Breakwaters

What is Breakwater?
Breakwater is a structure that protects the area within it from wave

attack.
What’s the Need of Breakwater?
To provide shelter from waves.
Through this shelter, to manipulate the littoral/sand transport conditions and

thereby to trap some sand entrance inside the Anchorage Area.
 Availability of materials of construction.
 Depth of water at site of construction.
 Nature of natural foundations.
 Equipment available for construction.
 Funds and time available for construction.

Rubble mound breakwaters (Conventional Type)
Vertical wall/front breakwaters ( Widely Used)
Reef breakwaters
Rarely used
(Based on the Materials
Piled breakwaters Available on Nearby Site)
Objectives :-
 To be able to make an assessment of hydraulic

loads against caisson breakwater
 To be able to make a preliminary design of a

caisson breakwater (length, width, height)
 To be able to compare caisson breakwater against

rubble mound breakwater ie, on basis of material
usage
FUNCTIONS
 Wave protection in port/channel

 Protection from siltation,
currents
 Tsunami protection
 Berthing facilities
 Access/transport facility
Ras(Netherlands)
Laffan(Japan)
Gijon
Marsaxlokk
IJmuiden
Kamaishi (Qatar)
(Spain)
(Malta)
TYPES
(breakwaters with vertical and inclined
concrete walls)
 Conventional type
The caisson is placed on a relatively

thin stone bedding.
Advantage of this type is the minimum

use of natural rock (in case scarce)
Mutsu-Ogawara (Japan)
Wave walls are generally placed on

shore connected caissons (reduce
overtopping)
TYPES (continued)
 Vertical composite type
The caisson is placed on a high rubble

foundation.
This type is economic in deep waters,

but requires substantial volumes of
Algeciras (Spain) (small size) rock fill for foundation
TYPES (continued)
 Horizontal composite type
The front slope of the caisson is covered by

armour units
Gela (Sicily, Italy)
This type is used in shallow water. The mound
reduces wave reflection, wave impact and wave
overtopping
Repair of displaced vertical breakwaters
Used when a (deep) quay is required at the
inside of rubble mound breakwater
TYPES (continued)
 Block type
Alderney (Guernsey, UK)
This type of breakwater needs to be

placed on rock sea beds or on very
strong soils due to very high foundation
loads and sensitivity to differential
settlements
TYPES (continued)
 Piled breakwater with concrete

wall
Piled breakwaters consist of an

Manfredonia New Port (Italy)
inclined or vertical curtain wall
mounted on pile work.
The type is applicable in less severe

wave climates on site with weak and soft
subsoils with very thick layers.
TYPES (continued)
 Sloping top
The upper part of the front slope

above still water level is given a slope to
reduce wave forces and improve the
direction of the wave forces on the
sloping front.
Overtopping is larger than for a
Napels (Italy)
vertical wall with equal level.
TYPES (continued)
 Perforated front wall
The front wall is perforated by holes

or slots with a wave chamber behind.
Dieppe (France)
Due to the dissipation of energy both

the wave forces on the caisson and the
wave reflection are reduced
TYPES (continued)
 Semi-circular caisson
Well suited for shallow water

situations with intensive wave breaking
Miyazaki Port (Japan)

Due to the dissipation of energy both
the wave forces on the caisson and the
wave reflection are reduced
TYPES (continued)
 Dual cylindrical caisson
Outer permeable and inner

impermeable cylinder.
Low reflection and low permeable

Nagashima Port (Japan)
Centre chamber and lower ring
chamber fills with sand
 TYPES (continued)
 “Combi-caisson”
Sloping top
Semi-circular/perforated
Perforated front wall
Perforated rear wall

What is needed?
 Proper understanding of functional requirements
 Proper understanding of loads and resistance
 Insight in failure modes
 Understanding of breaking/non-breaking waves

Functional requirements
Access
Quay facilities
Overtopping
Transmission
Requirements: acces (pedestrians, supply traffic)
Piraeus (Greece)
Requirements: acces (harbour workers, traffic, oil piping)
Marsaxlokk (Malta)
Requirements: acces (harbour workers, traffic, Liquefied
Natural Gas (LNG) piping)
Ras Laffan (Qatar)

Requirements: acces (harbour workers, traffic, conveyors)
Porto Torres (Sicily, Italy)

Requirements: quay facilities (access, warehouses, sheds)
Constantza Port (Romania)

Requirements: quay facilities (access, warehouses, sheds)
Durres Port (Albania)

Requirement: limit overtopping and transmission
of water
Marina do Lugar de Baixo (Madeira, Portugal)

Vertical Wall Breakwaters - Loads and
resistance
Loads and resistance

Loads: Resistance:
 Hydraulic loads  Friction (mostly)

 Weight  Soil bearing capacity
resistance
Failure modes (overall)
Hydraulic failure
Sliding Overturning
U
resistance
Failure modes (local)
Instability of mound Erosion of seabed Partial

Instability
Erosion Scour
U
Example overall failure: Mutsu Ogawara Port, East Breakwater (Japan)
Example local failure: Catania Breakwater (Sicily, Italy)
Advantages:- Disadvantages:-
Easy to repair. Construction cost is high.
Protects the shore. Can be easily displaced by waves.
Functions after minor damage. Don’t absorb all energy due to the gaps
Don’t disturb the shoreline. between breakwater.
Aesthetically seems to be bad.

Protection of the Ports or Harbors from the Natural Calamities such as
Tsunami is essential. But exact prediction of Natural Calamities is not
possible, but some extent of it can be prevented by Breakwater
Construction.
Protection of the Ports or Harbors from the Siltation & Wave Action is
done by providing a economical & suitable type of Breakwaters.
Instead of using Armor Blocks the Sand Bags may be used to Protect or
Safe Guard the Shores to some extent . Shore Protection in Quatar
Indian Standard Code of practice for planning and design of ports and
harbours part 4 general design considerations [Third Revision of IS 4651 (Part
4)].
PIANC; Breakwaters with Vertical and Inclined Concrete Walls, Report WG 28,
2003.
US Army Corp of Engineers. 1985. Shore Protection Manual. Washington,
D.C., US Army Corp of Engineers.

Breakwaters

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Breakwaters

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Breakwaters

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

What is Breakwater?

Breakwater is a structure that protects the area within it from wave

What’s the Need of Breakwater?

To provide shelter from waves.

Through this shelter, to manipulate the littoral/sand transport conditions and

 Depth of water at site of construction.

 Nature of natural foundations.

 Equipment available for construction.

 Funds and time available for construction.

 To be able to make an assessment of hydraulic

 To be able to make a preliminary design of a

 To be able to compare caisson breakwater against

 Wave protection in port/channel

The caisson is placed on a relatively

Advantage of this type is the minimum

Wave walls are generally placed on

 Vertical composite type

The caisson is placed on a high rubble

This type is economic in deep waters,

 Horizontal composite type

The front slope of the caisson is covered by

Alderney (Guernsey, UK)

This type of breakwater needs to be

 Piled breakwater with concrete

Piled breakwaters consist of an

The type is applicable in less severe

The upper part of the front slope

 Perforated front wall

The front wall is perforated by holes

Due to the dissipation of energy both

Well suited for shallow water

Miyazaki Port (Japan)

 Dual cylindrical caisson

Outer permeable and inner

Low reflection and low permeable

Perforated front wall

Perforated rear wall

 Proper understanding of functional requirements

 Proper understanding of loads and resistance

 Insight in failure modes

 Understanding of breaking/non-breaking waves

Ras Laffan (Qatar)

Porto Torres (Sicily, Italy)

Constantza Port (Romania)

Durres Port (Albania)

Marina do Lugar de Baixo (Madeira, Portugal)

Loads and resistance

 Hydraulic loads  Friction (mostly)

Instability of mound Erosion of seabed Partial

Easy to repair. Construction cost is high.

Protects the shore. Can be easily displaced by waves.

Don’t disturb the shoreline. between breakwater.

Aesthetically seems to be bad.

US Army Corp of Engineers. 1985. Shore Protection Manual. Washington,

D.C., US Army Corp of Engineers.

You might also like