Pontoon (boat)

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A pontoon boat, like this small pleasure boat, typically floats and balances by means of two pontoons mounted lengthwise.

A pontoon is a flat-bottomed boat or the floats used to support a structure on water. It may be simply constructed from closed cylinders such as pipes or barrels or fabricated as boxes from metal or concrete. These may be used to support a simple platform, creating a raft. A raft supporting a house-like structure is one form of houseboat. The basic design is usually implemented as a simple catamaran or, with three rows of floaes, a trimaran.

Pontoon boats generally are low cost and less expensive to insure than a normal boat, even when equipped with engines of over 200hp. The are also almost foolproof to operate and cannot be sunk. Their shallow draft also reduces damage from submerge collisions and being run aground. As such, they are the most popular vessel style for rental operations, on US freshwater ways. They also offer the largest value in terms of capacity to price.

Pontoon boats are also used as small vehicle ferries to cross rivers and lakes in many parts of the world, especially in Africa. Pontoon ferries may be motorised, such as the Kazungula Ferry across the Zambezi River, or powered by another boat, or pulled by cables. A type of ferry known as the cable ferry (called 'punts' in Australia and New Zealand) pull themselves across a river using a motor or human power applied to the cable, which also guides the pontoon.