MXPA98004549A - Modular helmet to be used in the construction, expansion and modernization of ports and bah - Google Patents

Abstract

A plurality of modular floating helmets are built on the coast, either totally or in part, towed to a desired site for the construction, expansion or modernization of the port or bay, precisely adapted and secured, and assembled in different combinations to form structures maritime and / or maritime structures / maritime cargo terminals integrated to build breakwaters, jetties out of breakwaters, jetty docks, docks and springs outgoing. The breakwaters and / or springs of the breakwaters are arranged to form a protected harbor or bay, and are designed to withstand the waves and maximum force winds at the bay site. As an integral part of the springs projecting from the jetties, the modular helmets are assembled to form maritime cargo terminals, such as liquid cargo terminals and LNG / LPG terminals. On the leeward side of the breakwaters and / or the springs projecting from the breakwaters, other modular hulls are assembled to form a wide variety of maritime structures (such as bay piers, piers and outgoing piers) and / or maritime structures / terminals maritime cargo integrated (such as liquid and dry cargo terminals, container terminals, general cargo terminals, roll-on / roll-off terminals and the like). Maritime structures and maritime structures / maritime cargo terminals integrated, different, can be disarmed and helmets secured above and towed away for use in another port or bay site. The deployment and rapid potential assembly of marine structures / marine terminals as well as their power for rapid dismantling and removal elsewhere, makes modular helmets ideally suited for many naval and military applications

Description

MODULAR HELMET TO BE USED IN CONSTRUCTION, EXPANSION AND MODERNIZATION OF PORTS AND BAYS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to modular hulls for use in the construction, expansion and modernization of ports and bays, and more particularly to modular hulls that are constructed, in whole or in part, inland and then floated on a site. pre-selected, adapted and insured below, and combined with other helmets to form maritime structures and maritime structures / integrated maritime terminals. There is a growing need to build new ports and bays, and to expand or modernize existing ports and bays. For example, in emerging market countries, there is a need for the construction of new installations of modern ports and bays. For military and naval use, there is also a need for "instantaneous" prefabricated ports, for the rapid development of forces, equipment and cargo in locations where port facilities are inadequate or non-existent. The existing ports and bays must be periodically dredged to keep them operational, and there is an exalted knowledge of the environmental damage posed by the contaminated drained material. This, in turn, has severely restricted the dredging of ports and bays, and has prevented the expansion and modernization of port and bay facilities. There are now global interests, as well as international lines, that prohibit the dumping of pollutant materials from drainage in the open ocean.

An example of the environmental and economic significance of the polluted dredging currently occurred in the Bay of New York. Having almost completed the construction of the Howland Hook container terminal, it was found that the material from the dredging below the quay was so heavily contaminated with heavy metals, PCBs, dioxins, etc., that the only solution for the disposal of this material (with the open-air dump was no longer allowed under the London Dumpster Convention), it was shipped by train to a dump in Utah, at a distance of more than 2,000 miles away at a cost exceeding 100 dollars / cubic yard about 20 times the cost previously available when the dump was available in the ocean. The patterns of world trade are changing rapidly in the post-Cold War post-industrial period. Some of these patterns of change will dominate for the coming future: (1) The Transpacific trademark will exceed to a high degree, and continue to grow faster than the transatlantic trade. (2) Marked north / south in the oceans of the Eastern Pacific and the Atlantic They will come to dominate trade routes in their own right. (3) As a result of (1) and (2), there will be relatively less need to transit the Suez and Panama channels, especially the Panama Canal with its relatively shallow 40 foot draft restriction. These changing patterns of world trade will result, from a marine point of view, in the need to: (1) Expand and / or modernize many old ports in industrialized nations if they remain competitive. This includes the United States where ports such as the one in New York are incrementally outdated by modern standards. (2) Build new ports in emerging market countries such as China, Indonesia, India, Brazil, Argentina and the countries of the former Soviet Union, including Estonia, Ukraine, Georgia and Russia itself. Many of these potential port sites are located in remote areas away from industrial centers. Ports and bays have traditionally been constructed as base projects of only one type. First the breakwaters, the outgoing piers, the piers, etc. are built, and then the marine loading terminals are erected on these marine structures, etc. No standardized methods have been developed to alter this relatively high-cost, single-cost construction method of the same class. The modernization of cities with old ports (whose depths were prepared to the 40 foot and 45 foot draft restrictions of the Panama and Suez canals before the Second World War) now require looking for deeper water sites if these go to remain competitive. This is not as easy as can be considered. For example, the port of New York is no longer able to receive larger fully loaded container vessels or tanks) now in normal use, despite having spent 250 million in an attempt to deepen the Kill Van Kull channel It leads to its port of major containers and almost all of its oil terminals. This massive spending of funds for drainage was almost all wasted since the Kull still remains too shallow by today's standards. The problem consists of the port that was originally located on a shallow estuary and, in addition, made up of a continental sand bank outside relatively shallow lands. For the port of New York to find a deep water site for a port may well involve moving from the coast to a man-made island, even though the port of Rotterdam did it when the "island" was built of Maasvalacth in the North Sea. In certain cases, even in emerging countries, the problems of modernizing an existing main port are made up of the original port that has been located in relatively shallow waters. For example, Tanjung Priok, the Jakarta port of the island of Java, is one of this case. Any modernization of this port will have to be undertaken outside the java sea because of the shallow sand bank that lies off the north coast of the island of Java. With regard to the construction of new ports in emerging trading countries, the problem is not so much the lack of land with potential for deep water port sites, but rather its remote location. For example, the two planned ports on the Kra isthmus between Malaysia and Thailand are a case at this point. These sites are far away from the centers of the port's construction equipment, supplies and the necessary amount of experienced labor is available, and the construction of the port has traditionally been a labor of intensive entrepreneurship. Before the port of Cam Ranh Bay was built in Vietnam it was in a similarly distant region. In order to solve these main problems and growth, and in order to be cost effective, it is necessary to develop an industrialized method for the construction, expansion or modernization of ports and bays. Any of this method, however, must encompass all of the following: (1) that are modular in nature, with the modular components being prefabricated in shipyards, and / or existing shipyard facilities on the coast. (2) that the modular components are capable of floating, and have a configuration of marine engineering and naval architecture that allows them to be towed (and / or pushed), by navigating tugboats, without further assistance to the installation sites, both near and far away under conditions of four to five on the Beaufort scale. (3) that simple modular components are designed to be constructed either as monolithic structures (to be used where draft restrictions do not pose a problem) or as sections that can be assembled with one another (to be used in locations where draft restrictions apply they have a problem) (4) that the modular components are secured up and down and also that they are able to adapt precisely through the use of internal fittings and reinforcing tanks and internal pumps, engines, pipelines and computer controls, thus obviating the need to use floating chain-type dam facilities at launch or for deployment to, or at, the installation sites. (5) that the modular components are designed and constructed to be able to combine with simple integrated modules in installation sites all of the following functions: protection against waves and climate; requirements of maritime structure; and intermodal and / or (intermodal) cargo handling, storage and transfer facilities, for all types of cargo. (6) that the modular components are capable of containing, in an environmentally safe manner, contaminated materials including contaminated material from dredging, either for long-term burial and / or subsequent decontamination.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide modular helmets that can be used in the construction, expansion and modernization of ports and bays, and which overcome the aforementioned problems associated with prior art methods. Another object of the present invention is to provide modular helmets that can be constructed under controlled cost conditions in shipyards, made to float and towed out to the desired site, precisely adapted, secured from below and assembled in different combinations to constitute an extensive marine structure arrangement. such as breakwaters, jetties out of the breakwater, wharves with pier wall, jetties and springs outgoing. A further object of the present invention is to provide adaptable, insurable modular helmets that can be precisely adapted and secured from below and combined with other helmets to form marine marine / marine terminal structures. Another object of the present invention is to provide a set of modular helmets of different but compatible constructions which can be precisely adapted and secured from below and, when necessary, for realignment, etc., and which can also be precisely adaptable and insurable by above. These as well as other objects, features and advantages of the invention are achieved by providing a plurality of modular floating helmets that are built on the shore, either in whole or in part, towed to a desired site for the construction of the harbor or bay, expansion or modernization, precisely adapted and secured below, and assembled in different combinations to form marine structures and / or marine structures / integrated marine cargo terminals to build breakwaters, harbors, jetties out of breakwaters, piers with quay wall, piers and outgoing springs. The breakwaters and / or springs protruding from the breakwaters and / or the jetty outlets are arranged to form a protected harbor or bay, and are designed to withstand the waves and maximum force winds at the bay site. As an integral part of the jetty's outgoing springs, modular hulls are assembled to form maritime cargo terminals, such as liquid cargo terminals and LNG / LPG terminals. On the leeward side of breakwaters and / or piers of breakwaters, other modular hulls are assembled to form a wide variety of maritime structures (such as piers with quay wall, jetties and piers) and / or marine structures / integrated maritime cargo terminals (such as liquid cargo terminals and dry cargo terminals, container terminals, cargo terminals in general, cargo-type terminals and the like). The different maritime structures and maritime structures / integrated maritime cargo terminals can be disassembled and helmets secured up and towed away for use at another port or bay site. The rapid deployment and potential assembly of marine structures / maritime terminals as well as their potential for rapid dismantling and removal to another site, makes modular helmets ideally suited for many naval and military applications. The foregoing as well as other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the detailed description of the invention when read in combination with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is an illustrative arrangement of an example of harbor installations and bays constructed of hulls in accordance with the principles of the present invention; Figure 2 is an end view of a spring hull projecting from the jetty, shown partially cut away along the line of section 2-2 in the Figure 1; Figure 3 is an end view of a protruding jetty / jetty hull, shown partially cut away along the section line 3-3 in Figure 1; Figure 4 is an end view of a spring / spring wall hull, shown partially cut away along section line 4-4 in Figure 1; Figure 5 is an end view of a pier / pier wall hull, shown partially cut away along the section line 5-5 of Figure 1; Figure 6 is an end view of a protruding spring hull, shown, partially cut away along the section line 6-6 in Figure 1; Figure 7 is an end view of a cargo / jetty hull, shown partially cut away along the section line 7-7 in Figure 1; Figure 8 is an end view of a pier / pier wall hull, shown partially cut away along the section line 8-8 in Figure 1; Figure 9 is an end view of a jetty hull, shown partially cut away along the section line 9 -9 in Figure 1; Figure 10 is an end view of a protruding spring hull, shown partially cut away along section line 10-10 in Figure 1; Figure 11 is an end view of a protruding spring hull, shown partially cut away along section line 11-11 in Figure 1; Figure 12 is an end view of a protruding jetty / jetty hull, shown partially cut away along the section line 12-12 in Figure 1; Figure 13 is an end view of a protruding jetty / jetty shown partially cut away along the section line 13-13 in Figure 1; and Figure 14a-14c are end views of a breakwater hull, shown partially cut away along section line 14-14 in Figure 1; For clarity of illustration, Figures 1 to 14 are not all drawn on the same scale.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to the use of modular helmets in the construction, expansion, and modernization of ports and bays. For illustrative purposes only the present invention will be described to a typical body and bay arrangement, this being understood of the hull constructions and the arrangements shown in the drawings are for illustrative purposes only and simply represent several of the multitude of different hull arrangements and arrangements that may be made with the present invention. In this manner, the present invention is not in a limited or restricted manner to the constructions and arrangements of the particular hull illustrated in the drawings. As used throughout the description and claims, the term "hull" or "modular hull" refers to and gives to tend a base structure only that it can be manufactured either as a simple, monolithic, floatable box structure or as a plurality of hull sections. The term "hull section" refers to and implies a box-like structure that is combinable on the site with one or more other box-like structures to form a hull. Where each box-shaped structure is manufactured either as a simple, monolithic, floating structure or as a combination of sectional hull components. The term "hull sectional components" refers to and implies a floating structural component, such as a side wall, an end wall, a bottom bottom part, which is combinable on the site with other sectional components of the hull. to form a helmet section. All of the floatable parts, whether helmets, hull sections or sectional hull components, are provided with computer controlled ballast and liner tanks to precisely adapt the floatable parts to be towed by tugs to the bay construction site and to Precisely adapt and secure the floating parts during the assembly of the sections and sectional components of the helmet to form helmets and / or during the placement, alignment and assembly of the hulls to form jetties, outgoing piers, jetties and other maritime structures and / or to form maritime structures / integrated maritime cargo terminals. The helmets have internal spaces (dedicated by location within the hulls) to satisfy one or more of the three specific functions: (1) S ^ large, enclosed storage spaces or compartments, located inside the hull, expressly for storing bulk materials of large volume and / or, and / or other cargoes including loading in containers and / or housing high volume processing equipment and / or large volume power generation equipment, etc.; (2) small spaces or compartments S2, located along the sides and / or lower parts of the hull, preferably between the double walls in the hulls, specifically to house the lining and ballast tanks, equipment, etc., for the adaptation and precise securing of helmets; (3) small auxiliary spaces or compartments S3, located anywhere inside the hull not occupied by the structural components or by the spaces S ^, S ^, expressly to house equipment or auxiliary functions that support and assist in the operation of the helmets such as maritime structures, integrated maritime terminals, and / or processing facilities and / or power generation plants, etc. For ease of description, the compartments or spaces S, ,, S2, and S3, will be referred to hereinafter simply as "spaces". The hulls are designed with an effective mass distribution to maintain the stability and structural integrity of the hulls, even when the hollows or internal spaces thereof are empty or substantially empty. In addition, it should be noted that unlike cofferdams, in which sand or gravel within the interiors of cofferdam members are required in order to impart structural integrity to the members, the structural integrity of the helmets is maintained even when the internal spaces or gaps S ,, S2 and S3, thereof, are empty or substantially empty. Modular helmets can be combined in various combinations to form maritime structures of various types, such as jetties, jetties and piers easily adaptable to the conditions and requirements of the site of the posts and bays in which they are deployed. Any combination of helmets eventually installed, those helmets of maritime structures and those helmets of integrated maritime structure / maritime terminal can be installed, when necessary, on stone embankment beds and can be "armored" on their windward sides, when necessary, with Traditional rough stone ramparts for wave defense. These rough landfills for wave defense typically contain a core of sand and / or gravel, one or two layers of substratum of rock, quarry, and one or two layers of outer shield, such as dolos, tetrapods, etc. If the CORE-LOC shielding was developed by U.S. Army Corps of Enginners is used because of its greater stability, this outer layer shielding only needs to be a thick layer, resulting in significant cost savings. The maximum economic advantages are earned where helmets can be manufactured as monolithic modules floating in shipyards or shipyard-type facilities on the coast. However, in case where draft or other restrictions prevent this monolithic fabrication, the modular hulls may be manufactured in one or more sections of buoyant hull, which are assembled on beds of rough stone fill and / or one above the other. site. In the case of the construction section a section of floatable base is dragged towards the site and secured below in place. If the draft or other conditions permit, a second floatable section is towed to the site that is secured below the base section. Alternatively, the base section may serve as a construction platform for construction on the site of the upper portion of the hull. For maximum economic benefits, the sections of base flotable must be manufactured in a shipyard or in a shipyard-type installation on the coast up to the maximum draft available in this installation and in a navigation channel that leads from this installation to the port site or bay. In the case of cases manufactured in full, or in part, from sectional hull components, to achieve this in a more cost effective manner, manufacturing must, to the maximum extent possible, result in hull sectional components that can be floated and towed by tugs to the installation assembly sites and, only when this is not feasible, the sectional components must be designed to be transported to the installation sites by heavy lifting vessels and / or crane boats. The objective in both examples is to maximize construction under controlled cost conditions in shipyards or shipyard-type facilities on the coast, and minimize construction off the coast. Helmets can be constructed using traditional materials, preferably concrete (made from cement, sand and gravel or crushed stone aggregates) and steel for structural reinforcement. Helmets can also be constructed using newer materials, including concrete and polymer composite materials, especially those that also provide additional corrosion resistance to helmets in a water environment. The use of these new materials, which are lighter and more resistant than traditional materials, can greatly contribute to the reduction of the weight (and throw) of the helmets, thus increasing their usefulness, especially in locations where restrictions of threw. Floatable hulls, hull sections and hull sectional components are designed to be constructed with simple walls, double walls or a wave combination. Although, under certain conditions, the construction of a single wall is desirable, double wall construction is preferable for several reasons. Among other things being equal, the double wall constructions allow the construction of stronger helmets, with greater economy of use and cost of materials, and greater control in the adjustment and securing of helmets. In the preferred design, helmets, hull sections and sectional hull components have a double wall design with internal lining tanks and ballast between them. The hulls preferably have the double wall construction longitudinally in the side walls and the bottom part, and preferably have the single-wall construction in the end walls and transverse walls of the quay wall. The reasons for this description are that: (1) the double longitudinal walls allow optimal placement, and provide the necessary structure to house the lining and ballast tanks and equipment while also providing greater longitudinal structural strength to the hulls that are absolutely requires, thus reducing construction costs. (2) the extreme walls and the simple transverse walls allow the maximum use of the volume, and in this way the maximum utilization of the income capture capacity of the helmets while also providing transverse structural resistance no greater than the helmets of the that is absolutely required, in this way again reducing construction costs. (3) the different floatable parts (hulls, hull sections, and sectional hull components) are provided with lining and ballast tanks, which are preferably vertically separated into columns, and horizontally separated in rows. The tanks in the several upper rows constitute the lining tanks and the tanks in the remaining rows constitute the ballast and / or storage tanks. Suitable piping, pumps, motors, valves and controls are housed within each of the floating parts and, under the control of a computer, microcontroller or microprocessor, selectively and individually pump fluids (typically seawater), into and out of the lining and ballast tanks in a controlled manner to precisely adapt the floatable parts and to secure them from bottom to top in the water. Examples of helmets and hull sections that can be used to carry out the present invention are described in the applicant's PCT international application published on December 8, 1994, under the international publication WO 94/28253, which is incorporated herein by reference . The importance of accurate helmet alignment, one to another, can not be over emphasized. Helmets are large structures, and a slope or "tilt" of as little as one degree or two can result in one end of this large structure being much more than 10 feet or more lower in the water than the other end. When it is realized that the depth of water available to float this hull can be as little as 40 feet, a decline of 10 feet (or 25%), to an extreme can effectively eliminate the use of this helmet in practice. Coarse belaying alone can not provide sufficiently accurate securing of these large structures, especially if they are to be used in limited water depths. However, there is an equally important additional reason to equip large helmets with precise adjustment capability. This adjustment capability allows the hulls to be accurately leveled one adjacent to the other. This is essential in order to keep the transportation corridors (which run down to a length of the hulls and between the contiguous hulls and used for pipes, conveyor belts, cables, etc.) in alignment. In areas where earth tremors are predominant, for example, around the Pacific shore where many of the new ports will be located, and / or where the sedimentation conditions prevail, the ability to refloat and realign the hulls to secure them upwards and adjusting them precisely in order to maintain the alignment of the transportation corridors between the helmets assumes additional importance. Helmets, hull sections and floating hull sectional components are manufactured under controlled cost industrial conditions in shipyards or shipyard-type facilities on the coast and then are floated out, towed towards, and assembled at the port construction site or the bay, the hulls, the hull sections and the sectional components of the hull, are finely adjusted while they are being secured downwards, which allows the placement and precise alignment of the hulls. The hulls are interconnected in the desired configurations to build a wide range of maritime structures and / or maritime structures / integrated maritime cargo terminals. Due to the arrangement of computer-controlled lining and ballast tanks, helmets, hull sections and sectional hull components can be accurately positioned while being secured down or up at the installation site , allowing any realignment on the site, or removal to be used at another location, disrupted, etc. The contiguous helmets are connected by any suitable means of connection. Preferably, the front ends of the contiguous hulls are provided with connectors, such as interlocking connectors or other suitable means, to allow the connection and disconnection of the contiguous hulls. Impact absorbing means, such as fenders, for crashes and the like, are interposed between the adjacent hulls to absorb and distribute the impact forces between the hulls and, where necessary, to prevent the passage of water between the hulls. An illustrative layout of different maritime structures and maritime structures / integrated maritime terminals used to construct civil and naval / military port and bay facilities is shown in Figure 1. The port and bay facilities include a pier protruding from breakwater A , quays with pier wall B, a pier C, jetties with quay wall D, pier E, springs projecting F and G, a jetty pier of breakwater H and a jetty I. These different maritime structures are each described with Further detail below regarding its use and construction. In this illustrative arrangement, the harbor facilities are bounded by the jetty springs projecting from breakwater A and H, and the jetty I with jetty I giving in the direction of the maximum windward arch. The jetty spring A is constructed of a line of jetty / jetty hulls 10 projecting outwards from the shore, and through which runs a series of pipes 12. Breakwater hulls / jetty 10, include 2 10A hulls that constitute an intermodal terminal of liquid bulk products to receive liquid bulk products through a tanker and store the products for subsequent transshipment by the tanker and / or pipeline. Liquid bulk products can be of any type, such as jet fuel, gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel, chemicals, vegetable oils and the like. The two extreme hulls 10B in the line of helmets 10, constitute a liquid gas terminal for receiving the liquid gas by the tank boat and for the refrigerated storage and subsequent transshipment as gas by means of the pipe and / or as liquid gas by the tank boat . The liquid cargo gases can be of any type, such as liquefied natural gas LNG, liquefied petroleum gas LPG, etc. The other helmets 10 are dock helmets and have a profile similar to that of helmets 10a and 10b. Figure 2 is an end view, partially cut away along the line 2-2 in Figure 1, of a helmet 10a of the liquid bulk product terminal. The helmet 10a has a vertical windward or a windward side 14 and a vertical lee side 15. The breakwater 20 is provided on the windward side along the total length of the hull line 10. The breakwater 20 can be of any type. type known in the art, and, in the illustrated example, comprises an embankment breakwater of raw stone composed of the core material 21 of sand, gravel or the like, and one more sublayer 22, and one or more outer shield layers 23 deposited on sublayer 22. The vertical leeward side 15 allows ships to dock as closely as possible along the terminal, while providing the necessary shelter from the wind and waves. A horizontal esplanade 16 extends along the leeward side 15 and allows for optimum placement of the material handling equipment and provides a transportation corridor along the length of the pier extending from breakwater A. In this example, a carrier of portable hose 17 is able to move along the esplanade 16, and carries one or more flexible hoses for transferring the liquid products in bulk from a tanker 18 to the storage spaces S., internal, with compartments inside the hull 10a . Although only one storage space S1 is shown in Figure 2, a plurality of storage space S., is typically provided along the length of the modular helmets used in the present invention. The storage spaces S., are typically located between the contiguous pairs of transverse spring walls extending transversely from the hulls, in spaced relation to one another, along the length of the hulls. In this example, the hull 10a has a double-walled construction and a lining tank arrangement 25 and ballast tanks 26 are disposed between the two walls separated per se in the spaces S2. Motor-driven pumps (not shown) are connected through the appropriate pipe and valves (not shown) to the lining and ballast tanks 25 and 26 to control the flow of liquid into and out of the tanks. In Figures 2 to 14, the lining and ballast tanks are shown through, and behind, the same X-shaped structures in the spaces S2. A pump set P is driven by the N motors and connected through suitable tubing and valves, all of whose components are housed in the S3 space to direct and regulate the flow of liquid cargo products between the tanks and the spaces of storage S., with compartments, between the same spaces with compartments, as well as between the adjacent hulls through the pipe corridors. Figure 3 is an end view, partially cut along the line 3-3 of Figure 1, and one of the hulls 10b of the liquid gas loading terminal. The hull 10b has a similar profile towards the hull 10a and has a vertical windward or windward side 31 and a leeward side 32 along which it extends a horizontal foreground 33. In this example, the internal storage spaces S1 are suitably insulated and refrigerated by means of a refrigeration system to allow the refrigerated storage of liquid gases in bulk. The hull 10b is of double-walled construction, and the lining tanks 35 and the ballast tanks 36 are disposed in the spaces S2 between the double walls. Suitable pumps, motors, tubing and valves (not shown) are provided within the spaces S2 between the double walls to control the flow of the liquid to and from the lining and ballast tanks 35 and 36. In an S3 space, the which extends below and along the storage spaces S., P pumps, M motors, piping, valves, etc., are arranged to control the flow of bulk liquid gases from ships tanks docked along the hull 10b, such as the tanker 38, to the storage spaces S., refrigerated, and of the spaces S., to the pipelines or to another tanker for transshipment. Referring again to Figure 1, Pier B pier piers are composed of integrated pier / jetty hulls 40 designed to allow ships to dock on one side thereof and act as a quay wall to retain a filling area on the other side of it. The helmets 40 are also designed to provide handling and storage of the cargo. The piers with quay wall B are composed of two lines of wharf / jetty wall hulls 40a projecting out from the shore, and a third line of quay wall wharf / jetty 40b interconnecting the ends of the two lines of helmets 40a. The confined area delimited by the hulls 40a and 40b is filled with dredged material from the surrounding areas, rocks, fill land and the like, to define an intermodal terminal of dry bulk products. Figure 4 is an end view, partly cut away along line 4-4 of Figure 1, of one of the hulls 40a of the dry bulk product terminal. The hull 40a has a vertical side toward the land 41 to confine the embankment, and a vertical side of the dock 42. The vertical side of the dock 42 allows the ships to dock along the bulk dry goods terminal. The upper part of the hull 40a is in the form of a flat esplanade and supports the material handling equipment, such as a crane bridge 43 for transferring the dry products in bulk from the load carrier 44 to the storage area of the terminal. of dry products in bulk. In this example, the hull 40a is a double wall construction, the lining tanks 45 and the ballast tanks 46 are disposed within the spaces S2 between the two walls. The interior of the hull 40a has large storage spaces S1, with compartments, for storage of the material, and auxiliary spaces S3 for the means of transporting the material in the housing, such as internal conveyor systems 47 running along the hull for transport the material to and from the storage spaces S., and, when necessary, to and between the contiguous hulls. The intermodal bulk dry goods terminal receives dry bulk products from the cargo carrier and transfers the products to open storage areas, above the ground, for transport by rail and / or barge. Bulk dry products can be of any type, including metallic minerals (iron, manganese, nickel, etc.), alumina, carbon, salt, phosphate, etc. The transfer of the products to storage above the ground to continue the manipulation by stackers / reducers, can be done directly by means of a ladle of jaws or alternatively by conveyor belts located in spaces S3. Certain helmets, such as the hull 40a, have one or more load bearing members, such as the load bearing members 48 of the hull 40a, located longitudinally within the hulls, to absorb and effectively distribute any particularly heavy load that can place on the helmet covers. For example, these load bearing members are placed in Figures 4 to 7, directly below the legs (and rails) of gantry crane or bulk dry goods container crane.; and in Figures 8, 10 and 12, directly below the heavy-duty "roads" of the civil terminals and / military / naval RO / RO and / or LO / LO. Another type of pier / pier wall hull 40b is shown in Figure 5, which is an end view partially cut away along section line 5-5 of Figure 1. Hull 40b has a vertical side towards land that functions as a quay wall to retain the embankment, and a vertical side of par 49 jetty to facilitate the berthing of the ships along the terminal. A horizontal cover 50 extends longitudinally along the hull on the landing side thereof. The hull 40b has a double wall construction and an arrangement of lining tanks 54 and ballast tanks 55 is accommodated within the spaces S2 between the double walls. In this example, the hull 40b has open storage spaces S, and material transfer means, such as a gantry crane 51, which is mounted on the top of the hull 40b to transfer the dry products in bulk from the bulk conveyor 52 to storage spaces S.,. The storage spaces with compartments S1 are of storage silos with the funnel-shaped bottom through which bulk dry products are fed by gravity to the material transporting medium, such as the internal transportation systems 53 located in the auxiliary space S3, to transport the products longitudinally along the hull 40b for the movement of the corridors of the conveyor belt towards other silos, towards other hulls, and / or towards other unloading facilities (not shown). The intermodal terminal of bulk dry products composed of the hulls 40b receives the dry bulk products by the bulk conveyor and stores the products in the storage silos for the subsequent transfer by ship, barge, railroad, etc. All types of dry bulk products can be stored and transferred to the bulk dry goods terminal, including sintered metals, alumina, ground glass, sand, aggregates, fertilizer materials, grains, cement, etc. Most dry bulk materials can be handled by the crane bucket and stored in partially closed storage silos. Certain finer materials, such as grains, cement and the like, require protection from the weather and must be stored in closed storage silos (not shown). The finest materials can be transported by pneumatic means as well as by conveyor belt or other means of mechanical transportation. The protruding spring C is constructed from a line of protruding spring hulls 60 extending outward from the coast. Figure 6 is an end view of one of the protruding spring hulls 60 and is shown partially cut along the line 6-6 in Figure 1. The hull 60 has opposite vertical sides 61 and 62, which allows the boats dock along any side of the outgoing pier. The hull 60 has a double wall construction, and the lining tanks 63 and the ballast tanks 64 are housed within the spaces S2 between the double walls. The hull is provided with interior storage spaces with ST compartments for the temporary storage of the containers and / or storage of materials and / or to house equipment processing / material processing, and the auxiliary spaces S3 for storing fuel, parts and supplies of maintenance, transportation corridors, and other auxiliary support functions. In this example, a container loading crane 65 is movable along rails on top of the hull 60, primarily to transfer the cargo from a container ship 66 to a container barge 68 and vice versa. The hull 60 of the outgoing pier C constitutes an intramodal maritime container terminal that receives cargo of containers from a ship, such as a container ship or a gigantic container barge, and transfer the container cargo by crane or other means of transferring the appropriate cargo to another gigantic container barge or container ship. The quay wall piers D are composed of pier / jetty wall shells 70 arranged in a partially closed loop to define a confined area that is filled with drained material, rocks, embankment, earth and the like. Two lines of helmets 70 extend outward from the coast, and the other ends of the two lines of helmets are interconnected by a third line of helmets 70. Each of the three lines of helmets constitute a pier / pier wall. For illustrative purposes, two different types of intermodal container terminals are shown in Figures 7 and 8. Figure 7 is an end view of one of the hulls 70, shown partially cut along the section line 7-7 in FIG. Figure 1. In this embodiment, the dock / pier wall hulls 70 have the same construction as that of the hulls of the projecting dock 60, which is desirable from the point of view of reducing the total number of designs of different hulls , thus reducing manufacturing costs. The hull 70 has opposite vertical sides 71 and 72. The vertical side 71 toward the ground functions as a quay wall to contain the embankment, and the vertical docking side 72 allows the ships to be docked contiguously along the terminal. The helmet 70 is of double wall construction, with lining tanks 73 and ballast tanks 74 that are disposed within the spaces S2 between the two walls.

The interior of the helmet 70 is divided into storage spaces with compartments s, and s3. In this example, the intermodal container terminal receives the container cargo by a container ship 76 and transfers the cargo by means of a crane 77 or other suitable means of transferring cargo to an open storage area above the land, for the subsequent transfer by truck, barge and / or rail. Alternatively, if sufficient adjoining space is available for runway installations and support for cargo by air, the terminal may be terminal by sea-air intermodal extension. Figure 8 shows another example of an intermodal container terminal composed of the pier wall berths / piers 70. In this example, the intermodal container terminal is a rolling cargo type terminal (RO / RO) that receives the cargo of containers by means of a RO / RO type rolling cargo ship and transfers the cargo to open storage areas, at ground level, by a truck for subsequent transshipment by truck, barge and / or train. The jetty E is composed of jetty 80's helmets. Figure 9 is an end view of one of the helmets 80, shown partially cut along the section line 9-9 in Figure 1. Jetty hull 80 has a vertical side facing earth 81 that meets the earth, and a vertical side of berthing 82 to facilitate the berthing of the boats along the terminal. A horizontal esplanade 83 extends longitudinally along the berth side 82 of the hull 80 to provide a transportation corridor and to allow optimal placement of the material handling equipment, such as a loading crane 84. The hull 80 has a construction of double wall with the lining tanks 85 and the ballast tanks 86 arranged within the spaces S2 between the two walls. Inside the hull 8, at a depth below the ground level, internal storage spaces S are provided, for the storage of materials and / or to house material processor / treatment equipment. In this example, due to the height of the hull 80 and the relatively shallow water depth at the terminal site, the hull 80 is constructed of two hull sections 80a and 80b. During assembly, the base section of the lower hull 80a is towed to the first site, and then adjusted and secured low in position. Then the upper hull section 80b is towed towards the site, and adjusted and secured low in position above the base section of the hull 80a. The upper hull section 80b has a large, closed storage shed 88, whose floor is at the same elevation as the forecourt 83. The closed storage shed 88 has inlet and outlet openings along the opposite vertical sides thereof. to allow the cargo to be unloaded from the cargo ship 89 and transferred by the cargo crane 84 to the storage area above the land within the closed storage hut of the hull 80, where the general cargo is divided into small units for the cargo. transport by truck, barge and / or train. Depending on the constraints of the project, the upper hull section can be established in place without the storage shed, which can then be built on the upper hull section. The hulls 80 constitute a general, intermodal, divided loading / loading terminal, which receives the cargo in general by ship, transfers the cargo by crane to the closed storage shed where it is divided into small units for subsequent transport by truck, barge or train. The protruding spring F is composed of protruding spring hulls 60, such as those used when constructing the outgoing spring C and the quay wall piers D shown in Figures 6 to 8. In that case, however, the helmets 60 extend in a line from the coast and constitute a terminal of rolling load (RO / RO) and lifting descent (LO / LO) intermodal, which is particularly suitable for naval / military use, for quickly transfer the equipment from the transport boats to the coast. In the illustrated example, the protruding spring F is connected to a naval / military projection spring and a combination of equipment 90. As shown in Figure 10, which is an end view of one of the shoulders 60 of the protruding spring. F, shown partially cut away along the section line 10-10 in Figure 1, the upper part of the hull 60 defines a transport concourse 67 for transporting the naval / military cargo and equipment, such as a tank 91, from a RO / RO 92 transport boat docked along the terminal. Similarly, the naval / military cargo and equipment can be transferred from the naval / military outgoing pier and the combined equipment 90 to the transport ship 92. The hull 60, can also be used to transfer cargoes and naval / military equipment from an LO / LO 94 ship to and from the naval / military outgoing pier, and the combined equipment 90. In this example, the integral outgoing spring hulls 60, comprise an RO / RO and LO / LO intermodal terminal that they receive cargoes and naval / military equipment through RO / RO transport vessels and LO / LO ships for rapid transfer along the concourse of the terminal to the LO / LO coast. A similar integrated helmet system can be used as a ferry terminal for passengers, trucks, etc. The protruding spring and breakwater / offspring hulls that can be used in situations of rapid military / naval deployment are shown in Figures 10 and 12. These helmets can be pre-positioned, for example, in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, for rapid deployment later on either side along the coasts of the Middle East, South Asia, Southwest Asia or the East Coast of Africa. These helmets can also be presumed in storage spaces S, and ij, with storage, supplies, ammunition and military / naval equipment. The large ST spaces can be used alternately to accommodate maintenance and repair functions for wheeled vehicles that use strong "roads" that run on deck at the beachhead along the esplanades of the hulls. The protruding spring G is composed of two protruding spring hulls 100, which extend in a line from the coast. Figure 11 is an end Figure of one of the hulls 100, shown partially cut along the section line 11-11 in Figure 1. The outboard spring hull 100 is similar to the outboard breakwater hull 10A shown in Figure 2, except that in the case of the hull 100, the horizontal esplanades on both sides of the hull are at the same elevation. The hull 100 has a pair of opposed vertical sides 101 and 102 to allow docking of the boats along either side of the hull. The hull 100 has a double-walled construction, and the lining tanks 103 in the ballast tanks 104 are disposed in the spaces S2 between the two walls. Housed within the auxiliary space §, is a set of pumps P driven by the M motors and connected through tubing and valves suitable for controlling the flow of the liquid charge products coming, for example, from a tank 105, into the spaces S. of storage with compartments inside the hull 100, and from the storage spaces S. ,, to a barge 106 or through the pipelines 107 to the storage tanks 108 located on the coast. The pipes 107 extend along the length of the protruding spring G through the interior of the hulls 100, in the space S3 below the storage spaces. The horizontal esplanades 110 extend along both sides of the walls. helmets 100, and carriers of portable hoses 111, are capable of moving along the esplanades 110 and leading to the flexible hoses for transferring the liquid cargo products from the ships to the storage spaces S The spring-loaded hulls 100 of the outgoing dock G constitute a terminal of intermodal bulk liquid products for the reception by the tanker and / or the pipeline of bulk liquid products and storage of the products for subsequent transport by barge, pipe etc. The terminal can handle all kinds of bulk liquid products, such as jet fuel, gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel, bulk chemicals, vegetable oils, etc. The jetty spring H is composed of two types of jetty / jetty hulls 120a and 120b. Helmets 120a and 120b extend in a line outward from the coast. The pipes 121 extend from the storage tanks 108 through the hulls 120a and 120b, along the length of the breakwater H. As described below, the hulls 120a constitute a RO / RO type terminal and / or LO / LO, and helmets 120b constitute a deep water terminal of crude oil. Figure 2 is an end view of one of the hulls 120, shown partially cut away along the section line 12-12 in Figure 1. The hull 120a has a windward inclined or windward side having a sloping top surface 123 of relatively gradual elevation and a lower inclined surface 124 of relatively progressive elevation. The hull 120a has a vertical docking side 125, which allows boats to dock along the terminal. A horizontal esplanade 126 extends longitudinally along the leeward side of hull 120a and serves as a transportation corridor. The hull 120a is of double-walled construction, and the lining tanks 127 and the ballast tanks 128 are disposed in the spaces S2 between the double walls. The pipes 121 are arranged in the auxiliary space S3 and extend longitudinally through the line of the hulls 120a and 120b and the inside of the hulls above the pipes 121 are with compartments in the storage spaces s. In this example, the helmets 100a constitute an RO / RO and / or LO / LO intermodal equipment terminal, which receives the naval / military equipment and cargos by means of a RO / RO type transport ship or by means of an LO-type ship. / LO for the rapid transfer along the esplanade 105 towards the coast. In a similar way, the LO / LO and / or RO / RO terminal can be used to quickly transfer the naval / military equipment and cargo from the coast to the transport vessels and ships. Figure 13 is an end view of one of the hulls 120b, shown partially cut away along the section line 13-13 in Figure 1. The hull 120b is similar in construction to that of the hull 120a, except that the hull 120b has a narrower lateral width or dimension, because the hull 120b does not require a wide horizontal esplanade that serves as a transportation corridor. As shown in Figure 13, the hull 120b has an inclined windward side composed of an inclined upper surface 131, a sloped lower surface 132 and a vertical surface 133. A breakwater is provided with a land embankment 20 on the windward side of the hull 120b. The hull 120b has a vertical lee side 134 to allow the boats to moor along the terminal, and a horizontal esplanade 135 for the placement of the equipment, vehicles and the like, which are needed in the terminal. The pipes 121 are disposed within the auxiliary space S3 and extend longitudinally through the line 120, and the interiors of the hulls above the pipes are with compartments towards the storage spaces S.,. In this example, the hulls 120b of the breakwater spring H, constitutes a bulk, intermodal, liquid water bulk terminal for receiving tankers, such as the tanker 136 for liquid bulk products, such as crude oil, and transport by pipes and tanks 108 in the tank farm on the coast. The jetty I is composed of wave defense helmets 140, several examples of which are shown in Figure 14. Figure 14a is an end view of one of the helmets 140, shown partially cut along the line of section 14-14 in Figure 1. The wave defense hull 140 has a tapered cross section that tapers outwardly in the downward direction on both the leeward and windward sides 141 and 142 of the hull. In this example, the windward side slope 141 is the same as that of the lee side 142, and the two sides slope outward for a major part of its downward limit. The upper part of the hull 140 is truncated and has a generally horizontal edge 143 connected to the upper end of the windward side 141, and a tapered splined portion 144 connected to the upper edge of the lee side 142. Alternately, the tapered splined portion. 144 may be omitted (as indicated by the shaded lines), such that the upper part of the helmet 140 is generally flat across its upper surface. The helmet 140 is of double-walled construction, and the lining tanks (not shown), are disposed in the spaces S2 in the upper corners of the helmet, and the ballast tanks 146 are disposed in the spaces S2 between the two walls. The interior of the helmet 140 is divided into storage spaces S, for the storage or long-term burial of contaminated materials, such as dredged material containing mercury, lead, dioxins and other contaminants. Figure 14a illustrates the case where the hulls 140 are sufficient, by themselves, to withstand the maximum hydrodynamic and climatic conditions at the installation site.

Figure 14b illustrates the case where a rough stone embankment 20 is provided on the windward or windward side of the line of the hulls 140, whereby the hydrodynamic forces to which the helmets would otherwise be subjected are reduced greatly. As a result, this allows the design of the structure and weight, and the corresponding construction cost of the helmets to be significantly reduced. In Figure 14C, embankments 20 of rough land fill are provided along the hulls 140 on their windward and leeward sides. The use of jetties on both the windward and leeward sides will be required at the site that has the most severe hydrodynamic and climatic conditions that would be experienced by the systems shown in Figures 14a and 14b. The hull line 140 forming the jetty I constitutes a "silent" terminal so called for the storage of long-term material, especially contaminated material that must be buried for long periods of time, but, which can, if desired, be removed from storage spaces S for further processing. In the port and bay arrangement shown in Figure 1, the jetty I together with the outgoing piers of breakwater A and H constitute a defense system against the waves capable of withstanding the forces of maximum winds and the waves generated in the port and on the bay site. Breakwater I faces the maximum arc on the windward side and the two jetty springs A and H extend outward from the shore towards an area behind the leeward side of jetty I, thus providing a fully protected and sheltered area for the activities of the port and the bay. The various hulls described above with reference to Figures 1 to 14 are composed of parts capable of floating, whether helmets, hull sections or sectional hull components, which are provided with lining and ballast tanks. Pipe, pumps, valve motors and adequate controls are housed inside each of the parts capable of floating and will be controlled by a computer, microcontroller or microprocessor to selectively pump the two fluids in and out of the tanks individually. lining and ballast in a controlled manner to precisely adjust the floatable parts and to adjust down and up in the water. This allows helmets to be quickly deployed to a desired location and integrated to form numerous types of marine terminals. The terminals can be disassembled by ballasting upwards and towing away the helmets, which can then be used elsewhere. The potential for rapid deployment and assembly of terminals and the potential for rapid disassembly and removal to another site can find widespread use in many naval and military applications. To demonstrate some of the benefits and advantages realized by the modular helmets of the present invention, it will be given in the comparison of a port construction using the inventive helmets with one that uses conventional helmets. For this comparison, the construction project of the port currently in progress in Japan, just south of the city of Hitachi, will be used. This project has been undertaken since 1991 and involves the construction and use of helmets weighing 8,000 tons (100 feet in length, 90 feet in width and 72 feet in height). These helmets are being manufactured in a construction yard inland from the coast for installation as part of a composite jetty for a new port that is built in the same location. This composite jetty is being built at 80 feet of water (in a medium of low water), in the open sea at Hitachi-Naka off the Pacific coast of Japan, on one side that is fully exposed to typhoon winds and waves . This is a hostile maritime environment and the construction of this breakwater represents the outer edge of civil / maritime engineering technology existing in the world today. In this project, the construction / installation system, which is used consists of: (1) Construction of helmets in the courtyard inland; (2) Transfer of the hulls through the yard on a floating dry dock by means of a sliding system of compressed air; (3) Transportation of the hulls on the dry floating dock to the installation site of the jetty. There are several major problems with this system that preclude its different use in the immediate vicinity of the construction yard, which is the case in Hitachi-Naka. These problems are: (1) The dry floating dock project, once loaded with a hull, greatly exceeds the depth of water available in any shipyard, or in navigational channels adjacent to a shipyard, anywhere in the world. For example, the dry dock project in Hitachi-Naka is such that it requires a channel depth of 80 feet to allow it to be towed to the installation site. There is only one port in the world that has this depth of water (Rotterdam in Maasvlacht). There are no shipyards in the world with this depth of water flotation.

One has to go to fjords such as Stavanger in Norway or Come-By-Chance in Newfoundland to get these depths. (2) The metacentric height of the dry loaded dock is such that it can not be used in anything other than calm conditions with waves and minimum winds. If the "cargo" of the 8,000-ton hull was transported, which would be likely in something other than calm conditions, the dry-loading dock may capsize. As a result, the design of the dry dock precludes its use for the transportation of hulls in anything other than in the immediate vicinity of the construction yard (which is the case in Hitachi-Naka). When it is understood that the hulls of the present invention, even in shallow draft configuration, can weigh two or three times the weight of the Hitachi-Naka hulls, the feasibility of using the concept of dry floating dock with heavier hulls they become even more remote. For example, a navigation channel (between the construction yard and the installation site) with a depth of 100 feet would be required to use the concept of dry floating dock to transport helmets weighing two to three times that those of the helmets of Hitachi-Naka. The helmets of the present invention effectively overcome the problems associated with Hitachi-Naka helmets due to the following differences: (1) The inventive hulls (or hull sections or sectional hull components) have sufficient buoyancy, especially in their configuration shallow shot, to be floated out of the construction yards at depths of water (MLW) of 50 feet or less. (2) Unlike the Hitachi-Naka helmets, where the lining and ballast tanks are mounted, the pumps, motors, piping and computer controls, in the dry flotation dock, in the hulls of the invention these functions they are located in spaces S2 and S3, specifically designed in the hulls, preferably within the longitudinal double walls. (3) The hulls of the present invention have long to wide and long to high ratios and a corresponding metacentric height that allows them to be towed or pushed by tugboats offshore, even in conditions of 4 to 5 on the Baufort Scale. These differences are critical from the business point of view. The high capital cost of the hull construction yard and the floating system of the dry dock in Hitachi-Naka have to be canceled compared to just one project, the Hitachi-Naka port itself. In contrast, a helmet construction yard for producing helmets according to the present invention can be located in the far west, for example, in Japan or South Korea or Taiwan or Singapure. Such a helmet yard can produce helmets to be towed to new port or bay construction sites anywhere in the far west, and even to distant locations in Southwest Asia or South Asia. The reason for this is simple. Since the freight service builders and operators Japanese, Norwegian and German, have already tried, sometimes heavy, large maritime structures that are towed "projecting at speed", due to their momentum, such structures can be towed at great distances at relatively low costs. In this way, although a large hull yard for standardized helmet production is capital intensive, this cost can be canceled compared to a number of port projects compared to only one. The present invention has been described with reference to a particular arrangement of port and bay and modalities of particular marine terminals. Other provisions and other types of marine terminals, as well as obvious variations and modifications to helmets, will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The present invention is intended to protect all obvious variations and modifications that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims (34)

1. A maritime structure installed in the water at a port or bay site, comprising: a plurality of modular helmets combined in a predetermined configuration to define at least one maritime structure; each modular hull being constructed from one or more preconstructed floating parts on the coast and towed in the water to the installation site; and each floatable part having one or more internal storage spaces, enclosed, S, and having lining and ballast tanks to precisely adapt and secure the floatable part to allow the precise placement and alignment thereof at the installation site. A marine structure according to claim 1, wherein the lining and ballast tanks are located within the interior of the floatable part in spaces S2 separated from one or more storage spaces S.,. A maritime structure according to claim 2, wherein each floatable part has one or more internal auxiliary spaces S3 separated from the spaces S., and S2 to house auxiliary equipment. A maritime structure according to claim 3, wherein each hull has an effective mass distribution to maintain the stability and structural integrity thereof, even when one or more storage spaces S-are substantially empty. A maritime structure according to claim 3, wherein at least one auxiliary space S3 is located below one or more of the closed storage spaces S.,. 6. A maritime structure according to claim 3, wherein at least one auxiliary space S3 is located along one or more of the closed storage spaces S.,. A maritime structure according to claim 1, wherein at least one hull has a pipe extending therethrough. A maritime structure according to claim 1, wherein at least one hull has internal transport means for transporting the material to or from one or more of the storage spaces S 9. A maritime structure in accordance with the claim 1, wherein at least one case has one or more storage spaces S., sized and configured to store liquid bulk products; and means for transferring the liquid products in bulk to or from one or more of the storage spaces S ^ 10. A marine structure according to claim 9, wherein the means for transferring include pumps driven by motors housed within the interior of the container. helmet. 11. A marine structure according to claim 1, wherein at least one hull has one or more refrigerated storage spaces S.,; and means for transferring liquid products in bulk to or from one or more refrigerated storage spaces S 1

2. A marine structure according to claim 11, wherein the transfer means include pumps driven by motors housed inside the hull. 1

3. A marine structure according to claim 1, wherein at least one hull has one or more storage spaces S, sized and configured to store dry products in bulk; and means for transferring the dry products in bulk to and from one or more storage spaces. 1

4. A marine structure according to claim 13, wherein the transfer means includes a conveyor system located within the hull to transfer the dry bulk products to or from one or more storage spaces S.,. 1

5. A maritime structure according to claim 13, wherein by l? less a helmet has one or more storage spaces S, which has the upper part open; and the transfer means comprise external transfer means located outside the hull to transfer the dry products in bulk to and from one or more storage spaces S, through the open upper part thereof, and internal transfer means located within the hull to transfer the dry products in bulk into the hull to and from one or more storage spaces S 1

6. A maritime structure in accordance with the claim 1, wherein at least one helmet has one or more storage spaces S, sized and configured to store cargo in containers; and means for transferring the cargo in containers to and from one or more of the storage spaces S 1

7. A maritime structure according to claim 16, wherein the transfer means are arranged outside the case on an upper surface thereof. 1

8. A marine structure according to claim 1, wherein at least one hull has a closed storage shed above the surface sized and configured to store cargo. 1

9. A maritime structure according to claim 18, wherein at least one hull has a side of a landing that faces the water to allow ships to enter the dock along the hull and an esplanade extending along from the side of the wharf and that defines a transportation corridor. 20. A marine structure according to claim 1, wherein each hull has an effective mass distribution to maintain the stability and structural integrity thereof, even when one or more storage spaces S., are substantially empty. 21. A maritime structure according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the hulls are combined in a line to define a spring protruding from the breakwater having a windward side and a lee side, the lee side having an effective way to allow ships to disembark along the jetty's outgoing pier. 22. A maritime structure according to claim 21, wherein the helmets in the line of helmets have an esplanade extending to the leeward side thereof, defining a transportation corridor along the length of the pier projecting from the breakwater 23. A marine structure according to claim 21, including at least one pipe extending through the line of helmets. 24. A maritime structure according to claim 1, wherein at least some of the hulls are combined in a line to define wharves with dock walls that have a lee side and a landing side, the landing side having an effective way to allow ships to disembark along dock pier wharves. 25. A maritime structure according to claim 24, wherein the helmets in the line of helmets have an esplanade extending along the length of the piers with quay wall. 26. A maritime structure according to claim 24, which includes internal transport means disposed within the line of helmets and extending along the length of the same to transport the material along the piers with quay wall. 27. A maritime structure according to claim 1, wherein at least some of the hulls are combined in a line to define a protruding spring having opposite sides of landing, the landing sides having an effective shape to allow it to be unload the containers along both sides of the outgoing pier. 28. A maritime structure according to claim 27, wherein the helmets in the hull line have a flat upper part defining an esplanade extending along the length of the protruding spring. 29. A maritime structure according to claim 1, wherein at least some of the hulls are combined in a line to define jetties that have a side to the land and side of a landing, the side of the landing having an effective way to allow the vessels to be landed along the piers. 30. A maritime structure according to claim 29, wherein the helmets in the line of helmets has an esplanade extending along the side of the dock thereof., defining a transportation corridor along the length of the piers. 31. A marine structure according to claim 29, wherein at least one of hulls has, as an integral part thereof, a storage shed. 32. A maritime structure according to claim 1, wherein at least some of the hulls are combined in a line to define a breakwater having leeward and windward sides, the windward side sloping outwards in the downward direction. 33. A marine structure according to claim 32, including a rough stone embankment provided on the windward side of the line of hulls along the length of the breakwater. 34. A maritime structure according to claim 1, wherein the previously determined hull configuration comprises groups of hulls combined together to define one or more breakwaters, springs projecting from breakwaters, wharves with quay wall, projecting docks and piers .