-effective method of gaining the attention of passersby and turning prospects into customers. Starting at slightly over $100, the cost of an advertising balloon can be recouped in no time at all.

There are several different types of advertising inflatables. Advertising blimps have the traditional blimp shape, but come in a variety of sizes. They are easily customizable with a company logo, special message, or unique combinations of colors. Advertising blimps can be large enough to attract attention from miles away, or small enough to catch the eye of a trade show attendee. Larger advertising blimps can even be lit at night to garner notice 24 hours a day.

Round advertising balloons are also attention-grabbers. Again, they come in all sizes and can be flown high above the ground, acting as traffic magnets for a business’ location.

A business can also buy a pre-made advertising inflatable, such as one in the shape of a hot air balloon that says, “Grand Opening.” Eye-catching shapes and colors are sure to attract customers. Similarly, dancing balloons (also called wind dancers) are eye-catching. Inflated with a cold air blower, dancers will delight both adults and children. However, they’re generally made with a light material that doesn’t hold up well in sunlight or strong wind. For that reason, a tarp should always be placed under a wind dancer.

When you order custom balloons, you first need to think through the various elements that will give your advertising balloons maximum impact. Here are attributes to consider:

Lettering: If readability is important, stay with a small number of letters on one or two lines. Determine the distance at which you want your advertising balloon to be read. For maximum impact at 30 feet, for example, letters that are three inches high will suffice. On the other hand, letters that are 12 inches high have maximum impact at 120 feet but are still readable at 525 feet.

Colors: There are specific color combinations that will give your advertising balloon more impact. Black lettering or art against a backdrop of yellow, white, or orange is the most effective, followed by blue on white, white on green, green on white, red on white, and white on red.

Like everyone else, you probably look up when you see an advertising balloon in the sky. Just imagine how much recognition you can get from your business from the relatively small investment of an advertising balloon!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/baloon-advertising-for-balooning-sales-1878374.html

About the Author

To learn about arm nerves and femoral nerve pain, visit the Nerve Damage Symptoms website.

I would to know more about the eco-friendly houses and their implementation. Currently I have a close relative who would like to build a good viable hostel for students but its due completion due to finances. I have seen about your KES 80,000 house design and was interested.

Moreover, the house design I have in mind or like to request from you, has two floors. Can it be firm? Although my relative has built one floor (Ground floor), he wishes to continue with the other floor and finish. Can it be done at a lower cost? The area is situated at Kahawa along Thika Road. If possible you can write to him via email: digivillecomm@gmail.com

 

Cypress: 2×2: KES 25 per foot.
4×2: KES 60 per foot.
Mukima: 2×2: KES 20 per foot.
4×2; KES 40 per foot.
Cpress: 6×1:KES 36 per foot.
Mukima: 6×1: KES 23 per foot
Plywood: KES 300 per m2.
Barbed wire:
610m@ KES 5,000
480M@ KES 3,800
Barbed wire Nails @ KES 200 per kg.
Iron Sheet:
Gauge 30 prepainted box/curved profile.IT4 2m-900=KES 600 per m2
Gauge 30-2m kes560=KES 373 per m2
Gauge 32-2m 480=KES 320 per m2

Why the Mwiki,Kasarani Building collapsed and how to prevent this.
In February 2012, a building collapsed while under construction in Mwiki,Kasarani.
Following a visit to the site, the causes can be deduced as follows:

1. Lack of proper consultancy from the design team. Local Authority bye-laws require that any site in construction should display publicly the name of the Architect, Engineer, Contractor and Owner at the plot entrance. This was not done. This means that if the owner got approval to construct from the local authority, he opted not to display the project team names .This happens in most projects whereby the owner does not employ and maintain the relevant consultants during the construction period.

Buildings without this public display of consultants in most cases are not designed and supervised by registered Architects and Engineers, hence posing a risk to the general populace in-case of collapse.

Where there is a public display of the Architect, Engineer and Contractor, they tend to naturally make sure nothing goes wrong since the responsibility lies with them.

Solution.

Local Authorities do not have the capacity to police and make sure all sites display this. The best solution for them is to embrace online portal solutions such as http://www.a4architect.com/submit-drawings/

This ensures that once construction commences, the owner is required to erect the billboard display of consultants and contractor, take a picture/video and upload to the specific building plan approval page which displays a log of events from date of approval, all through to the current building status. This way, minimal personnel stationed at the Local authority offices can easily visit the web portal, check for updated billboard images and give their comments. In some instances, the bill board displays have unregistered consultants and contractors hence not effective.

Spacing of Columns.

From the pictures, it’s rather obvious to someone in the buildings industry that something was not right in the way the columns were spaced. Towards the far end, columns are spaces 2 to 3 meters apart, which is too close. This is the area that was left intact. This is over-design of structural capacity. Towards the area that collapse, i.e. the front side, the columns are spaces 6 to 8 meters apart. This is under-design of structural capability.

Again, the Local Authority, since its impossible for them to police everywhere, should embrace the online web portal http://www.a4architect.com/submit-drawings/

Owners are supposed to send pictures of different construction stages then the Local Authority Engineers can deduce from the pictures as to the quality of workmanship and any other input. In this case, the Local Authority engineers could have noticed the anomaly in terms of column spacing and raised an issue for the project to be physically visited for closer scrutiny.

Y 20 on Beams.
The beam that joins the large over 6m spans seems to have been over-designed with heavy Y20 thick steel reinforcement.
Normally, this reinforcement overhangs and crosses over to the canopy. In this case, the Y20 steel reinforcement reaches the columns at the plot boundary next to the road and end there. The canopy cantilever is reinforced with smaller diameter of steel-y10 or y12. This shows that the steel structural design was not concluded.
Again, with the online web portal http://www.a4architect.com/submit-drawings/ the owner will have been required to submit pictures of the steel reinforcement and upload them on the specific project’s page.
The Local Authority engineers would then have noticed this unusual anomaly and organized for a physical verification.

2. Lack of proper consultancy advice in terms of Building Technology.

Hollow Pot Technology.

The building floor slab was constructed using clay brick hollow pot technology. This technology introduces hollow clay bricks into the slab .The hollow parts reduce the volume of the concrete hence reduces the cost as compared to the usual reinforced concrete slab which is usually 150mm thick.
Hollow pot technology requires a keener structural engineering since most funds, foremen and small-time contractors are not used to this method hence do not understand it.
The Langata Southern Bypass opposite Carnivore building that collapse also had utilized the same hollow pot floor slab technology.
It’s not a surprise that both buildings collapsed since in both cases, consultancy was wanting.
Using the http://www.a4architect.com/submit-drawings/ the Local Authority would have requested the owner to upload floor slab pictures. The Local Authority engineers could then have seen the hollow pot slab technology being used and raised a red flat for the need for a physical visit.

Ministry of Local Authority Role:

The Ministry of Local Authorities is tasked with the responsibility to police and ensure that all buildings constructed in Kenya are safe.
The Engineers required to assist the Local Authority to do this are few compared to the number of projects being constructed all over the country.

Solution.

The solution to this is to ensure all building owners and their consultants utilize online web portals such as http://www.a4architect.com/submit-drawings/ during the building approval stage and throughout the construction state. Pictures/videos of the site works in progress, site bill board and specific tasks such as steel structural reinforcement, concrete mix should be required to be updated regularly so that buildings which seem to be obvious cases of danger can then be followed up with a physical site visit.

Building types that pose greatest danger.

Buildings that pose the greatest danger in terms of similarity of buildings that have collapsed in the recent past are:

a. Buildings that have not employed registered architects and engineers for supervisory roles, in most cases, the information is not displayed publicly at the building entrance. All buildings that have collapsed in Kenya fall in this category.

b. Buildings that have the ground floor designed to be a hall e.g. supermarket, parking space. The Kiambu and Mwiki buildings that collapsed had such a design whereby the ground floor is not braced and held by stone walling. Such designs are good and save space but care should be taken so that building owners are not left to try such construction designs without the input and supervision of registered architects and engineers.

c. Buildings that use hollow-pot technology and the owners have not retained registered architects and engineers to offer supervisory services during construction. Such cases can be seen in the Langata and the Mwiki buildings.

Conclusion.

The inability of Local Government to be able to police all construction projects in Kenya has resulted to building owners constructing without using specified supervisory personnel under law. The most efficient way that the Local Authority can police all sites is to ensure that building approval is done online through a web portal such as http://www.a4architect.com/submit-drawings/
Specific tasks such as reinforced concrete works are then taken pictures or videos and uploaded to the project’s page at http://www.a4architect.com/submit-drawings/
The Local Authority engineers can then be able to view and advice on many projects at the comfort of their offices.

New projects coming up without approval can then be easily noticed and identified through Google maps features enabled in the portal.
Google maps.

Next to the collapsed building is a building that was not appropriately built and the Government has partially demolished the columns holding the front part. This has left the first floor hanging dangerously, posing great danger to citizens. Again, since the Local Authority cannot police 100% of the construction in Kenya, use of Google maps within the web portal http://www.a4architect.com/submit-drawings/ would have reminded the Local Authority personnel while scrutinizing the Collapsed building approvals that there is a building next to it that was ear marked for demolition, a few columns demolished but the owner has not yet remedied the building as required by law.

Architect Francis Gichuhi Kamau.
B.Arch. Nrb. MA.A.K[A]
+254721410684
www.a4architect.com