SamDiver14
Contributor
What Ber Rabbit is talking about is a recycled plastic product that is specifically for outdoor deck usage. The great thing about it is that it will never rot even underwater and it is enviromentally safer than treated wood. As far, as plans for building there is no really right way. Of course, there is definitely a wrong way. However, decide what your load capacity should be, then double it, and build to support that weight. Floatation can have its drawbacks but if there is sufficient bouyant support then there could be little or no change in the behavior of the pier. One way of controlling the amount of weight would be to control the space available. Example, if there is only room for two divers and you had 2000+ lbs of bouyancy then it could work well. But if you only have the same 2000+ lbs and could put 15 divers on it then you would have a problem. So your design is really the limiting factor. They make aircraft carriers that float really well. The next factor is the cost. That would have to be evaluated by where you are geographically and what is available to you. Anyway, that is the story. There is no one way to do it. There is a wrong way, and that is what ever way doesn't work.
