I have an idea for how an oceanic city might be created. However, aside
from the issue of viability is the issue of practicality. If we could engineer
such a thing, would it be worth it? Or might such a notion be better saved for
when society has reached the stage of cultural and technological decadence
(i.e., for whenever we've already done all the "useful" stuff and must begin
seeking ways to express our creative energies in an era when we'd no longer need
them for survival)?
In any event, this is my notion on how an ocean city might be made -
just one notion of course, I'm sure there are others:
From high altitudes, it would resemble something akin to a screen laying
across the surface of the water. At each intersecting "wire" of the screen,
there would be a "node", which would be one of the active points of the city.
The lines connecting the nodes would be avenues of travel between them.
Each node would be connected to all of its surrounding nodes by a type
of hollow geodesic bridge/"shock absorber" structure. The geodesic bridges
would naturally contract and expand in response to the waves of the ocean, but
we could walk through them from node to node as they do this - perhaps utilizing
a sort of "rubber-like" sidewalk that contracts and expands with it, but keeps
our limbs from becoming imperiled by the constantly shifting joints of the
outlying geodesic structure.
Each node would probably be about the size of one-quarter of an aircraft
carrier, and it would be round. The outer layers of nodes would be uninhabited
"buffer" zones - the only ones that might possibly capsize or flood.
The links between the nodes would have to be capable of withstanding
enormous pressures, but if it were stretched out over a network consisting of
dozens of nodes and links, that should lessen the stresses they must endure
considerably.
The upper levels of each node would hold the sunlight-dependant aspects
of the ecology (gardens, livestock, parks, etc...). To power the city, the
ever-shifting joints of the geodesic bridges could double as power generators,
with perhaps a few other types of power-generating "appendages" of some sort
tacked on to the grid. These generators would route excess electricity to
storage (rechargable battery units) for those days when the seas aren't so
restless. That is unless of course the tide alone would be enough to generate
sufficient energy, in which case we wouldn't need to bother because if the tide
ever stopped happening, we'd be having bigger problems than a power outage on
our hands.
As for the hull of each node, the ideal setup might sound a bit strange
at first as I begin to describe it, but bear with me and you should be able to
see where I'm going with it.
Each node would be spherical. You would have three layers of steel hull
and two layers of liquid. The outer layer would deal directly with the ocean.
A layer of liquid between them, the middle hull floats within the outer hull
(its purpose to be disclosed later). The inner hull floats similarly within the
middle hull, and is where all the life takes place. Aside from the liquids
between them, the hulls would also have various bumpers and shock absorbers and
whatnot in order to keep from becoming too noisy as they float discombobulatedly
upon the ocean.
The reasons for this triple-hull design are fairly simple. The primary
function is to minimize the impact of the ocean's movements upon the habitats
inside (it's handy, if you're going to live in a place, to be able to have some
sort of set up for knick knacks and whatnot). Where the middle hull would come
in would be for emergencies, such as hurricaines. Seeing as how the nodes have
such a convenient spherical shape, the middle hull would be able to just slide
right on up and over the node, encapsulating it from the storm. Also, the
geodesic bridges connecting them could contract completely so that all nodes are
side-by-side and no delicate or fragile bridgework is left out to the mercy of
the storm.
I'm not sure how many nodes it would take, but if they could be designed
as indicated above and a sufficient number of them were linked together, they
should be able to withstand any hurricaine, particularly with their spherical
shape and the flat, sheet-like structure of the city as a whole.
Anyway, there you have it. Them's my thoughts. I know it's nothing
we'd even begin to dream of doing now, but would such a thing work, do you
suppose?
Just curious... :-)
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