The pilot models of the Marinus floating houses have been completed

As a result of three years of preparation, infrastructure development and innovation activities, the development and investment works of the 5-type floating house family were completed by the end of October 2020.

The trained technical staff and engineers of the Marinus team are proud of the products made with modern machines in the brownfield investment in Balatonvilágos, which confirm our initial idea that the unique modular, prefabricated, well-transported floats and superstructures challenge.

Compilation of the first complete float in Balatonfenyves

Our finished floats have arrived in Balatonfenyves, to the port of the Fenyves Yacht Club.

Mounting in the water posed new challenges for our team and enriched us with new experiences. Surely tools can fall and they do fall into the water! In diving suits, the lower buoyancy points are more difficult and time-consuming to install due to the higher buoyancy, the heavier movement and the limited underwater visibility.

At the same time: after a practice crane and trial assembly, the final 50-square-meter floating concrete foundation was assembled even faster than expected, in just over 4 hours.

The next step is to assemble the superstructure!

Our first float modules have been completed

The “pillar” of any floating house is based on a reliable, stable floating body. In our case, this is the most important goal of development and design, as the focus of the research is on modularity, easy transportability, versatile variability, and a new approach to concrete material.

The first pieces of floating elements developed jointly with Ferrobeton Zrt. And Fair Hydro Kft. have been completed for the current phase. With the 5 poured 5m x 2.5m x 1.30m concrete module and the linearly arranged joint system along its long sides, we can provide up to a 62.5 m2 flat foundation for the modular, lightweight structure.

After the first floating test and assembly of the floating elements, the next phase of the development work will be the construction of the first complete Marinus floating house.

Assembling the model superstructure on site

As a preparation for assembling the first Marinus floating house on the floating platform installed on the water at the end of the summer, we also assembled the elements at our site at Balatonvilágos, on land.

The rigidity of the superstructure is given by the support frame, which must also withstand the movements and tilts that occur in the aquatic environment. This was built first, and then the wall and ceiling panels were built into this frame. Then, floor panels were provided in place, giving a walking surface lifted from the upper plane of the point, which also covers the backbone wires of the mechanical and electrical network.

The construction, which used to be only on a design table, is now finally physically proven: its construction can be easily and efficiently carried out from well-assembled “sheet-mounted” elements in the workshop. The team can’t wait for it to be in its final place after demolition!

The impact tests have been completed

October 30, 2018

Following the design of the basic geometry and connection principle of the float, the basic material of the concrete, i.e. its exact recipe, was designed. At this stage, each design area and process interacts with each other and develops together. At the end of this nearly one-year workflow, the final geometry, recipe and manufacturing technology are developed. Experiments and trials on various concrete raw materials and geometries are a specific part of this research process. In addition to the determination of the standard compressive strength class known from high and civil engineering regulations and the prescribed fracture and freezing tests, it was also necessary to perform individual impact tests. In these special tests, experiments on specimens of the same geometry – but made of different materials and with different technologies – showed the final solution for material use and concrete production technology.

Our partners were: Pannon Építőműhely Kft., Ferrobeton Zrt., CRH Magyarország Kft., BME Department of Building Materials and Civil Engineering.

Our equipment park is constantly expanding

In order to minimize the duration of the on-site installation, a high degree of preparation of our superstructures on the pontoons takes place in our factory. Our self-owned, well-equipped fleet of machines will soon be complete: metal industry large and small machines, welding machines and metal industry accessories, carpentry large and small machines, CNC, contact grinder, planer, band saw, milling machine, semi-automatic circular saw, screw compressor, forklifts.