Google barges

[11] Cianbro Corp., a general services contractor, was scheduled to perform "a significant amount of interior work, including the installation of undisclosed technological equipment" on the structure, without offloading it from the barge.

On October 25, CNET reporter Daniel Terdiman chronicled his visit to Treasure Island, San Francisco, a former U.S. Navy base, where a very similar barge (BAL0010) was moored, and where a construction facility called Hangar 3 is located.

[13][14] Satellite imagery showed shipping containers being amassed at Hangar 3, and later moved onto a floating barge moored alongside the adjacent pier.

Terdiman uncovered the link to By And Large LLC (possibly simple rhyming slang for "barge"[6]), a dummy company set up by Google.

A San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission official (later identified in a video interview as executive director Larry Goldzband[17]), was quoted as saying that Google discussed "hypothetical operations" but hadn't stated the exact purpose of the barge, which is necessary for the issuance of a permit for waterfront docking.

[23] On November 6, 2013, Google commented for the first time, sending an email statement to several news outlets stating,[1][2][24] Although it's still early days and things may change, we're exploring using the barge as an interactive space where people can learn about new technology.The next day, the San Francisco Chronicle published a set of documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act from the Port of San Francisco, which confirm the use of the Treasure Island barge as a "temporary technology exhibit space" by By and Large LLC.

[6] Google envisioned it to be an "unprecedented artistic structure", adorned with gigantic sails, to be moored for a month at a time at sites around the San Francisco Bay Area to "drive visitation to the waterfront".

[25] In November 2014, the Wall Street Journal and other media outlets reported that the Google barge project had been cancelled due to costs associated with meeting federal maritime safety regulations.

A Google Glass official, Michael Tierney, was documented as having discussed the project with the Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound.

[28] Others hypothesized that the barges might serve as near-shore seafaring data centers, citing Google's patent, granted in 2009, for platforms and support systems floating three to seven miles offshore in water 50 to 70 meters (160 to 230 ft) deep, using wave energy for power and sea water for server cooling, grouped into floating platforms and support systems.