DESCRIPTION

The present invention concerns a floating platform, according to claim 1.

The growing demand for land for housing, industrial and agricultural purposes is one of the greatest challenges of the current century. Nowadays, several countries in the world face the problem of the scarcity of building land for various uses. In addition, the coastal communities will have to face the increasingly current problem of the rise of the mean sea level and the consequent reduction in available soil. One of the possible solutions to these problems is the sustainable use of the surface of water bodies such as seas, lakes and rivers. Currently, this artificial surface is created through the dredging technique which, however, causes naturalistic and environmental imbalances. This operation, commonly known as “land reclamation”, consists of the use of filling material and civil construction techniques for the expansion of the building land near the coasts.

Another example for the creation of artificial surface on water bodies is the use of offshore platforms for gas and hydrocarbon extraction. These structures are commonly made of steel or reinforced concrete and moored on the seabed.

The solutions described above, as already mentioned, have a high environmental impact, in particular the dredging technique; in addition, the artificial soil obtained is bound to the precise purpose for which it is designed. The whole thing is impractical, difficult to modify once made and extremely expensive.

The present invention fits into this context, proposing an innovative system with low environmental impact consisting of modular floating platforms interconnected and moored for the creation of soil usable for various purposes (residential, agricultural, industrial, commercial, etc.). The greatest advantages of this technological solution consist in the possibility of the floating structures to adapt to the variation in the water level caused both by the rise of the seas and by the tides and in the possibility of reconfiguring the floating structures through a connection and mooring system. The connection and mooring system allows the assembly and the disassembly of a variable number of platforms in various configurations. The problem of the rise of the water levels due to climate change and the problem connected to the phenomenon of the tides is solved through a system of mooring lines that connect the platforms to anchoring elements located on the seabed; the mooring system in fact allows the free vertical excursion of the platforms. The proposed technology has a ballast adjustment system present on each platform to solve the problem given by the possible different masses of the superstructures adapted to be installed on the various platforms, allowing the construction of superstructures for various uses and with different inertial properties and also allows the adjustment of the arrangement of the single platform. Through this solution, the connection of platforms on which superstructures with different masses rest is guaranteed and the correct arrangement of the single platform during operation is guaranteed. The platforms are connected by means of connection means on each side. The connection is composed of elements that bind the platforms together. This type of connection allows both the assembly at sea of the platforms, and their disconnection if necessary. The deformability of the connection means is fundamental, since in the presence of waves the structural loads are reduced, since the deformation due to the wave is discharged deforming said means and does not act on the rigid structure of the platform.

Compared to the “land reclamation” technique, this invention allows the creation of building land also in deeper waters thanks to the mooring system. In addition, the practice of the “land reclamation” has a strong environmental impact, both due to the need to fill large volumes with aggregates, as well as due to the fact that the change in the profile of the coast affects the course of the currents and the transport of the sediments.

The present invention will now be illustrated and described in detail, with reference to a particular embodiment thereof, made by way of non-limiting example, with the aid of the attached drawing tables, where:

- Fig. 1 shows an open floating platform referred to in the invention;

- Fig. 2 shows a pair of floating platforms referred to in the invention, coupled together so as to constitute a floating structure;

- Fig. 3 shows an enlarged schematic view of mooring elements included in a floating platform referred to in the invention;

- Fig. 4 shows a further floating structure composed of floating platforms referred to in the invention;

- Fig. 5 shows a schematic sectional view of a floating platform referred to in the invention, in which the internal peaks containing different amounts of ballast are visible to guarantee the correct arrangement of the platform;

- Fig. 6 shows a schematic sectional view of a pair of floating platforms referred to in the invention connected to each other and in which it is visible the fact that with different amounts of ballast inside the peaks it is possible to guarantee an identical floating of said platforms even if structures with different weights are installed on them;

- Fig. 7 shows a schematic view of an exemplary embodiment of a hydraulic system for controlling the ballast contained in the peaks of a floating platform referred to in the invention;

- Fig. 8 shows a schematic view of an electronic control system of said hydraulic system; - Fig. 9 shows a perspective view of a particular embodiment of deformable connection means present on floating platforms referred to in the invention;

- Fig. 10 shows a plan view of the particular embodiment of Fig. 9 of deformable connection means present on floating platforms referred to in the invention.

A floating platform 1 referred to in the invention comprises:

- a hollow shell of polygonal shape, which in turn comprises an upper surface parallel to a lower surface and connected to it by side walls 4, said shell being able to be made of any material suitable for the purpose, among which the most common and economical is reinforced concrete.

- deformable connection means 9 fixed to said side walls 4 and configured to allow, for each wall 4 provided with said means, the connection of the floating platform 1 with further floating platforms of the same type;

- at least two peaks 5 fluid-dynamically connected to each other, located within said hollow shell and configured to contain ballast; said peaks 5 being further fluid- dynamically connected to the outside of the hollow shell by means of at least one opening obtained on said shell; an electronic ballast control system 10 being provided which is adapted to receive signals from at least one sensor 12 regarding the floatation dynamics of the platform 1, which is able to actuate, as a function of said signals, at least one hydraulic pump 13 and at least one valve 14 to adjust the amount of ballast present in each peak 5;

- at least one mooring element 6 adapted to retain said floating platform 1 at a mooring point, comprising a mooring line 7 which has its own end fixed to said hollow shell and its further end fixed to an anchoring element 8.

In the figures attached hereto, the hollow shell has a hexagonal shape since, as is known, said geometric shape is the one with the highest number of sides that uniformly fills a plane, allowing to maximize the artificial surface obtained by connecting several platforms 1 to each other.

Obviously, the figures are intended for exemplary and non-limiting purposes only and a hollow shell can have any shape, preferably the one of a regular polygon, such as a square, pentagonal, octagonal shape, etc...

Optionally, the hollow shells and consequently the floating platforms 1 may have a circular shape.

As mentioned above and as illustrated in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, a floating platform 1 referred to in the invention is retained at a mooring point by the at least one mooring element 6. Advantageously, it can be provided for the presence of a mooring element 6 for each vertex of the hollow shell if it does not have a circular shape.

The mooring line 7 can consist of any flexible element, such as a rope, a chain, a synthetic material line and the like capable of connecting the floating platform 1 to the anchoring element 8. The latter may, for example, consist in an anchor, the particular conformation of which may vary depending on the seabed of the water body on which the platform 1 is to be installed or also in devices for the fixing to the seabed that are adapted to be firmly fixed to said seabed, such as for example by means of a burial or with poles installed in the seabed and that avoid the drag present with the use of anchors.

The synthetic lines have the advantage of costing less than steel catenaries.

Inside the hollow shell there are at least two peaks 5 fluid-dynamically connected to each other, which are schematically illustrated in Figs 5 and 6 and which are visible in Fig. 1, wherein an embodiment is illustrated in which the entire internal volume of the hollow shell is divided into peaks. Advantageously, it can be provided that the peaks 5 are arranged symmetrically and in proximity to the walls of the hollow shell, so as to maximize the adjustment action for the compensation of non-symmetrical mass distributions of the superstructure.

These elements are fundamental, since, together with an electronic ballast control system 10, they guarantee: a constant sinking between platforms 1 that have different superstructure masses and therefore the correct connection and alignment of the platforms and the compensation of non-symmetrical mass distributions of the superstructure.

One of the main advantages of the present solution consists precisely in the possibility of using several interconnected platforms 1 for different functions and purposes. It follows that the superstructures installed on the various platforms 1 may have different mass properties.

The peaks 5 house ballast which can be, for example, partly solid and partly liquid or even totally liquid.

The electronic ballast control system 10 comprises a control unit 11 that receives signals from one or more sensors 12, which provide data on the floating dynamics of the platform 1 and acts according to a predefined logic by operating at least one hydraulic pump 13 and on valves 14 to consequently adjust the amount of ballast present in the peaks 5.

For this purpose, it is provided that said peaks 5 are further fluid-dynamically connected to the outside of the hollow shell by means of at least one opening obtained on said shell. In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 7 there are advantageously two openings 15, 16, one of which is for the entry of water and the other for the expulsion. Said sensors 12 may for example consist of sensors for the floatation level, accelerometers for measuring the inclination of the platform 1 or even sensors for measuring the level of ballast included in the peaks 5.

In Fig. 5 it can be seen how the adjustment of the ballast present in the peaks allows to keep the platform 1 in a horizontal arrangement, although a structure with unbalanced mass is installed on it, while in Fig. 6 a pair of platforms 1 can be seen on which structures with different masses are installed, which can have their own upper surfaces lying on the same plane so as to create a flat artificial soil.

Examples of floating structures comprising a plurality of floating platforms 1 are illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4. Here it can be seen that said platforms are connected to each other by means of deformable connection means that retain them with respect to each other, while still guaranteeing freedom of reciprocal movement to allow the structure to support the wave motion that would otherwise risk breaking the overall structure. An example of deformable connection means 9 is illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10. In this particular non-limiting embodiment cited by way of example only, the connection between two platforms 1 is made through a series of hinges 30 each consisting of a perforated plate 31, a perforated fork 32 and a pin 33. Perforated plate 31 and fork 32 are fixed on a pair of walls 4 facing each other of the two platforms 1 in question and the pin 33 is inserted in such a way as to constrain said elements, leaving a rotation around it as the only degree of freedom. This connection system can be applied on each wall of the platforms 1, allowing multiple platforms 1 to be joined to form a single floating island with different plan configurations.

In general, it is advantageous to use deformable connection means which are disassemblable. From what is described above it can be seen that a floating platform according to the present invention is able to solve the problems known in the art by providing a modular, low-cost, efficient and low environmental impact solution to obtain artificial soil on water bodies.

Obviously, in light of the teachings cited herein, many modifications may be made by one skilled in the art, but always falling within the scope of the claims appended hereto.