Patent ID: 8025462

Claim:
A displaceable load carrying structure for supporting a load adjacent a top surface of a body of water, the structure comprising a platform having an edge defining an outermost perimeter of the platform, a pair of parallel elongated supports fixed to respective opposite sides of the platform parallel to those sides and arranged to have respective portions which extend forwardly and rearwardly beyond the platform outer perimeter including free inner and outer edges perpendicular to forward and rearward edges of the platform outer perimeter, inner and outer pairs of carriages slidably mounted to the respective free inner and outer edges of each of the forward and rearward portions of the parallel elongated supports for reciprocal forward and rearward movement perpendicular to the forward and rearward edges of the platform, respective inner and outer sets of support legs connected to the inner and outer carriages for movement therewith, the inner and outer support legs being always located outside the platform outer perimeter, the legs being vertically movable between raised and lowered positions relative to the platform, the legs of each set being capable of supporting the platform when the legs of the other set are in a raised non-supporting position.