Submerged Floating Tunnels for Aquatourism

Abstract

In the last few years a rapid increase in the use of underwater space around the world has led to the development of a new field of tourism called “Aquatourism” or “Submerged Tourism”. This new field of aquatourism aims at providing a unique and unforgettable underwater viewing experience to general public any time of the year and for unlimited duration of time. As a part of aquatourism a new category of non-traditional transparent pedestrian tunnels is being proposed which are fully submerged in water. These pedestrian tunnels are envisioned to promote underwater tourism and recreational activities while at the same time act as permanent links across islands or undersea connections between specific underwater offshore sites and mainland.

This study aimed at understanding different floating and fixed bottom concepts for submerged tunnels. Using pure bending and coupled bending-torsion models the dynamic behavior of tunnel is studied. The use of acrylic plastic in combination with a steel spine has been investigated as a primary structural material for tunnel and key insights into the behavior of acrylic for circular and elliptical cross-sections have been developed and documented in the form of design charts. For evaluating hydrodynamic loads on the tunnel taking into account diffraction effects, Ogilvie’s Classical Solution has been used and the results compared with more general Morison’s equation. Finally, the response behavior of tunnel is simulated using purely analytical Modal Superposition Method and analytical/numerical Dynamic Stiffness Method.