Feasibility of Floating Houses for Mekong Delta Region: Analytical and Experimental Assessments

The Mekong Delta region in southern Vietnam faces significant challenges due to seasonal flooding and climate change, making traditional housing solutions increasingly untenable. This chapter investigates the feasibility of floating houses as a sustainable and resilient alternative. The study focuses on a floating structure composed of a reinforced concrete pontoon and a two-story house, assessing its stability through metacentric height theory and real-world experiments. The pontoon, designed with precast concrete walls and reinforced with steel mesh, supports a house built with masonry walls and a metal sheet roof. Load calculations, including dead loads, live loads, and wind loads, are meticulously detailed, ensuring the structure's vertical and horizontal stability. Experimental structures built in Vinh Long province have demonstrated remarkable durability over three years, even in the presence of significant waves from fluvial transport. The chapter concludes that floating houses, with their innovative design and proven stability, offer a promising solution for residential and tourist housing in the Mekong Delta, paving the way for future developments in climate-resilient architecture.