Quay walls Of the Port

In ports one finds different types of structures to accommodate ships, such as quay walls, wharfs, jetties, dolphins. Quay walls are in this respect one of the most important assets for a port authority. For example in the Port of Rotterdam, approximately 80 km quay walls is present. This implies that a continuous search is going on to improve these structures. An overview of the history within the Port of Rotterdam is presented.

Hambantota port Jetties construction using caisson type retaining structures insitu concreting.

Quay walls are earth retaining structures at which ships can berth. They are equipped with bollards and fenders, and they are used for the handling of goods by cranes and other equipment moving alongside the ship. In ancient times ship landing had been restricted to natural bays in which ships were drawn to the dry. At places where ships could moor villages and towns grew up. Mooring places grew into quays and developed into ports and trading places. Early types of quays were gravity walls, their retaining function is obtained by the self weight of the structure. Gravity walls have been constructed from stone blocks, since the first century BC already from concrete.

Especially at coast lines with weak soils sheet pile walls have been developed. They get their soil retaining function and stability from the fixation capacity of the soil. The sheet pile wall then is a cantilever beam elastically fixed in the ground. With increasing height the deflections at the top become to large so that the top needs to be anchored. Once more the fixation capacity of the soil is the stabilization element for the anchors.