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Owing to the relatively low presumed bearing value for founding rock (i.e. 5MPa for Grade II rock with total core recovery of 85% and unconfined compressive strength more than 25Mpa), it leads to the necessity to form bell-out in order to spread the pile loads in larger area, thus reducing the bearing stress at pile toes.
For direct circulation drilling and reverse circulation drilling, the major difference in drilling method is related to the direction of movement of drilling fluid. For direct circulation drilling, the drilling fluid is circulated from the drill stem and then flows up the annulus between the outside of the drill stem and borehole wall. The drilling fluid that carries the drill cuttings flows to the surface and the subsequent settlement pits. Pumps are employed to lift the cuttings free fluid back to the drill stem.
In water bearing ground, some water head (about 1 m) above the existing ground water table is maintained to stabilize the bore during excavation below casings by pumping water to the pile bore.
The immersed tube method for underwater crossing involves the following basic construction steps:
(i) Prefabricating long tunnel units (steel shell or concrete) in a dry-dock or shipyard
(ii) Floating and towing the units with removable bulkhead to the site
(iii) Immerse the units in a pre-dredged trench
(iv) Connect the units one by one
(v) Covering the completed tunnel with backfill
One of the major effects of angle of approaching velocities of ships is its influence of the energy to be absorbed by the fender system. Consider several ships berth on the same pier at the same speed but with different angle of approach, though their kinetic energies are the same, the amount of energy absorbed by fender differs. The amount of energy absorbed by fender is :
Landings are designed as resting place for passengers during berthing and deberthing of vessels. In general, landings are provided near mean high and mean low water levels to facilitate embarking and disembarking of passengers (BS6349: Part 2: 1988).
The choice between the Morison’s equation and diffraction analysis in determining the wave forces on piles depends on the ratio between the diameters of piles to wavelength. If the ratio between the diameter of piles to wavelength is less than 0.2, the Morison equation is usually recommended.
Hudson’s formula is commonly adopted in preliminary design to obtain rough initial estimate of rock size. The formula is derived from the results of regular wave tests. However, this formula does not take into account the following elements which Van der Meer formula does: wave period, damage level, permeability of structure and storm duration. Moreover, Hudson’s formula deals with the use of regular waves only.
There are mainly three main factors which govern the stability of a armour unit, namely, gravity, intertangling and squeezing. Obviously, it is beyond doubt that the ability of the armour unit to stay in place should be closely related to gravity force.
Smallest vessel should also be taken into consideration when designing fender system. In vertical orientation of fender system, the types and sizes of all vessels should be considered taking into account the tidal effect at that region. To conduct proper design of fender system, engineers must consider the height and draft of both the smallest and largest vessels to determine the point of contact on the fender. It is not uncommon that design of fender system considers only the largest vessels berthing in the pier which should be avoided as it might not function for smaller vessels berthing in dock.
