Proceedings Workshop2

3 r d I nt er nat i onal Conf er enc e on
Tr anspor t at i on Geot ec hni cs

4 - 7 S e p t e mb e r 2 0 1 6 | Gu i ma r ã e s | P o r t u g a l
Workshop 2: Harbour Geotechnics
Edi ted by
Yoshiaki Kikuchi, Alexandre Pinto and José Cerejeira
Chairman of 3 ICTG2016
Prof. A. Gomes Correia
Pr oceedi ngs
3rd International Conference on Transportation Geotechnics
4-7 September 2016 | Guimarães | Portugal
EXTENDED ABSTRACTS BOOK
Organized by
University of Minho (UM)
Portuguese Geotechnical Society (SPG)
International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical
Engineering (ISSMGE)
Sponsored by
4 September 2016 | Guimarães | Portugal
Organizing Committee:
Yoshiaki Kikuchi
Alexandre Pinto
José Cerejeira
Venue:
Auditorium Infante Dom Henrique
Avenida Antunes Guimarães, Leça da Palmeira
Date:
4 September 2016
Website:
http://civil.uminho.pt/3rd-ICTG2016/WorkshopsThemes.php
Contact:
Alexandre Pinto
apinto@jetsj.pt
ISBN: 978-972-8692-97-1
Universidade do Minho
Departamento de Engenharia Civil, Azurém, P-4800-058 Guimarães
Email: apinto@jetsj.pt
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.167408
I
Preface
The Portuguese Geotechnical Society (SPG), the University of Minho and

the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical
Engineering (ISSMGE) organized the international Workshop “Harbour
Geotechnics”, that took place at the Port of Leixões in the 4th September
2016. This workshop was part of the 3rd International Conference on
Transportation Geotechnics (3rd ICTG).
Geotechnics and harbour infrastructures are intimately connected, as

the necessities of maritime infrastructures have motivated many
advances and innovations in the scope of geotechnical engineering, thus
bringing economic feasibility to such projects. The main objective of
this Workshop was to gather international experts connected to
research and teaching or to the industry that are involved in the several
types of harbour geotechnical solutions. This brought about interesting
opportunities for networking and discussion about ongoing works in
the domain of harbour geotechnics. The Workshop was also an
opportunity for the presentation of the most recent research works,
new technological developments and new applications in the scope of
harbour geotechnics. The topics of analysis included the evolution of
geotechnical solutions at Port of Leixões, seismic design, soil
fluidification, coastal geoscience mapping and case studies including
stone columns, vibroflotation, driven piles and rubble-mound
breakwater solutions.
The Editors
Yoshiaki Kikuchi
Alexandre Pinto
José Cerejeira
II
III
Table of contents
Geotechnical Problems and their solutions in Japanese Port

Construction
Yoshiaki Kikuchi | TOKYO UNIVERSITU OF SCIENCE Page 9
Offshore vibro replacement for large depths and challenging soil

conditions – recent cases from Europe and South America
Goran Vukotic | KELLER GROUP Page 12
Offshore stone columns to improve alluvial soils for caissons quay wall
and landfill foundations
Pedro Costa | SOMAGUE ENGENHARIA SA Page 15
Ground Improvement at the Containers Terminal of La Guaira Harbour,

Venezuela
Vasco Moreira, João Cabral and Nuno Figueiredo | TEIXEIRA DUARTE ENGENHARIA E
CONSTRUÇÕES, SA Page 18
MOSD – Marine Operations Support Dock Soyo - Angola

Francisco Caimoto, Luis Diogo Silva, Manuel Abreu and Duarte Nobre | TEIXEIRA
DUARTE, SA Page 21
On the conception, design and contracting of important port

infrastructures. Some examples
José Manuel G. Cerejeira | PROMAN – CENTRO DE ESTUDOS E PROJETOS, SA Page 24
Sea waves and seabed interaction. Partial fluidification of break waters

foundation
Alexandre santos | DGRM
Claudia Santos and Mónica Cabral | ENGENEERING GEOLOGIST Page 28
Coastal Geoscience mapping for harbour geotechnics: implications in

Maritime environments
Ana C. Pires and Helder L. Chaminé Page 32
Seismic Resistance of Port facilities in Japan

Eiji Kohama | PORT AND AIRPORT RESEARCH INSTITUTE, JAPAN Page 35
IV
Port at Punta Langosteira

Fernando José Noya Arquero and Vitoria Bajo Gonzáles Page 38
Stability of Submerged clay masses. A case study in a Port

António Campors e Matos and Ana Luisa Ramos Page 41
Autor Index Page 45
V
Geotechnical Problems and Their Solutions in

Japanese Port Construction
Yoshiaki Kikuchi
Tokyo University of Science, Noda, Japan
kikuchi_y@rs.tus.ac.jp
1 Introduction
There are about 1000 ports in Japan and most of them are constructed as sea ports, because
Japan is surrounded by sea. There are three major bays such as Tokyo bay, Ise bay, Osaka
bay, and most major ports are located in these bays. Thick soft clay layers cover the surface
of the site for these major ports. And thickness of soft clay layers is more than thirty meters.
In this meaning, port construction engineers have worked to overcome soft soil problems.
Japan is famous as an earthquake country, but Japan is also facing soft soil problems. In
this presentation, geotechnical conditions of Japanese ports are introduced at first, then
geotechnical characteristics of Japanese soft clays are introduced, thirdly ground
improvement methods mainly used in Japan are introduced. Finally some examples
conducted in Japan against soft soils are introduced.
2 Geotechnical Conditions of Japanese Ports

Kansai International Airport (KIA) is located 5 km from shore. The original sea depth of
the site of KIA was about -20 m. Estimated total settlement of KIA is from 16 m to 20 m.
This a kind of extreme evidence. But normally consolidated clay layers in Japanese port
construction area are very compressible. Most important ports in Japan are located in large
bays and surface of their ground is covered with about 30m of alluvial normally
consolidated clays. They are categorized in silty-clay, but liquid limit of them is around 50
to 100 %. Ground improvement against large settlement problem is usually used in Japan.
Popular ground improvement technics are sand compaction pile method for clay (high
replacement ratio), deep mixing method, vertical drains, sand compaction pile method for
clay (low replacement ratio).
3 Examples of Geotechnologies used in Japanese Port

Construction
As mentioned in 2, Japanese geotechnical engineers have worked on soft and high
compressible clays. In the presentation, I will introduce several examples of geotechnical
technologies used in port construction in Japan. Here shows some of them. Japan is famous
1

for earthquakes. And from this reason, design and construction technologies against
earthquake are highly improved. And these topics will be introduced another speaker.
3.1 Soft landing breakwater

A soft landing breakwater was originally proposed for sites where the ground conditions are
not good but wave conditions are rather mild. A key feature of the soft landing breakwater
is its light self weight. As originally conceived, the horizontal resistance of this breakwater
depends on the cohesion between the base plate and clay surface (Fig. 1 a)). Usually,
however, the horizontal resistance of this type is inadequate for wave forces, and piles are
therefore used to improve its resistance capacity. This modification is called the piled type
(Fig. 1 b)). The mechanism of horizontal resistance in this type is rather complex because
horizontal loads are borne not only by the base plate but also by the piles, and furthermore,
the presence of piles may change the resistance mechanism of the cohesion between the
base plate and the ground surface. A simplified design method for the piled type was firstly
proposed in 1991, and was suited only for limited conditions. Due to this limitation, the
applicability of the structure was confined to sites where the wave conditions is are very
mild and the sea depth is very shallow. An improved design method was therefore needed
to overcome these limitations. A new and more rational design method for the structure was
proposed.
pile
soft clay layer soft clay layer
a) Original type (flat type) b) Piled type

Figure 1: Image of soft landing breakwater
3.2 New Geo-material - Super Geo-Material (SGM) -

Effective use of dredged clay has been one of the most important issues for port
construction engineers in Japan, due to the maintenance of navigation channels producing a
large amount of dredged clay. Light weight geo-materials, which are made from dredged
clay, cement, and lightening materials such as air foam or expanded polystyrol (EPS) beads
were developed for reducing earth pressure to water front structures which are deteriorated
or are being improved. Total settlement will be decreased when it is used for reclamation,
and earth pressure to the retaining structure will be reduced when this material is used for
backfilling. The mechanical properties of the material were studied and the mixing method
of the material along with the construction method using the material were also studied. A
fourth runway of Haneda airport was constructed at the site of the mouth of the Tama
River. One third of this runway was constructed on an open pier to prevent flooding from
the river. The rest of the runway is to be constructed on reclaimed land. The retaining
structure at this conjunction point should be able to sustain large earth pressure and
minimize settlement of reclaimed land next to the structure. Super Geo-Materials (SGM),
2

which is one of the light weight geo-materials made from cement treated clay with air
foam, were discussed for possible use. The durability of this material was one of the biggest
issues at that time. As SGM is applied to waterfront construction, the characteristics of this
material can be influenced by seawater. There is a risk that some air in the SGM may be
replaced with water over time and a prediction of the change of unit weight with time is
required. Much knowledge has been accumulated on making the strength of the clay higher.
Yet, there is much uncertainty about the increasing of the unit weight by absorption of
water. Then the mechanism of absorption SGM was investigated. The absorption rate of
SGM under the wet sand condition was found very slow. From this conclusion, SGM was
used for the backfill of the conjunction point of the runway.
3.3 Reuse of by-products as geo-materials in port construction

in Japan
As port constructions are usually of a large scale, they need a large amount of construction
materials in a short time. Most of these geo-materials had been provided from virgin natural
materials until the early 1990s in Japan. On the other hand, some port constructions
produce a large amount of dredged soil. Generally dredged soils are low quality materials
for reclamation, because they contain a lot of water and are weak in shear strength. This
method of utilization is not recommended. Industrial zones have been located in port areas
in Japan, and factories such as iron-foundry plants or heat power plants in industrial zones
have produced large amounts of slag or coal ash. Japan has anticipated the utilization of
such by-products in port areas. Large amounts of by-products such as dredged soil, slag,
and coal ash which can be used for geo-materials have been produced in port areas.
However, it is usually difficult to intensively use them in their natural states, because they
are low quality materials with whose original forms have large variations in terms of
characteristics. If these materials can be changed to high quality materials with minimum
treatment, they will be intensively used for geo-materials for port construction and reduce
the use of natural resources. This kind of usage is promising for sustainability and
maintains the environment. Methods for reusing of industrial and construction by- products
have been studied in Japan. Outline of the by-products used in port construction is
presented here. And, engineering issues and state of the art of using fly ash, and iron slag
which have intensively used in port construction are introduced.
3
Offshore vibro replacement for large depths and

challenging soil conditions - Recent cases from
Europe and South America
Goran Vukotić
Keller Group
g.vukotic@keller-cimentaciones.com
1 Introduction
The use of deep vibratory methods for the improvement of the bearing capacity, reduction
of settlement and liquefaction mitigation of weak soils that are unsuitable as foundation for
offshore structures dates back over more than 50 years. During this long period of
application, a lot of experience was gained with this technology and enormous progress was
made pushing forward boundaries and limitations for its application. The continuous
development has been experienced not only regarding design methods and standards, but
also equipment to carry them out in practice.
As a result of permanent technological progress Keller Group has developed the Alpha-S
System that permits offshore vibro replacement stone column construction using the bottom
feed dry method. With this system, stone columns can be installed to large depths, with the
current record being at approx. 50 m, in challenging soil conditions. Keller´s gravel-jet,
sophisticated material feeding system, improves handling, productivity and quality control.
In the last decade, the unique features of vibro replacement performed by Alpha-S System
were used in numerous offshore and port projects in Europe and South America, in order to
facilitate the building process in complicated soil conditions and to improve the level of
safety and efficiency. In this extended abstract selected details of some of those projects
will be presented with objective to explain how vibro replacement can be used as an
integral part of the solution and to solve detailed problems. Based on these practical
examples, the basic framework for the design and execution of vibro replacement will be
outlined.
2 Alpha-S System
For the installation of longer stone columns, stones or gravel reliably need to be transported
to large depths into the seabed. This can only be achieved using a bottom-feed system. The
complete setup for the stone column operation comprises crane with vibrator string, gravel-
sender and gravel-jet, double-locked chambers and the Alpha-S vibrator.
Alpha-S System has been developed with automatic transport of the gravel to the tip of
vibrator. Keller´s hydraulic gravel-sender and gravel-jet system pumps through a 200 mm
diameter hose to the top of vibrator using high velocity water. A fully automated and
1

computerized system is used to control and monitor the transportation of stones from
gravel-jet system to the tip of vibrator.
The advantages of Alpha-S System can be listed as follows:
- Increase in length of vibrator string and hence increased achievable column length
and depth of installation.
- High productivity and efficiency.
- No need for alignment of additional auxiliary equipment for gravel supply.
- Closed system of gravel transportation minimizes the wastage of stones.
- Fully automatic transfer of gravel results in better quality control.
- GPS System on the operator´s cabin to reliably locate the compaction points under
water.
3 Reconstruction of ASMAR Shipyard Talcahuano,

Chile
ASMAR is one of the most important shipyards in Chile and in South America, located in
Concepcion Bay, Talcahuano. Due to damages caused by a strong earthquake and tsunami
of February 2010 (magnitude 8,8 Richter), reconstruction and restauration of facilities was
necessary to reestablish port and shipyard activities.
All types of structural and geotechnical pathologies including liquefaction were detected.
Soil improvement by offshore vibro replacement was adopted as a part of the global project
solution which permitted to take advantage of the existing dock/berth structure despite
observed damages, and avoid its demolition; consequently new construction activities and
costs were significantly reduced.
Almost all benefits of vibro replacement and Alpha-S System were exploited. Soil
improvement was performed up to 30,0 m below seabed, in order to increase bearing
capacity and shear strength, and to mitigate liquefaction risks of soils formed by very soft
silts and loose silty sands. According to the causes of liquefaction, its mitigation by means
of stone columns was achieved due to the superposition of following positive effects, as has
been stated by several researchers:
1) Soil densification and increase of the in-situ lateral stress (increase in CRR).
2) Reinforcement of the soil with the stiffer columns of compacted gravel (reduction of
CSR).
3) Increment of drainage of earthquake-induced excess pore water pressures from the in-
situ soils (reduction of CSR).
In total 95.000 m of stone columns were installed, 52.000 m from the existing berth
structure and 43.000 m from the barge (see Figure 1).
2
Figure 2: Stone columns performed from existing berth structure and from barge – typical
section.
Figure 2: ASMAR Shipyard – stone column installation from the barge.
3
Offshore Stone Columns to improve alluvial

soils for caissons quay wall and land fill
foundations
Pedro Gouveia da Costa1
1
Somague Engenharia, Portugal
pcosta@somague.pt
ABSTRACT
The presentation describes several alternatives considered in project of the quay and
reclamation area of the “Recinto y Atraque en el Dique del Este del Puerto de Valencia”,
which led to a solution consisting on building a mooring quay at – 16 Z.H using concrete
caissons, placed over a selected stone prism, 5 meters thick (Figure 3).
With an initial scenario based upon the geological data available two alternatives were
studied. One consisting on dredging up to -28,0 Z.H so that the sand seabed level could be
reached or another one on which the dredging works would be performed just up to -21,0
Z.H and a different solution would be considered to enhance the bearing capacity of the
existing clay layers in the seabed (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Solution found for the caisson foundation
The solution found was to execute 1 meter diameter gravel columns (from -31,0 Z.H up to -
21,0 Z.H ) with the objective of replacing 20% of the existing seabed materials, consisting
mostly of clays. The gravel columns, in general have stayed from 1,5 up to 2,0 meters
below the existing sand level at - , ,0 Z.H . Two methods used to perform this task are
mentioned with detail has well as some particular points regarding the off-shore works.
Finally the results of such a solution are presented as a consequence of the continuous
monitoring and observation of the project since the solution was implemented (Figure 3and
Figure 4).
4
Figure 4: Stone column execution method
It is also described the procedure taken to fill the reclamation area next to the quay wall,
consisting on a area of 330.000,00 m2. As all reclamation area is founded on very soft clay
layer measures had to be taken when filling with sandy/rocky material coming from the
dredging works. Inspections were continuously carried out while filling operations took
place so that materials from the seabed would not mix with the ones coming from dredgers
when repulsed by rainbow system.
Such inspections were carried out both by diver and surveyor teams, contrasting survey
data with the real situation below sea level. Conclusions were taken from data analysis and
afterwards transmitted to dredger that knew from that moment where to repulse the dredged
material on its next dredging/dumping cycle.
ith such rocedure it as ossi le to co er all the soft clay layer of the reclamation area
foundation ith a , ,00 meter sandy/rocky layer. From that on, this situation permitted
that all the reclamation area tasks could be safely carried out since the danger of mixing
existing seabed clays and competent dredged materials brought had been greatly mitigated
by the layer previously created.
Figure 5: Data screen form dredger Figure 6: Repulsing of dredged material

while repulsing
5

The remain material to fulfill the reclamation area needs, regarding filling material, was
performed with dumper trucks in a controlled way. Any uprising material was taken off by
split barge to a designated disposal area.
Neither any significant settlement nor singular phenomena related with any instability on
the reclamation area has been reported until now.
Conclusion
Soft clays and limes are difficult materials to handle with, principally when it comes to
foundation solution in marine works. Solutions may lead to scenarios both costly and
environmentally aggressive. Alternatives are possible but require carefulness and constant
monitoring during and after implementation. However, when taking the necessary measures
and procedures intended results may be achieved. The role of previous geological tests
campaign is central and absolutely critical to the success of any solution.
6
Landfill treatment in La Guaira Port, Venezuela

Nuno Figueiredo1 and Vasco Madeira2*
1
Teixeira Duarte Engenharia e Construções S.A., Porto Salvo, Portugal
2
nrf@teixeiraduarte.pt, vss@teixeiraduarte.pt
1 Abstract
The objective of this communication is to present the new Container Terminal in La Guaira
Port, more precisely to describe the procedure used in the landfill treatment to improve the
load capacity of the soil. The structure of the pier is composed by a concrete platform
supported by piles with an extension of 693m. Since the area where containers are moved
and parked consists of a hydraulic landfill situated on a seismic zone, it was necessary to
define what kind of treatment would me more suitable to overcome the possibility of a
liquefaction phenomenon. Since the embankment was made with sandy soils the chosen
procedure was vibroflotation.
2 Introduction
The Port of La Guaira is situated in the central coast of Venezuela, north of the capital
Caracas. This infrastructure has a water level protected by a breakwater 1.300m long and
several piers. In operational terms it is characterized by fractional general cargo and
containers movements in the North Quay, with strong operating constraints resulting from
the embankment with only 50m wide.
To improve the port performance the national state-owned company that manages the Port
– Bolipuertos – signed a contract with the Portuguese company Teixeira Duarte in EPC
mode (Engineering – Procurement – Construction). The contract established under the
Portugal –Venezuela Agreement included:
1. Execution of a pier;
2. Container Park (rehabilitation and area conquered to the sea);
3. Port equi ment (STS’s and RTG’s);
4. Administrative buildings;
5. Complete formation in all port operations, from the vessel arrival to the
shipment of goods (intern or extern exportation);
7
Figure 7: New Container Terminal in La Guaira Port

1
Corresponding author. Email: vss@teixeiraduarte.pt
The geometry of the pier consists of modules of 60m length, each one formed by 8
transverse alignments distanced 7.50m. Each transverse alignment is supported by 5
concrete piles with 1.20m diameter. The transverse alignments are connected by beams of
1.70m high and 1.30m wide.
2.1 Soil Treatment

The expansion and modernization project of the new container terminal was made with an
hydraulic landfill conquered to the sea. To achieve this it was necessary to materialize two
marginal retentions (West-East) and a frontal prism, longitudinal to the pier building,
retaining the embankment. It becomes important to refer that this hydraulic landfill was
materialized through the existing sandy soils dredged in the area of the Port of La Guaira.
This led to an increase of the port draft (-15.20) thereby allowing access to Post-Panamax
vessels.
The project was developed along with the Contractor in order to provide a solution
in ol ing a com ination of recast and concreted “in situ” elements in order to ena le the
advancing of the pier, from East to West.Through this process it was possible to materialize
the hydraulic embankment in stages and hence the treatment of the soil, thus ensuring the
necessary conditions for the implementation of service networks and paving the treated
area.
8
Figure 8: New Container Terminal in La Figure 9: Execution of vibroflotation

Guaira Port
The chosen solution to carry out the treatment of the landfill was vibroflotation, given the
existing conditions and materials (in the materialization of the landfill were used 1.1
million m3 of sand). Thus, after the execution of part of the landfill several tests were
performed since it was necessary to determine the characteristics and depths of treatment,
including the mesh, the up speed of the equipment and the treatment time per level. It is
important to refer that SPT and CPTU tests were performed as well as particle size analysis
and plate bearing tests. These were made prior and during the treatment in order to control
the improvement process of vibroflotation.
This treatment led to an average increase in relative density. It is important to refer that
were introduced 8650m3 of additional material (sand and stone aggregates).
In the i roflotation ere used three cranes ith four “needles” in continuous ork
24h/24h, 6 days a week.
3 Conclusion
The need for landfill treatment depends both on the type of use and the risk of liquefaction.
The choice of the treatment (replacement soils, preload deep vibration, dynamic
compaction, drain installation or rigid structures) will have to take into account several
factors:
1. Nature of soil to be treated;
2. Desired improvement;
3. Deadline of achieving the results;
4. Cost/Benefit analysis of the each kind of treatment;
5. Local conditions for execution.
9
Engineering, Procurement and Construction of

the Jetty for the Marine Operations Support
Dock in Soyo, Angola
Francisco Caimoto1* and Duarte Nobre2
1
2
fcc@teixeiraduarte.pt, dn@teixeiraduarte.pt
1 Introduction
The Jetty was built in the natural gas processing plant of Angola LNG in Soyo, province of
Zaire do Norte, in Angola. It is located at Diogo Cão Bay, in the end of Congo River, one
of the largest rivers in the world, which limits the border between Angola and the
Democratic Republic of Congo, 500 km north of Luanda.
Located inside the MOSD - Marine Operations Support Dock complex to support marine
operations related with gas transportation, it was built 294m long and 8.1m wide,
perpendicular to the existing quay. It has capacity for the mooring of several vessels,
namely large Svitzer tugboats.
Teixeira Duarte, Engenharia e Construções S.A., was the company responsible for this
project in E P C scheme. As this was a job of an urgent nature it was necessary to develop a
construction method that would simultaneously comply with the tender base project and
with the required execution period of 18 months.
2 Structural Solution and Geology

The Jetty is made of a structure with a reinforced concrete deck with 55 spans of 5.325m,
supported by 29m deep metal piles driven by vibration, filled with sand and a concrete plug
on the top to materialize the connection to the deck, (Figure1). The structure was designed
in modules, so that its application would be easy and fast, thus avoiding the restrains
imposed by the tide level.
Figure 1: Jetty overview.
10
Figure 2: Jetty longitudinal section and geological layers.

1
Corresponding author. Email: fcc@teixeiraduarte.pt
Recent formations were identified from the Holocene and Pleistocene (Miocene) periods,
composed of medium to fine sands, sometimes coarse, very muddy in the most superficial
layers and sometimes clayey in the underlying layers, characterized by a gradual increase of
the compactness (Figure 2).
3 Constructive Solution
The geotechnical details noticed by the initial and complementary surveys and the poor
accessibilities, inherent to the worksite, imposed the development and detailed definition of
the whole constructive process of the job, long before the starting of its execution.
The adopted constructive solution consisted in the use of a 50m long and 8m wide
provisory metal jetty, which gave support to the final jetty construction in reinforced
concrete. The provisory jetty allowed the creation of several work fronts, always with a
privileged connection to the land, thus facilitating the simultaneous performance of all fixed
jetty execution stages (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Jetty under construction. Stg.1 - Pile driving. Stg.2 - Temporary jetty movement. Stg.3
- Precast assembly. Stg.4 – Cantilever system. Stg.5 – Fenders assembly with a tower crane on
tracks.
4 Final Considerations
The genesis of the construction and the available resources were closely linked to the
constructive solutions developed during the project stage and later on, during its execution.
Always resorting to trial runs and tests carried out on site.
11
The idea of a temporary metal jetty combined with a reinforced concrete precast modular
cantilevered system allowed the work execution above the tide level, as well as to achieve
the required efficiency rates, always working on unquestionable safety and quality levels
(Figure 4).
Figure 4: General overview of the works in the final stage.
12
On the conception, design and contracting of

important port infrastructures- Some examples
José Manuel Cerejeira, Civil Engineer,
PROMAN, S.A., Lisbon, Portugal
jose.cerejeira@proman.pt
1 Abstract
During the 1970s and the early 1980s, several ship repair yards sprang up in the
Mediterranean area (Spain, France, Italy and Malta) and in the Arabian Gulf (Bahrain,
Saudi Arabia, Iran and Dubai), chiefly to take advantage of their location at the end of
shi s’ return journey ith allast from all routes assing the main source of the orld oil
supply. Similar initiatives were implemented in Latin America (Ecuador, Venezuela and
Brazil) and in Africa.
Portuguese engineering1 played a major role in carrying out preliminary studies, designs
and the supervision of the construction of the largest shipyards undertaken in the world at
that time, notably: Lisnave at Margueira, in Almada and Setenave at Mitrena, in Setúbal,
both in Portugal; Astilleros Españoles in Cadiz, Spain; ASRY, the Arab Shipbuilding and
Repair Yard, in Bahrain; and JSRY, the Jeddah Shipbuilding and Repair Yard in Saudi
Arabia.
A shipyard built from scratch is undoubtedly a venture in which marine works are
preponderant and may account for 65% of the total cost, thereby justifying the need for
sound experience in the design of these works in order to achieve their better adaptation to
natural – generally extremely adverse – conditions. A shipyard generally requires all types
of marine works (protection and sheltering works, dredging and fills, drydocks, quays,
jetties and dolphins) and complex geotechnica
l works (soil treatment and consolidation, cofferdams and lowering the water table).
The launch of a venture of this kind, and other port infrastructures, is thus always a great
challenge to the creativity of the designer in his quest for construction solutions that not
only meet demanding operational, environmental and safety requirements but also optimize
construction costs and periods.
The Eurocode 7 (EC7) classifies geotechnical structures into three groups according to their
complexity, experience, geotechnical information and the risk of damage. In turn, the
Portuguese legislation on the development of public works projects (ordinance 701-H/2008
of 29 July) classifies port works in four categories (I to IV) according to the degree of
difficulty of design and the complexity of the project. Dry docks and locks belong to the
1
Initially in the form of PROFABRIL and then PROMAN since the 1980s
13

category IV and other port infrastructure to category III. On the other hand, EC7 gives them
the highest classification.
The conception, design and contracting of the most important port infrastructures requires
special care from all stakeholders and some cases, based on the long and diverse experience
of the author, will be described in the presentation.
2 Conception and Design

It is generally in the initial phase of a project, when the location and the conceptual design
of works are studied, that there is opportunity to achieve major economies, or, conversely,
avoid heavy losses. With the selection of the basic engineering solution, the functional
features and the general arrangement of the facilities are established. The physical
characteristics of the site location and the proposed civil and infrastructure works are
established, forming the basis of investment costs and operating costs.
The next phase of the basic design, in which the works and equipment are defined
quantitatively and qualitatively, also offers the opportunity to assess and benchmark
findings of the previous phase, refining the functional requirements of the project and
adaptation to local physical conditions. For this purpose, it is essential to completely
characterize local conditions (topographical, geological and geotechnical surveys, etc.) in
the study and design phases. If the works and equipment are well conceived and designed,
the costs of the following stages will be more strictly controlled.
While in the initial study and design phase, costs are still relatively small, they significantly
increase in the construction phase, when shortcomings in localization, conception and
design are always difficult and sometimes impossible to overcome in terms of cost and
time.
All too often, the responsible entities reduce the initial investments (in studies and designs),
despite being comparatively small, though admittedly time-consuming. This can create
major difficulties and setbacks in the later stages, or even compromise the viability of the
project.
The above applies to works of any nature. In the specific case of port facilities, it gains
special relevance, since the always expensive works are usually located in areas where
conditions are very complex and require research, specialized studies and design by
experienced personnel and, of course, time. Often they are located in estuaries of rivers
where the geotechnical conditions are not very favourable for the deployment of heavy
structures and the creation of large areas subjected to the high loads and tight deformability
requirements required of modern port facilities. The structural design of works is
particularly difficult due to the need for special structures and adequate soil treatment
techniques.
14

For example, the cost of a drydock may represent about 35% or more of the total cost of
building a shipyard. The cost of building a dry dock with a drained bottom slab, can be 20
to 30% lower than a dry dock with an anchored bottom slab.
To highlight the importance of conception studies of this type of works, and also the
verification by an independent checker, the cases of several shipyards and port
infrastructures, with very different local conditions, will be described in the presentation.
3 Contracting Procedure
One of two forms of contract is usually adopted:
- A traditional design and construction contract involve a three-party arrangement
between the Owner, the Engineer and the Contractor. The Owner enters into an
agreement with the Engineer to prepare the design of the works and another
with the Contractor to carry out the construction of the works according to the
design produced by the Engineer and approved by the Owner. The Owner thus
warrants the sufficiency of the design and assumes any liability for defects
before the Contractor. The Owner may find it convenient to engage an
independent professional adviser to check the design produced by the Engineer.
The Contractor is then responsible for defective construction and workmanship,
but is free from any liability for design defects. The Engineer, while responsible
for design, does not assume any liability for defective construction. The Owner
enters also into an agreement with the Engineer or another independent
professional to supervise the construction of the works.
- In a design and build contract the Owner enters into a single agreement with the
Contractor who will perform both the design and construction. The Contractor´s
o jecti e is to satisfy the O ner’s road roject o jecti es and requirements
rather than to adhere rigidly to the Engineer´s design plans and specifications.
As well as being responsible for faulty workmanship in construction, the
Contractor is also liable for any deficiencies in the design. The design and build
Contractor may be composed of a joint venture of a contractor and an engineer,
or the former engages the latter as sub-consultant. Either way, the Owner is
looking to the Contractor for the full package of design and construction.
To highlight the advantages and disadvantages of these two procedures, the contracting and
construction of several shipyards and port facilities projects will be described in the
presentation.
4 Final Remarks
While in the pre implementation phase of an important port infrastructure, comprising the
initial studies and designs, the costs are relatively small, they increase significantly in the
construction phase. To reduce initial investment, despite being comparatively small,
although admittedly time consuming, can create major difficulties and setbacks in the later
stages, or even compromise the viability of the project. An efficient pre implementation
phase is fundamental for the success of the project in either a traditional and construction
15

contract or a design and build contract.
Design and build contracts without such pre implementation phase, especially those which
do not the operation of facilities by the Contractor, can involve high risks of failure, either
in terms of quality, to the extent that cost reduction may reduce the useful life of the
infrastructure, thus compromising the viability of the project, or in terms required to satisfy
the Owner´s project objectives.
16
Sea waves and seabed interaction. Partial

fluidification of breakwaters foundations
Alexandre Santos Ferreira12, Cláudia Santos2 and Mónica Cabral2
1
DGRM, Lisboa, Portugal
2
Engineering Geologist, Lisboa, Portugal
asantos.ferreira1954@gmail.com, csns.mail@gmail.com, mokinacabral@gmail.com
1 Introduction
The north breakwater of Nazaré harbor, Portugal, was subject to rehabilitation works to
reconstruct the structure’s rotation head and art of the trunk, hich ere se erely
damaged during the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 winter storms (Santos Ferreira et al, 2015).
It as assumed for the reha ilitation design that the structure’s deterioration was due to the
wave action on the breakwater blocks, 40 ton tetrapods and 5-12 ton rock blocks, and to
their consequent breaking and, or removal from the rotation head.
The original design, from 1980, considered that the maximum possible wave that could
occur in the breakwater area was 7m based on the theoretical transformation of the wave
towards the coast; there is evidence that, during the referred storms, the wave attacking the
breakwater reached 9m high.
2 The original design of the breakwater

Since 1920, several studies and designs have been presented to build a harbor in Nazaré.
Almost all the solutions considered the construction of breakwaters in the sea, usually
occu ying a art of today’s Nazaré each. None of these first studies considered the
dredging, inside the shoreline, of the harbor basins. Originally, the river was parallel to the
shoreline and a 90º turn (perpendicular to the shoreline) linked it to its small estuary where
it ends (Figure 1a). The concept, when in the late years of 1970 was finally decided to build
the harbor, was to use the area between the river and the shoreline, to dredge the basins, and
to create the necessary earthfills. The river would finish inside the har or’s asin, ut
keeping it separated (Figure 1b).
2
Corresponding author. Email: asantos.ferreira1954@gmail.com
17
Figure 10: a) Ri er and coast efore the har or’s construction; ) Design solution; c) Final
layout, with the new river estuary; d) Geotechnical cross section along the new estuary of the river,
perpendicular to the shoreline.
Several studies of sediment transport along the coast were carried out, and the conclusion
was that the onshore transport would not have a significant influence on the sediment
deposition on the harbor and its entrance.
Ne ertheless, during the har or’s construction, it ecame clear that the sediment carried y
the river would deposit in the harbor entrance and navigation canal, due to the wider flow
section and to the reduction of velocities, and so the decision to change the river estuary.
To support the design, a dense boring survey was carried out. It showed that the formations
in the harbor area are, from down up, sandstones and clays, sandy or sandy mud layers,
clays, sands and superficial deposits. From the interior to the seashore, the depth of the
sandstone and clay top increases, as well as the thickness of the sandy muds. Beach sand
was found only in a small area, as the survey was not extended to the beach itself. Figure 1d
shows the geotechnical cross section 4, along the new estuary of the river, perpendicular to
the shoreline.
As a consequence, the final layout adopted is presented in Figure 1c. The north breakwater
roundhead was protected with two layers of 40 ton tetrapods taking into account the
significant wave of 7m defined as stated above.
18
3 The destruction of the breakwater and its

reconstruction
As stated above, the breakwater was heavily damaged during the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014
winter storms. The reconstruction design considered the actual structure’s destruction y
the occurred 9m waves, which removed the protection tetrapods, as they were dimensioned
for a 7m wave. The tetrapods in the rotation head were then replaced by 50 ton antifer
blocks. During the reconstruction works, it was observed that only four rock blocks and
three tetra ods ere out of the head’s area. It as also erified all the locks sunk into its
sandy foundation soil in an imbricated way. This pointed out the need of a reevaluation of
the reak ater’s ru ture mechanism.
4 Proposed monitoring of the breakwater

The afterward rupture mechanism analysis suggested the probable rupture cause was a
partial liquefaction of the foundation sands resultant of the cyclic pore water pressure
increase due to the high waves. This mechanism has been studied by some authors, like
(Tsui and Helfrich, 1983), (de Groot, et al., 2006) or (Schlütter, et al., 1996). Given the
fluidification of foundation soils is not in accordance with the considerations of the new
design, it was then decided to monitor the breakwater as schematised in Figure 2. A profile
of waterpressure cells is installed 5m in front of the rotation head, as well as an accoustic
wave profiler. Measurements are registered every second from all devices, duly
synchronized. In the breakwater core three water pressure cells are installed in two profiles,
so the horizontal and vertical gradients can be analyzed; these devices are also registered
every second.
Figure 2: Instrumentation considered.
References
de Groot, M.B., et al. (2006, 132(4)). Physics of Liquefaction Phenomena around Marine
Structures. J. Waterway, Port, Coastal, Ocean Eng., pp. 227-243.
Santos Ferreira, A., Cabral, M., & Santos, C. (2015). The rehabilitation of north breakwater
of Nazaré harbor, Portugal. 8th International Conference on Asia and Pacific
Coasts, APAC 2015 (pp. 755–762). Chennai, India: Procedia Engineering 116.
19

Schlütter, F., et al. (1996). Flow in and on the Zeebrugge breakwater: a comparision
between prototype measurements and physical model tests. 2nd Intern. Conference
on Coastal, Ports and Marine Structures, ICOPMAS, (p. 14). Tehran.
Tsui, Y., & Helfrich, S. C. (1983, 109(4)). Wave-Induced Pore Pressures in Submerged
Sand Layer. J. Geotech. Engrg., pp. 603-618.
20
Coastal geoscience mapping for harbour

geotechnics: implications in maritime
environments
Ana Pires13and Helder I. Chaminé1
1
Laboratory of Cartography and Applied Geology (LABCARGA), School of
Engineering (ISEP), Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal; and Centre GeoBioTec|UA.
1 Coastal geoscience mapping: an overview

In general this work presents the role of the coastal geoengineering cluster and also
develops an integrated coastal geoscience approach which is intrinsically linked to maritime
environments. This study also shows the importance of a holistic perspective and
methodological approach in urban coastal areas (e.g., Chaminé et al. 2016; Pires et al.
2016). One of the fields is the so-called coastal geoscience mapping for harbour
geotechnics and the implications in maritime environments (e.g., Pires and Chaminé 2007;
Santos-Ferreira et al. 2014; Pires et al. 2014, 2016; and references therein). Hence, it is
essential to diagnose the geomaterials/blocks in situ concerning their
degradation/deterioration level on the basis of the current status of the coastal protection
structure (e.g., CIRIA et al. 2007; Pires et al. 2014, 2016; and references therein) in order to
facilitate more efficient monitoring and maintenance, with economic benefits (Figure 1a to
1c). The coastal integrated system linked six stages allowing the production of detailed
maps of the maritime environment: (i) high-resolution aerial imagery surveys; (ii) visual
inspection and systematic monitoring; (iii) applied field datasheets; (iv) in situ evaluation;
(v) field scanline surveys; and (vi) GIS mapping.
2 Coastal geoengineering features: implications in

maritime environments
The model presented in Figure 1d shows the shoreline system and the littoral zone in an
extremely simplified form. This is the ultimate and idealised model exposing different types
of coastal contexts. This theoretical model embraces various factors, parameters, forcing
conditions, several contexts and different areas of research. The shoreline system
approaches all sorts of environments and forcing conditions, factors and even the
constraints. It is possible to visualise rocky and sandy coasts, cliffs, shore platforms, coastal
boulders and hydraulic structures (mixed environments) (for further details see: Pérez-
Alberti et al. 2013; Pires et al. 2014, 2016). Moreover the rock quarrying source is
represented, as well as the networking route (transport operation) from the extraction
3
Corresponding author: anapires.co@gmail.com
21

location to the construction site. Likewise it is possible to see the social perspective such as
the fishing communities and activities. Being the shoreline, a dynamic system of moving
sediment is involved, most of which is supplied by rivers; the river processes are also
characterised here, bringing erosional debris from the continent and erosion of sea cliffs by
wave action.
3 Insights about coastal geoscience mapping for harbour

geotechnics
- GIS coastal mapping and modelling techniques reinforce geo-monitoring coastal
plans. Moreover, the integrated approach applies different concepts to assess quality
indicators for material armour layer and structure types.
- The coastal zone is a dynamic environment with a history of change and which will
continue to change in the future. Consequently it was important to understand the
importance of coastal systems and processes involved. In fact, the relationship
between all the processes, elements and forcing conditions allowed the production of
several thematic geoengineering maps, as well as a better understanding of the coastal
morphodynamics.
- The application of regional coastal geoscience maps and local approaches outputs
could help the government, local authorities and stakeholders to develop coastal
management plans and to recommend strategies. With such data, it is possible to
propose or recommend strategies for coastal and shoreline management based on
several justifications in terms of social, economic, and environmental questions, or
even provide a GIS-based planning support system reinforced by geo-cartographic
decisions.
- The proposed integrated coastal geoengineering methodology is valid for any type of
coast or maritime environment: i) GIS mapping encouraged an interdisciplinary
framework and showed an innovative sequence of techniques, equipment and efficient
approach to easily assessing maritime environments; ii) The strength lies in coupling
GIS applications with photogrammetric techniques in order to create applied
cartography and thematic maps. The output maps are used in hydraulic structures.
- Finally, all of these thematic areas are crucial to propose conceptual models and to
shape the future of integrated coastal geoengineering management and harbour
geotechnics field.
22
Figure 11: The coastal geoscience mapping and several applications in maritime environments: (a) to (c) Example
of possible outputs in terms of the current status of the maritime structure (geomaterials/blocks characterisation or
degradation/deterioration level evaluation (images adapted from Pires et al. 2016); (d) Holistic conceptual model
proposal and the coastal geoengineering outlook.
References
Chaminé H.I., Teixeira J., Freitas L., Pires A., Silva R.S., Pinho T., Monteiro R., Costa A.L., Abreu
T., Trigo J.F., Afonso M.J. & Carvalho J.M. (2016). From engineering geosciences mapping
towards sustainable urban planning. European Geologist, Journal of the European Federation of
Geologists, 41:16-25.
CIRIA, CUR & CETMEF (2007). The rock manual: the use of rock in hydraulic engineering. 2nd
Edition, C683, CIRIA - Centre for Civil Engineering Research, London, UK, 1200 p.
Pires A. & Chaminé H.I. (2007). Geotechnical mapping evaluation of rock groynes in Espinho area
(NW Portugal). In: Proceedings of the 11th ISRM – International Society for Rock Mechanics,
Lisbon. Taylor & Francis Group, p. 307-310.
Pires A., Chaminé H.I., Piqueiro F. & Rocha F. (2014). Coastal geo-engineering techniques for the
assessment of rock armour structures. Marine Georesources & Geotechnology, 32 (2): 155-178.
Pires A., Chaminé H.I., Piqueiro F., Pérez-Alberti A. & Rocha F. (2016). Combining coastal
geoscience mapping and photogrammetric surveying in maritime environments (Northwestern
Iberian Peninsula): focus on methodology. Environmental Earth Sciences, 75:196 (17 p).
Pérez-Alberti A., Pires A., Freitas L. & Chaminé H.I. (2013). Shoreline change mapping along the
coast of Galicia (NW Spain). Maritime Engineering – Proceedings of the Institution of Civil
Engineers, 166(3):125-144.
Santos-Ferreira A., Silva A.P. & Dias E. (2014). Harbour geotechnics: the case of the Portuguese
small harbours. In: Proceedings of the Application of Nanotechnology in Pavements, Geological
Disasters, and Foundation Settlement Control Technology, GSP 244, ASCE, p. 78-85.
23
Seismic Design of Port Facilities in Japan

Eiji Kohama14
1
Port and Airport Research Institute, Yokosuka, Japan
kohama-e83ab@pari.go.jp
1 Earthquake Damage and Progress in Seismic Design

Seismic behavior of port structures which have been damaged during past large earthquakes
in Japan was clarified by attentive investigation and further research on those experiences.
As analysis techniques to predict seismic behavior and damage have been examined on the
basis of results of those, earthquake-resistant technology of the port structures have been
developing with reflecting the research outcome to design method and the technical
standards.
1964 Niigata earthquake made liquefaction phenomena of sand ground widely known;
apartment buildings fell down with liquefaction of ground and movie of sand boiling was
filmed at Niigata Airport which was seriously affected by the earthquake. After this
earthquake, mechanism of liquefaction was widely studied and Liquefaction prediction
method using particle size distribution and N value was established in 1970.
In 1968 Tokachi-oki earthquake, seismic ground motion records were observed in some
ports by strong-motion earthquake observation in Japanese ports. Arranging the seismic
motion records with collected damage information of port structures, relational expression
of horizontal design seismic coefficient to maximum acceleration was accomplished for
seismic coefficient method of quay wall structures in 1975. In addition, the seismic motion
record of larger than 200Gal in amplitude was observed in Hachinohe Port during the
earthquake, and it has been utilized in many researches and actual structure designs.
Significant damage of many kinds of structures during 1995 Hyogoken-nanbu earthquake
greatly affected subsequent seismic design of those. Performance-based design taking into
account seismic deformation of facilities was introduced to design standards of port
structures since it is difficult not to allow any deformation for all facilities under huge
seismic excitation such as the Hyogoken-nanbu earthquake. Therefore, in design of high-
earthquake resistance quay walls as important facilities, it was decided to employ numerical
analysis by effective stress finite element method to handle liquefaction phenomena of
ground. Assuming two levels of ground motions, acceleration time history of the Level 2
ground motion have been utilized in design of high-earthquake resistance wharfs. Further
study has been conducted on evaluation of seismic ground motion and it is achieved to
introduce seismic ground motion considering source, propagation path, and site
amplification in revision of the technical standards in 2007.
4
Corresponding author. Email: kohama-83ab@pari.go.jp
24
2 Current Seismic Design of Quay Walls

2.1 Design Ground Motions
In General, strong ground motions are determined by three effects, namely, the source
effect, the path effect and the site effect. The source effect is defined as the effect of the
rupture process of the earthquake. The path effect is defined as the effect of the materials
along the propagation path from the source to the bedrock beneath the site. The site effect is
defined as the effect of sediments below the site down to the bedrock. The bedrock is
defined as a layer with a shear wave velocity over 3000 m/s in this design standard (In
many cases it corresponds to fresh granite in Japan). As shown in Figure 1, existence of
sediments below the site has significant effects on the amplitude, the frequency content and
the duration of strong ground motions.
The Level 1 ground motion is defined as a ground motion with high probability of
occurrence at the site during the design working life and is determined appropriately as a
stochastic time history based on the results of earthquake observation. The Level 2 ground
motion is defined as the largest ground motion among ground motions at the site from
scenario earthquakes and is determined appropriately as a time history based on results of
earthquake observation and source parameters of the scenario earthquake.
Figure 1: The topography around the Port of Sakai, west Japan (left) and the velocity waveforms
for the fault-normal component recorded around the port during the 2000 Tottori-ken Seibu
earthquake (MJ7.3).
2.2 Earthquake Resistant Design of Quay Walls

For the Level 1 ground motion, ordinary functions of quay walls shall be maintained. For
gravity type quay walls, three failure modes, namely, the sliding of the quay wall, the
overturning of the quay wall and the lack of bearing capacity of the underlying ground,
should not occur against seismic coefficient of the level 1 ground motion, comparing loads
including seismic load to resistance for each mode.
Performance verification of gravity type quay walls for the L1 ground motion is carried out
with a pseudo static approach. The procedure for evaluating the seismic coefficient can be
described as Figure 2. The seismic coefficient is evaluated considering seismic response
properties of the ground and the structure, duration time of ground motion, and allowable
horizontal residual displacement.
25
Figure 2: Procedure for the evaluation of seismic coefficient
In the case of a high seismic resistant quay wall, only a slight restoration work is allowable
after the L2 earthquake. The performance of seismic-resistant quay walls of gravity type for
the L2 ground motion is most typically evaluated with a two-dimensional effective-stress
finite element analysis. In the performance verification of port facilities, the decrease of
effective stress in the ground due to the excess pore water pressure is not negligible in cases
of L2 earthquakes. The decrease of effective stress leads to a change in the stress-strain
relation and the damping characteristics of the soil. To evaluate the residual deformation of
a quay wall, it is necessary to employ a nonlinear constitutive model for stress-strain
relation of soil.
References
Ports and Harbours Bureau, Ministry o Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
(2009). Technical standards and commentaries for port and harbour facilities in
Japan. The Overseas Coastal Area Development Institute of Japan.
26
Punta Langosteira Harbour– A Coruña (Spain)

Fernando José Noya Arquero1, Victoria Bajo Gonzalez1, Juan
Diego Pérez Freire1 and Enrique Maciñeira Alonso1
1
Autoridad Portuaria de A Coruña, A Coruña, España
fnoya@puertocoruna.com, vbajo@puertocoruna.com, jdperez@puertocoruna.com,
emacine@puertocoruna.com
1 Introduction
During the last two decades, the Port Authority of A Coruña has developed an enormous
work of design and construction to expand its facilities and develop a new basin. This port
is located in the north coast of Spain, exposed to the harshest design conditions,
Hs[m]=15.1 and Tp[yr]=140.
The new outer harbour of A Coruña is the result of an exhaustive multidisciplinary project
in order to solve the problems existing in the current port of A Coruña, which can be
summarized as depletion of space, with no capacity of enlargement and the physical and
environmental risks associated with the handling and storage of certain dry and liquid
bulks, exacerbated by the proximity to the city.
The works were awarded to the joint venture composed of DRAGADOS, SATO, COPASA
and FPS, and began on March 11, 2005 with a term of 78 months, so its completion was
originally planned for September 11, 2011. Finally and after the granting of an extension
due to the delays caused by two storms (Becky and Quirin in November 2010 and February
2011), the works were completed on 28 December 2011. The Port sheltering was completed
during the years 2013 and 2014 by the Port Authority of A Coruña, developing the design
of the secondary breakwater of the port. The works are under construction, with the
completion planned in 2016.
2 Description of the project

This ambitious project involved the construction of a rubble-mound breakwater as the most
significant element. The breakwater is approximately 3,400 m long, with variable depth in
its development, reaching 40 m in some sections, protected with blocks of 150 t, and
crowned with a shoulder elevation of +25 m and is topped with a sloping nose composed of
high-density blocks of 178 and 195 t.
The work is completed with a spur breakwater of 390 m length, which will on its inner side
also serve as moorings for oil tankers and a sloping breakwater 215 m long. The new port
design is completed by a dock for solid bulk cargo, 900 m long and 22 m depth.
27

The basin thus formed will have an area of 230 ha of sheltered water and have 150 ha of
wharves, of which 91 will be reclaimed land.
The new port is operating since summer 2012 and has reached a movement of more than
700,000 t in 2015.
Since that date various works are still taking place, emphasizing the ratings and the
construction of warehouses by contractors:
Secondary Breakwater: 1,300 m long, this breakwater in slope protected on the outside by
a monolayer of cubipods 25t on trunk and 30t in jog and a double layer of 45t cubipods at
the head breakwater.
Gallery for pipes: it consists of a structure of reinforced concrete spandrel on two parallel
alignments of pillars that emerge from a foundation based on way of the breakwater, in
order to protect connecting pipelines from the berths of liquid bulks along the breakwater of
new installations.
3 Project of auscultation and monitoring of breakwater

The Port Authority of A Coruña has been performing a number of periodic measurements
on a leveling established net in order to monitor the possible movements of the main
structures that make up the new port.
In the specific case of the breakwater, it is worth stressing the movements detected after
strong storms of waves that occurred during January and February 2014, reaching record
seats and movements of up to 18 cm.
The studies conducted on this issue indicate that the observed movements of the crown wall
are only explained by the high expected deformability of a breakwater's body of these
magnitudes, although it cannot be ruled out that it has been slightly influenced by any
eventual reduction of a coefficient of global security in situations of rough weather or a
possible migration of fines.
In order to refine the preliminary results obtained, a campaign has been designed with the
aim of characterizing the real geotechnical parameters of the breakwater and the loads
produced by incident waves and overrides on structures located at the coronation of the
same; by monitoring the behavior of the reactions of the breakwater about actions that will
be submitted in real working conditions, which will constitute an essay to scale 1:1.
The final objective of the research will allow to model the real conditions of work of
breakwater, to predict its behaviour, to assess real safety coefficients of the current
breakwater and its evolution to the useful lifelong of the structure.
28
4 Acknowledgements
It is only fair to add that EPTISA and ICEACSA companies have collaborated with APAC,
both in design and control of execution of the works at Punta Langosteira.
Figure 12: New outer harbour, October 2010
29
Stability of submerged clay masses. A case

study in a port.
António Campos e Matos15and Ana Luísa Ramos2
1
University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
2
University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
acmatos@geg.pt, aramos@geg.pt
1 Introduction
The study of the stability of submerged clayey mass is one of the concerns of marine
geotechnical engineering.
The case study analyzed in this ork resents the ru ture of the ier’s latform of “Porto de
Leixões”, –Dock 2, North Pier Wall - verified in 1975 over 300m. The main purpose of
this study is to analyze its causes according with the results of the boreholes and
laboratorial and in situ tests carried out, as well as, the different methodologies and
resources used in the first study (1989) and in the work currently developed.
2 Developed Work
Some natural sedimentary deposits present enough deformation to, in case of unfavorable
inclination of the rigid inferior support, suffered displacements due to the existence of yield
stresses in the contact of the firm rock stratum. In the analysis developed in 1989, it was
studied the cinematic method (ex: Bisho Method), hich de ends, mainly, of the slo e’s
geometry and the materials delimited by the slip curve chosen. However, this method is not
sensible to decompression situations of the backfill (Figure 13). In fact, these methods
could conduct to incorrect e aluations of the slo e’s safety since the existence of an
inclined surface of the rock stratum is rather unfavora le to the slo e’s sta ility and this
situation isn’t detected y the cinematic methods (Figure 14). Thus, the Bisho ’s method
was used, in the first place, to quantify sliding safety for a circular sliding curve and the
Non eiller’s method as used to determine an ar itrary sliding cur e.
5
António Campos e Matos. Email: acmatos@geg.pt
30
Figure 14: Low influenced of rock stratum

Figure 13: Decompression scheme destabilization in the safety coefficient a lying the Bisho ’s
method
The finite element method was also studied to obtain a good approximation of real stress
field following a certain surface. In this case, the chosen curves did not correspond
necessarily to minimum safety coefficient. In fact, according with the slip curve defined
ith the Bisho ’s method, the coefficient factor as calculated a lying the finite elements
method. The values obtained presented significant differences and were influenced by the
firm stratum dip.
The main purpose of the work currently developed is compare the results obtained of the
slo e’s sta ility, considering the use of commercial software – Slide and Plaxis. The Slide
software is based on the cinematic method and, although determine expeditiously the
minimum safety factor (and the respective failure surface) applying different methods (ex.
Bishop, Janbu, Spencer, etc.), does not take into to account the elastic-plastic
displacements. By the other side, the software Plaxis calculates the safety factor applying
the phi-c reduction method and depends, besides the strength parameters, of the
deformability parameters. In fact, this method reduces the strength parameters (cohesion
and friction angle), and the safety factor ( Msf) is determined considering the relation
between the tan ' input and tan ’reduced, hich is equal to the relation et een c’ input and c’
reduced.
The value and the slip curve obtained should be compared with results presented by the
Slide software. Throughout the study, two sections (one is representative of the accident
that occurred in 1975 - S5 - and the other present a different geometry and different
strength parameters - S3) were defined in order to determine the minimum safety
coefficient (Figure 15). Thus, the minimum value of the undrained shear strength that could
lead to the rupture (equal to 24kPa) and a relation between the safety factor and the
undrained shear strength was also established.
31
Section S3 Section S5
Figure 15: Geometric differences between the sections S3 an S5
The results obtained in the software Plaxis and Slide are presented in the followings
figures:
SFPlaxis=1.784 SFPlaxis=1.545
10
1.684
96.00 kN/m2
W
0
-10
-20
SFSlide=1.684 SFSlide=1.207
-30
-30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Section S3 Section S5
Figure 16: Slip curve defined by Plaxis and Slide
3 Conclusions and Future work

The results obtained allow compare the values between the different modeling carried out
in Plaxis and Slide and the conclusions obtained in the study developed in 1989. According
with the results presented in this document, the safety factor is rather influenced by the
thickness and the undrained shear behavior of the clay. The software Plaxis and Slide do
not present exactly the same results but their values are not widely dispersed. The
exca ation of the clayed mass in the slo e’s face is currently studied, as ell as, its
influence in the safety factor in a long-term analysis.
32
References
Muro Cais Norte – Doca nº 2 – Reconhecimento Geotécnico – Proc: 010/171/89
Matos A. C. e Quintanilha J.E. (1993) A landslide case damaging a quay wall pile structure.
ISSMFE:International Symposium on Limit State Design in Geotechnical Engineering –
Copenhagen, Dennmark.
Bishop W. (1955). The use of the circle in the stability analysis of slopes. Géotechnique.
March.
Nonveiller, E (1965). The stability analysis of slopes with a slip surface of general shape.
Comptes rendus du 6e congrès internationale. Tome 2. Montreal
33
Author index
Alonso. Enrique Macineira 38

Arquero, Fernando José Noya 38
Cabral,Mónica 28
Caimoto, Francisco 21
Cerejeira, José Manuel G. 24
Chaminé, Helder L. 29
Costa, Pedro 15
Ferreira, Alexandre Santos 28
Figueiredo, Nuno 18
Freire, Juna Diego Peres 38
Gonzáles, Vitoria Bajo 38
Kikuchi, Yoshiaki 9
Kohama, Eiji 35
Matos, António Campors 41
Madeira, Vasco 18
Nobre, Duarte 21
Pires, Ana C. 29
Ramos, Ana Luisa 41
Santos, Claudia 28
Vukotic, Goran 12
34

Proceedings Workshop2

Uploaded by

Document Informationclick to expand document information

Copyright:

Available Formats

Proceedings Workshop2

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

Proceedings Workshop2

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

3 r d I nt er nat i onal Conf er enc e on

Tr anspor t at i on Geot ec hni cs

Workshop 2: Harbour Geotechnics

Workshop 2: Harbour Geotechnics

EXTENDED ABSTRACTS BOOK

Workshop 2: Harbour Geotechnics

Workshop 2: Harbour Geotechnics

The Portuguese Geotechnical Society (SPG), the University of Minho and

Geotechnics and harbour infrastructures are intimately connected, as

Workshop 2: Harbour Geotechnics

Workshop 2: Harbour Geotechnics

Geotechnical Problems and their solutions in Japanese Port

Offshore vibro replacement for large depths and challenging soil

Ground Improvement at the Containers Terminal of La Guaira Harbour,

MOSD – Marine Operations Support Dock Soyo - Angola

On the conception, design and contracting of important port

Sea waves and seabed interaction. Partial fluidification of break waters

Coastal Geoscience mapping for harbour geotechnics: implications in

Seismic Resistance of Port facilities in Japan

Workshop 2: Harbour Geotechnics

Port at Punta Langosteira

Stability of Submerged clay masses. A case study in a Port

Autor Index Page 45

Workshop 2: Harbour Geotechnics

Geotechnical Problems and Their Solutions in

2 Geotechnical Conditions of Japanese Ports

3 Examples of Geotechnologies used in Japanese Port

Workshop 2: Harbour Geotechnics

3.1 Soft landing breakwater

soft clay layer soft clay layer

a) Original type (flat type) b) Piled type

3.2 New Geo-material - Super Geo-Material (SGM) -

Workshop 2: Harbour Geotechnics

3.3 Reuse of by-products as geo-materials in port construction

Workshop 2: Harbour Geotechnics

Offshore vibro replacement for large depths and

Workshop 2: Harbour Geotechnics

3 Reconstruction of ASMAR Shipyard Talcahuano,

Workshop 2: Harbour Geotechnics

Figure 2: ASMAR Shipyard – stone column installation from the barge.

Workshop 2: Harbour Geotechnics

Offshore Stone Columns to improve alluvial

Figure 3: Solution found for the caisson foundation

Workshop 2: Harbour Geotechnics

Figure 4: Stone column execution method

Figure 5: Data screen form dredger Figure 6: Repulsing of dredged material

Workshop 2: Harbour Geotechnics

Workshop 2: Harbour Geotechnics

Landfill treatment in La Guaira Port, Venezuela

Workshop 2: Harbour Geotechnics

Figure 7: New Container Terminal in La Guaira Port

2.1 Soil Treatment

Workshop 2: Harbour Geotechnics

Figure 8: New Container Terminal in La Figure 9: Execution of vibroflotation

Workshop 2: Harbour Geotechnics

Engineering, Procurement and Construction of

2 Structural Solution and Geology

Figure 1: Jetty overview.