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Steel Shots: Staying Afloat

A new convenience store, located just south of the Arizona-Utah border near the beginning of the Grand Canyon, keeps its head above water with an innovative structural steel framing system. The flotation portion of the structure consists of wide-flange beams and HSS that are designed as a truss system to evenly distribute loads throughout the platform. Photo: Aramark

Heading down to the corner store for a gallon of milk is a bit different experience at Lake Powell’s Wahweap Marina.

That’s because the store floats. Situated between the marina’s docks and houseboats, the 6,655-sq.-ft building - which houses the Wahweap Marina Store, a restaurant and office space - is supported by a 10,144-sq.-ft floating platform. The structure is topped with a 1,425-sq.ft covered deck on the second floor that allows visitors to relax and drink in their surroundings.

Read more about this floating steel convenience store in the current September issue of MSC (available now!).