The first floating road is to be built in the Netherlands by the end of the year. This will be an experimental stretch of no more than a hundred metres over a tributary of the River Maas, consisting of linked-up aluminium pontoons. On the top these will provide a sealed road surface.
The rigid construction will mean that the traffic on the floating road will not be greatly troubled by movement. In the interests of safety the pontoons have been filled with polystyrene foam to render them unsinkable.
It is expected that passenger vehicles will be able to travel over the water on the floating road at a speed of 80 km/h. The floating roads are particularly suitable as temporary diversions in the case of long-term maintenance work on bridges and roads, as access roads in areas regularly subject to flooding and as permanent links in areas with very weak subsoil.
(source: Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management)
