A pontoon boat, like this small pleasure boat, typically floats and balances by means of two pontoons mounted lengthwise.

A pontoon is a flat-bottomed boat or the floats used to support a structure on water. It may be simply constructed from closed cylinders such as pipes or barrels or fabricated as boxes from metal or concrete. These may be used to support a simple platform, creating a raft. A raft supporting a house-like structure is one form of houseboat. Ponton is the German word for pontoon. ... Pontoon fenders are a type of fender for an automobile. ... A pontoon boat approaches on Lake Gaston, VA-NC with choir and friends from Genesis UMC of Cary, North Carolina. ... A pontoon boat approaches on Lake Gaston, VA-NC with choir and friends from Genesis UMC of Cary, North Carolina. ... A boat is a watercraft designed to float on, and provide transport over, water. ... A right circular cylinder An elliptic cylinder In mathematics, a cylinder is a quadric surface, with the following equation in Cartesian coordinates: This equation is for an elliptic cylinder, a generalization of the ordinary, circular cylinder (a = b). ... Hot metal work from a blacksmith In chemistry, a metal (Greek: Metallon) is an element that readily loses electrons to form positive ions (cations) and has metallic bonds between metal atoms. ... Concrete being poured, raked and vibrated into place in residential construction in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ... Traditional raft, from 1884 edition Huckleberry Finn and Jim Children successfully test their raft, in Brixham harbour, south Devon, England. ... A houseboat in Amsterdam Houseboat for Students in Zwolle, Netherlands. ...

Pontoon boats generally run slower and are less likely to cause harm to themselves or other vessels, and are thus less expensive to insure. As such, they are the most popular vessel style for rental operations. They also offer the largest value in terms of capacity to price.

Pontoons are also used as small vehicle ferries to cross rivers and lakes in many parts of the world, especially in Africa. Pontoon ferries may be motorised, such as the Kazungula Ferry across the Zambezi River, or powered by another boat, or pulled by cables. A type of ferry known as the cable ferry (called 'punts' in Australia and New Zealand) pull themselves across a river using a motor or human power applied to the cable, which also guides the pontoon. The Trikke is a Human Powered Vehicle (HPV) This article is about the means of transport. ... The ferryboat Dongan Hills, filled with commuters, about to dock at a New York City pier, ca. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... The Kazungula Ferry is a pontoon ferry across the 400-metre-wide Zambezi River between Botswana and Zambia. ... Zambezi River in North Western Zambia The Zambezi (also spelled Zambesi) is a river in Southern Africa. ... The ferryboat Dongan Hills, filled with commuters, about to dock at a New York City pier, ca. ...

History

Pontoon bridges have been used by military forces since ancient times. Pontoon bridge across the James River at Richmond, Virginia, 1865. ...

The invention of the pontoon motorboat in the USA is credited to a Minnesota farmer ^[1]. Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Area  Ranked 12th  - Total 87,014 sq mi (225,365 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 400 miles (645 km)  - % water 8. ...

Applications

Pontoon bridge part on truck.

Pontoons may be used to support docks or floating bridges. In the case of a dock the entire device is sometimes called a pontoon. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 532 pixelsFull resolution (1250 × 831 pixel, file size: 196 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Description: Soviet PMP pontoon bridge on KrAZ truck (apparently KrAZ-214) in Yad la-Shiryon Museum, Israel. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 532 pixelsFull resolution (1250 × 831 pixel, file size: 196 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Description: Soviet PMP pontoon bridge on KrAZ truck (apparently KrAZ-214) in Yad la-Shiryon Museum, Israel. ... Pontoon bridge across the James River at Richmond, Virginia, 1865. ...

Pontoons of sophisticated construction and shape are used to support aircraft so they may be operated from water. Such pontoons may also contain landing gear so that the aircraft may operate on both land and water. Such aircraft are called amphibious floatplanes. Floatplanes are distinct from flying boats in which the aircraft fuselage forms a watertight hull. Main and nosewheel undercarriage of a Qatar Airways Airbus A330 The undercarriage or landing gear is equipment which supports an aircraft when it is not flying. ... A DeHavilland Single Otter floatplane in Harbour Air livery A seaplane is an aircraft designed to take off and land on water. ... Boeing 314 A flying boat is an aircraft that is designed to take off and land on water, in particular a type of seaplane which uses its fuselage as a floating hull (instead of pontoons mounted below the fuselage). ...

Pontoons are useful in the salvage of sunken vessels. They may be used to support cranes that lift the boat via cables. In other cases they may be sunk and attached to the vessel underwater. The water inside the pontoon is then displaced with compressed air to float the pontoon. A modern crawler type derrick crane with outriggers. ...

Pontoons are not socailly acceptable. Try not to be seen on, or in the company of those who utilize this form of recreation.

Notes