A Critical Review and Suggestions for Sustainability Improvement of Floating Concrete Structures

Abstract:

Land resources are gradually becoming limited due to urbanization and climate change. The advent of floating structures provides new opportunities for bolstering maritime capabilities and promoting eco-friendly urban development. The use of floating concrete structures in public buildings， renewable energy facilities， and transportation infrastructures is summarized in this paper. Floating structures efficiently expand landmass， shorten construction period， reduce costs， and minimize impacts on the ecology. Moreover， three technical aspects of floating structures are given， including kinematic and mechanical analysis， safety verification， and module design. Furthermore， based on the overall evaluation， it is recommended to improve the sustainability of floating structures from three approaches structure reuse， material recycling， and optimized design of composite concrete floating structures. Correspondingly， the applications of recycled aggregate concrete， seawater sea-sand concretes， and composite concrete structures are suggested in building floating structures.