‘Floating village’ could be answer to earthquakes.
San Jose’s Alviso area building project could ward off floods, quakes, rising seas with a pontoon system
SAN JOSE » A “floating village” project is being eyed in north San Jose’s Alviso hamlet by tech company Arx Pax, using a technology that would deploy a group of pontoons beneath the buildings to protect the development from floods and earthquakes.
Los Gatos-basedArx Pax invented the technology, which uses principles similar to the 1.5-mile-long Hood Canal Bridge that traverses Washington state’s Puget Sound.
“We sincerely believe that in our mission, we can protect people, property and communities from natural disasters,” said Greg Henderson, chief executive officer and co-founder of Arx Pax. “This is so important, but not just for our company.”
Arx Pax, the creator of the SAFE Foundation, or Self-Adjusting Floating Environment, wants to construct in Alviso a mixed-use village of homes, offices and retail atop a system of concrete pontoons.
“We are deliberately going to introduce water to a site that is already flood-prone and make the buildings float on purpose,” Henderson said. “There are no stability issues.”
The system could also help coastal communities deal with rising sea levels should that become a long-term challenge.
“This is very interesting. Arx Pax gave a very compel---
Much like a boat, if flooding were to occur, the buildings and the pontoons beneath would rise with the influx of water. By being disconnected from direct contact with the soil, the development would shake less during an earthquake.
ling presentation,” said Ned Thomas, a division manager with San Jose’s planning department. “They are proposing three buildings in Alviso in a mixeduse development.”
Here’s how the SAFE Foundation would work, according to information obtained from the Arx Pax website. First, a site would be excavated. Then, water would fill the site to a shallow depth. Next, a series of platforms consisting of concrete pontoons would be interlocked and laid over the water. Finally, the development would be constructed atop the interlocked floating pontoons.
“The mixed-use development proposal is consistent with the community vi- sion outlined in the Alviso Specific Plan,” said Erik Schoennauer, a San Josebased land-use and planning consultant. “The patented foundation system is indicative of the innovation that San Jose and Silicon Valley are known for.”
Much like a boat, if flooding were to occur, the buildings and the pontoons beneath would rise with the influx of water. By being disconnected from direct contact with the soil, the development would shake less during an earthquake. Arx Pax has obtained four patents for the technology, according to Henderson.
“We are looking at urban in-fill areas that are already subject to flooding,” Henderson said. “We are not touching the wetlands at all with this; we are not touching salt ponds. We are being totally respectful of the environment.”
The company believes its SAFE Foundation system would make development more feasible in areas that now are often shunned because it is difficult to make projects “pencil out” as feasible developments.
Typically, when building with conventional foundations in flood zones dominated by unfavorable soil conditions, developers will dig deep and install huge piers that support a thick concrete slab. Often, up to 14 feet of fill soil must be trucked in.
“With our SAFE Foundation, we can build at a fraction of the cost of a conventional development,” Henderson said.
The economics can in turnmake a growing number of sites feasible for development, according to Henderson, an architect and former Airborne Army Ranger, who served with the 101st Airborne and 7th Infantry. He has a science degree from West Point and an architecture degree from UC Berkeley.
“Coastal real estate is the world’s largest potential development market,” Henderson said. “We can unlock a lot of low-level land, and help solve the issues of affordable housing and traffic.”
Arx Pax has submitted to city planners a preliminary proposal for the Alviso three-building development, which would also offer amenities for local residents.
“We want to test in Alviso a new way of building that is in harmony with natural forces,” Henderson said. “As they say in Holland, ‘ Water always wins.’ But only if you fight it.”