
Structural Design
Optimization of structural marine designs aims to reduce construction costs, improve construction methodologies and find an optimum balance between costs, time, risk and maintenance. Thorough understanding of the environmental conditions, design factors and design formulae form the basis of the optimization process. Important aspect in the design of Hydraulic Structures is the combination of a theoretical correct design and practical design in reality. Any constraints of material and/or equipment should be investigated before design and taken into account. As construction costs form a large part of the total costs, highly practical construction is important in the design process where collaboration with the Contractor is very important.
We do not only look at the conventional designs, but also newly developed materials and construction techniques. Where considered efficient and operationally viable, we will consider alternatives with geo-synthetics, e.g. dedicated geotube and geocontainer systems to reduce core materials in breakwaters, groynes and revetments. We have in-depth knowledge of the whole range of port breakwaters and sea defence structures, such as dynamically stable breakwaters (like berm breakwaters), concrete element breakwaters and rock breakwaters. We advise clients by independent third party reviews on cost optimization by involvement of world-leading experts in breakwater design, highly experienced construction experts and senior works managers in combination with desk optimization studies.
For each design study, optimization and verification will be done in detail by:
- International standard mathematical model studies on waves and currents under design conditions
- International standard morphological modelling studies on sand transports, erosion and accretion, with and without protection structure
- Involvement of experts in their field of expertise and senior works managers with practical advises
- Physical 2- and 3-dimensional scale-model testing on structural stability and water overtopping in dedicated laboratory under extreme circumstances