Quote:
Originally Posted by Appropriate
I don't think it operates like I thought it did. They probably have a spiral ramp inside the boat (or some other parking garage type ramp system). My design would provide a lot of extra space on each level (you would gain the floor space on each floor where any ramp system would be), but would also be more mechanically complex (the top of the ramp would have to slide up and down the outer edge of the boat). Plus, mechanically complex stuff doesn't fair too well at open sea (saltwater is nasty).
I'll have to take a look at the U.S. patent database and see what people have thought up.
But I also notice that the boat from the linked page is different than the modern ones we see, where it looks like the ramp folds up parallel to the overall side of the boat rather than at a skewed angle (which is actually useful because then you don't have to have a long distance clear on the side of the boat (the ramp runs closer to parallel with the boat)).
But the boat from the linked page also has what looks like the flat-side ramp, but the ramp in the unloading pictures doesn't look like the same one... it somes out a notch in the ship. Hmmm...
The short ceilings inside the boat would mean interior ramps wouldn't take up much room.
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Look at these photos and descriptions. Somehow they are watertight.
http://www.tug44.org/tugboats.trawlers/pegasus-highway/