Bye to LHR - Hello to a floating airport - one option?

[markis10]

IT looks like a futuristic spaceship - but this is one of the plans being considered for London's new airport. Designed by Gensler architects, the London Britannia Airport includes four floating runways tethered to the sea bed.
Extra runways could be attached as the airport expanded in future generations. Wind change? No problem – this airport is floating so you can just move the runway and anchor it somewhere else.
Being positioned in the middle of the water in the Thames Estuary would also reduce the amount of noise complaints.

Read more: Gensler architects propose floating London airport | News.com.au
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[MrHyde]

This is just like the concept cars at car shows... something outlandish that will never get built. I can already think of a couple of holes in the idea.

1) Some airlines have trouble finding airports that have not moved in decades - how will they handle a runway that keeps changing location.

2) The runways still need to be connected to a terminal and the terminal needs to be connected to land for people to actual get to their destination, so the concept of just adding more runways is not as simple as they make it sound.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Anything thats light enough to " just move the runway and anchor it somewhere else" with wind directional change, wont be strong enough to land an aircraft on.

 

[harvyk]

Anything thats light enough to " just move the runway and anchor it somewhere else" with wind directional change, wont be strong enough to land an aircraft on.

Forget strong enough to land an aircraft on, I'm wondering how they will deal with the sort of currents which would be present in just about any non-stagnant waterway over the 3 or 4 km required for a runway, whilst keeping the thing floating and not tearing itself apart at the smallest current at either end of the runway. If you think about it, 3 or 4 km is a pretty big lever which that current can push against. Plus, there will be tidal currents there as well (which also means the runway's elevation will change over the course of 6 or so hours)

That's not to say these challenges can't be overcome, but overcome at a price which makes it competitive over a more traditional land based airport, or simply a reclaimed land based airport (even they have some interesting problems with currents, and they are technically attached to the ground all the way along)

 

[samh004]

Interesting concept, but reclamation or simply building the airport somewhere that is explicitly zoned not for residential would be easier. Add a high speed rail connection and a motorway and you're done. So long as no one gets approval to ever build houses nearby, there can be no noise complaints and the whole thing is set to run 24-hour. Probably no many places that amount of empty land is available, but just make it a bloody fast train and there's no issue.


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[ermen]

Well maybe could anchor it in the middle of Botany Bay And do away with the night curfew...

 

[medhead]

Kurnell is going to be available soon. Why bother with botany bay?


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