Would it be possible to make a manmade island out of a bunch of tossed rocks from boats and then pile some sand on it? Would it be stable enough to have a party on it? I would like to see you guys confirm/bust this myth!!!

Go Mythbusters!!!

Welcome to the MB Boards.

Please use find before posting. It gets you to your answer faster and eliminates duplicate myths.

Building on landfill is a rather common practice. Treasure Island in San Francisco is one example.

This new Bacardi commercial intrigues me, too! Can you build an island by just tossing rocks into open water, or would the current, etc. disrupt the process?

We want to know! Thanks

yeah would it even work at all? would the rocks even stack up that high? wouldnt a current or something just knock them over before they got stable enough?

quote:

Originally posted by Lokifan:
Welcome to the MB Boards.

Please use find before posting. It gets you to your answer faster and eliminates duplicate myths.

Building on landfill is a rather common practice. Treasure Island in San Francisco is one example.

they didnt build on anything. they werent professionals. they had no idea what they were doing. they just started chuckin rocks yo.

That is exactly how the Palm Islands in Dubai are made.

Story here.

yeah but im sure its all held together with something. they didnt say... hmmm i think ill put a pile of rocks here in 100 feet of water and make mehself an island.

quote:

Originally posted by bsflag:
That is exactly how the Palm Islands in Dubai are made.

Story here.

the people doing that are pros. its a corporation. what we're asking is could a bunch of amateurs build a whole stable island by just throwing rocks. i really wanna see this one tested.

Yes. It wouldn't last long, but it can be done.

What's so hard to believe about this? it has been done several times. It's expensive, but doable.

Another example is the Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Japan.

And yes, that is basically all they did. they formed the base and outline with rock and 48,000 tetrahedral concrete blocks and then filled it with 21,000,000 m^3 (740,000,000 cu ft) of dirt that was taken off the sea floor. This is all the more impressive since it is built in a heavy earth quake zone.

There is not much more than gravity and rock keeping it from washing away. Due to the way it was built and the nature of the materials, that isn't likely.

Read more here.

thats what im saying. would it be stable. and again, corporations built a concrete base whatever and everything. thats alot different than rocks that dont fit together perfectly. the water gets between them and could move them around. i understand that man made islands are made all the time. but they plan it out. they spend a LOT of money to make it work. THEY DONT JUST THROW ROCKS INTO THE WATER TO MAKE A STABLE ISLAND.

Ever been to a marina or harbour? That is exactly how they make most breakwalls. I say most because some marinas and harbours use old, often derilict, ships as breakwalls.

what is a break wall for? im not being smart really what is it for

A breakwall is to keep waves from entering the marina or harbour. And in the commercial, it didn't look all that deep, about as deep as most marinas.