Pontoon
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- For the card game, see Blackjack.
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.
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.
[edit] History
The invention of the pontoon motorboat is credited to a Minnesota farmer <ref>"An Idea that Started an Industry", Weeres Industries Corp., St. Cloud, Minnesota</ref>.
Pontoon bridges have been used by military forces since ancient times.
[edit] Applications
Pontoons may be used to support docks or floating bridges. In the case of a dock the entire device is sometimes called a pontoon.
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.
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.
[edit] Notes
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fr:Ponton ja:ポンツーン nl:Ponton nn:Pontong pl:Ponton ro:Ponton sv:Ponton
