Urban transformation and construction method for creating a public access tropical style swimming lagoon with beaches within vacant or abandoned sites

An urban transformation construction method for creating a tropical-style swimming lagoon with a sloped access at vacant and/or abandoned sites, the method comprising:

• a) demolishing at least part of the vacant or abandoned site, wherein the demolition process includes excavating a layer of at least 15 cm and up to six meters;
• b) excavating material having a volume of at least 4,000 m3 from an area within the site;
• c) forming a basin for a large water body having a surface area of at least 3,000 m2 and a minimum depth of at least 1.4 meters at its deepest point, wherein earthworks for the basin are created within the surrounding site perimeter, and wherein the basin includes a basin perimeter and a bottom;
• d) constructing water containment walls on at least one section of the basin perimeter to form a waterfront perimeter, wherein the shape of the waterfront perimeter is mainly curved and the basin has a maximum width of 300 meters;
• e) covering at least part of the bottom of the basin with a non-permeable material including a plastic liner, shotcrete, or flexible materials;
• f) constructing a sloped access area on at least one section of the basin perimeter to form a beach access into the large water body;
• g) providing a low-cost reduced centralized filtration system that filters a volume of water of the lagoon, wherein the low-cost reduced centralized filtration system comprises at least one of a lower total number of bottom inlets and/or a lower filtration rate to achieve a Filtration Efficiency Index (FEI) of less than 80% of the Swimming Pool Filtration Index (SPFI), wherein the Filtration Efficiency Index (FEI) and the Swimming Pool Filtration Index (SPFI) are defined as:
• Filtration
• ⁢
• Efficiency
• ⁢
• Index
• ⁢
• (
• F
• ⁢
• E
• ⁢
• I
• )
• =
• 100
• ×
• #
• ⁢
• B
• ⁢
• I
• ×
• TRR
• W
• ⁢
• s
• Swimming
• ⁢
• Pool
• ⁢
• Filtration
• ⁢
• Index
• ⁢
• (
• S
• ⁢
• P
• ⁢
• F
• ⁢
• I
• )
• =
• 100
• ×
• #
• ⁢
• B
• ⁢
• I
• FL
• ×
• TRR
• FL
• W
• ⁢
• s
• F
• ⁢
• E
• ⁢
• I
• ≤
• 0
• ,
• TagBox[",", "NumberComma", Rule[SyntaxForm, "0"]]
• 8
• ×
• S
• ⁢
• P
• ⁢
• F
• ⁢
• I
• where:
• #BI is the total number of bottom inlets found in the lagoon,
• #BIFL is the total number of bottom inlets of a conventionally designed swimming pool according to Florida Swimming Pool Regulations for the same dimensions of the lagoon,
• TRR is the theoretical filtration rate which is calculated as the theoretical numeric calculation for the number of times the total volume of water is recirculated and filtered through the low-cost reduced centralized filtration system of the lagoon per day,
• TRRFL is the theoretical filtration rate from Florida Swimming Pool Regulations,
• Ws is the water surface of the lagoon in square feet;
• h) providing a dual-frequency skimmer system, comprising:
• a high-frequency reduced skimmer system (HFSS) that periodically removes surface water from the lagoon, and the removed water being directed into a low-cost reduced centralized filtration system, wherein the high-frequency reduced skimmer system HFSS is operated for at least 20% of the time that the lagoon is open for direct contact recreational purposes;
• a low-frequency skimmer system (LFSS) that removes surface water from the lagoon during a high-renewal event or rain events, wherein the LFSS comprises at least one discharge weir structure that is located within a section of the perimeter of the lagoon;
• wherein the dual-frequency skimmer system has a Skimmer Operation Rate (SOR) of at least 10, wherein the SOR denotes a ratio of operative hours of the HFSS (41) to the operative hours of the LFSS (42) within a 30-day period of time, as seen below:
• Skimmer
• ⁢
• Operation
• ⁢
• Rate
• ⁢
• (
• S
• ⁢
• O
• ⁢
• R
• )
• =
• Hours
• ⁢
• of
• ⁢
• Operation
• ⁢
• of
• ⁢
• H
• ⁢
• F
• ⁢
• S
• ⁢
• S
• Hours
• ⁢
• of
• ⁢
• Operation
• ⁢
• of
• ⁢
• L
• ⁢
• F
• ⁢
• S
• ⁢
• S
• ≥
• 1
• ⁢
• 0
• i) providing a micro-renewal system that operates permanently, which allows a micro-leakage of the water through a plurality of micro-leakage points located in an inner bottom surface of the lagoon, wherein:
• a total micro-leakage volume is defined as the total volume of water removed from the lagoon through the micro-leakage points and is lower than the volume of water filtered by the reduced low-cost centralized filtration system,
• the plurality of micro-leakage points are distributed throughout the inner bottom surface of the lagoon that is in contact with a soil or a filling material under the lagoon, and
• a minimum micro-leakage water flow is established, so that at least 10% of the lagoon's water volume is lost through micro-leakage annually;
• j) constructing one or more barriers around the basin perimeter to cordon off an area to establish a controlled access area, wherein the controlled access area includes a beach access perimeter, and the barriers include at least one access point to selectively allow users into the controlled access area, whereby the users allowed entry into the controlled access area are able to use the beach access;
• k) constructing at least one additional recreational facility comprising food and beverage and commercial facilities selected from the group comprising restaurants, bars, kiosks, stores, and cafes, wherein the at least one additional recreational facility is located in the vicinity of the waterfront perimeter.