Classifications

• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
  • E02B—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING
  • E02B3/00—Engineering works in connection with control or use of streams, rivers, coasts, or other marine sites; Sealings or joints for engineering works in general
  • E02B3/04—Structures or apparatus for, or methods of, protecting banks, coasts, or harbours
  • E02B3/06—Moles; Piers; Quays; Quay walls; Groynes; Breakwaters ; Wave dissipating walls; Quay equipment
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
  • E02B—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING
  • E02B17/00—Artificial islands mounted on piles or like supports, e.g. platforms on raisable legs or offshore constructions; Construction methods therefor
  • E02B17/0017—Means for protecting offshore constructions
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
  • E02B—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING
  • E02B3/00—Engineering works in connection with control or use of streams, rivers, coasts, or other marine sites; Sealings or joints for engineering works in general
  • E02B3/20—Equipment for shipping on coasts, in harbours or on other fixed marine structures, e.g. bollards
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02A—TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02A10/00—TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE at coastal zones; at river basins
  • Y02A10/11—Hard structures, e.g. dams, dykes or breakwaters

Definitions

• This invention relates to natural deep-water ports located offshore and methods for their construction and more particularly to modular construction of deep-water ports that contain a breakwater as an integral component of the port.
• a second obstacle is the lack of sufficiently deep water near the coast and the massive expense that additional dredging and construction of retaining walls entails. For example, between 2000 and 2005, the Kill van KuIl channel (New York/New Jersey) was deepened from 35 feet to 45 feet at a cost of $360 million, and the project currently underway to dredge the channel to the 50 foot depth required for 7000 - 8000 TEU capacity ships will add more than $900 million to the overall cost.
• U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,714 discloses a pier with a nominally integrated breakwater.
• the breakwater and pier are in fact independent structures, in which the breakwater comprises a mound of sand, gravel, rocks, and/or rubble piled up against the seaward side of the pier, upon which a plurality of caisson-like structures are placed.
• this design also suffers from the problems that the breakwater cannot be constructed without extensive dredging operations and that the breakwater and the pier are not a single modular structure.
• the present invention provides a solution to the problems described above and an answer to the need for a new way of thinking about port design. It is one object of the present invention to provide an offshore deepwater port in which the pier deck and breakwater are integrated into a single structure, with the former forming an upper deck and the latter a constructive truss beneath, in which the port structure is built in deep water as an independent unit. It is a further object of this invention to provide such an integrated port constructed of a plurality of prefabricated perforated modular marine structure units capable of interconnection to create a firm super-structure. It is a further object of this invention to provide such a deep water port with a means for natural deep water mooring.
• a further object of this invention is to provide embodiments in which at least one of (a) a habitat for undersea flora and fauna; (b) an artificial reef; is incorporated into the integrated port structure.
• An additional object of this invention is to provide embodiments in which the integrated deepwater port is connected to structures on dry land via at least one of a bridge, a tunnel, or a pipeline.
• An additional object of this invention is to provide a method for construction of an integrated deepwater offshore port, in which an upper pier deck is constructed in conjunction with and under-deck breakwater.
• a further object of this invention is to provide a method for construction of an integrated deep-water port in which the structure comprises a plurality of interconnected prefabricated perforated modular marine structure units.
• the integrated port is as defined in any of the above, wherein the said breakwater lower portion is in a shape constituting a rectangular parallelepiped 12 defined by six planar faces with lower base vertices ABCD (see Fig.
• the parallelepiped is a geometrical cube with sides about 1 m to 10 Km long; non-adjacent corners of the cube, B, D, E, and G, are cut out, leaving surfaces S ⁇ , S D , S E , and S G ;
• S ⁇ , So, Sg, and Sc have the shape of part of the surface selected from a group consisting of a sphere centered at the nearest corner and any shape bulging toward the cube's center, an ellipsoid or a more complex shape;
• four tunnels T # , T D , T E , and T G are formed and converge in the cube's center to form a tetrapod-like passage interconnecting the cut-out surfaces; said tunnels having a cross section selected from a group consisting of cylindrical cross-section and other shapes;
• six planar surfaces left from the faces of the original cube are base planes by which the perforated modular marine structure contacts other modules.
• the integrated port is as defined in any of the above, and comprises at least one constructed platform, having a pier deck upper portion 1 and an breakwater lower portion 2, said breakwater lower portion is in a shape constituting a rectangular parallelepiped 12 defined by a plurality of N planar faces (N as defined hereinafter is an integer, and equals e.g., 4, 6, 9 etc), with lower N ⁇ first constant base vertices and N ⁇ second constant upper base vertices (first and second constants as defined hereinafter are an integer); wherein said port sits in deep water as a structure independent of dry land or any structure thereon.
• N as defined hereinafter is an integer, and equals e.g., 4, 6, 9 etc
• a method of erecting a deepwater offshore integrated port comprises steps of constructing an under-deck breakwater and a pier deck in conjunction with said under-deck breakwater; and (b), providing said breakwater lower portion to in a shape constituting a rectangular parallelepiped 12 defined by a plurality of N planar faces with lower N ⁇ first constant base vertices and N ⁇ second constant upper base vertices.
• FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a modular marine structure unit 10 (prior art, U.S. Pat. No.
• FIG. 2 shows how the transport of a prefabricated modular unit 10 (or of an assembly comprising a plurality of interconnected units) to the site of the port;
• FIGS. 3 and 4 show top views of the assembled port with a cutaway view showing the placement of a modular unit 10, said modular unit being shown in one embodiment;
• FIG. 5 shows a cutaway assembly diagram illustrating how modular structure units 10 are connected to form the breakwater under deck 2;
• FIG. 6 shows a view of the fully-constructed port 100 showing the upper pier deck 1 and breakwater under deck 2, illustrating how the fully-constructed port sits in the water;
• FIG. 7 shows a cutaway view of the port 100 illustrating the construction of the breakwater deck 2 from modular units 10 and the positions of the upper deck 1 and of the under deck 2 relative to each other and to the water;
• FIG. 8 shows a view of a harbor that includes an integrated deep water port 100.
• Breakwater a barrier designed to protect a harbor or shore from the impact of waves.
• Perforated modular marine structure unit a structural module for underwater construction, which has cut-outs or passages such that when immersed in a body of water, the water may pass through it.
• a perforated modular marine structure unit 10 is shown with a shape constituting a rectangular parallelepiped 12 defined by six planar faces with lower base vertices ABCD and upper base vertices EFGH.
• the parallelepiped is a geometrical cube with sides about 10 m long.
• Four non-adjacent corners of the cube, in this case, B, D, E, and G, are cut out, leaving surfaces Ss, S D (not seen in the view illustrated in FIG. 1), S E , and S G -
• Ss, S D not seen in the view illustrated in FIG. 1
• S E S E
• S G In the particular embodiment shown in FIG.
• S B , So, S E , and S G have the shape of part of the surface of a sphere centered at the nearest corner, but they can have any shape bulging toward the cube's center (e.g. an ellipsoid or a more complex shape).
• Four tunnels T ⁇ , T D , T E , and T G are formed and converge in the cube's center to form a tetrapod-like passage interconnecting the cut-out surfaces.
• the tunnels are shown as having a cylindrical cross-section, but they may be of other shapes.
• the six planar surfaces left from the faces of the original cube e.g. surface 14, remaining from side EFGH) are base planes by which the perforated modular marine structure contacts other modules. These surfaces must be large enough to ensure stable positioning of the module on a substantially horizontal foundation during the assembly process.
• the perforated modular marine structures are formed with reinforcing diagonal beams (RDBs) 30 extending along the six diagonals on the planar surfaces remaining from the faces of the original cube.
• the RDBs may comprise reinforcing elements, for example, steel rods 32, and material embedding the reinforcing elements, e.g. concrete.
• Recesses 42 are formed on the cube's surface at the corners of the module. When two to eight modular marine structure units 10 are arranged about a common corner, these recesses form cavities that serve as a mold for casting concrete or injecting grout to create corner joints. Similar recesses 52 may be formed along the diagonals, as shown in FIG. 1.
• FIG. 1 shows one example of the design of a perforated modular marine unit, but the construction of the underdeck 2 is not restricted to this specific design for the modular units 10.
• FIGS. 2-4 various stages in the construction of the underdeck 2 and integrated port 100 are shown.
• FIG. 5 a detail of a section of the completed underdeck 2 is shown.
• the means, by which the individual perforated modular marine units are interconnected, described above, is shown graphically in the figure.
• an integrated deepwater offshore port 100 which comprises an upper pier deck 1 and an under-deck 2.
• the upper pier deck is constructed of materials appropriate for use in salt water. It is designed for mooring of mega-ships, as a base for heavy cranes and other equipment used for on-loading and off-loading of cargo to and from the ships, and as a temporary location for cargo to be loaded onto the container ships or to be transferred to the container terminal.
• the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 shows the upper deck as having a rectangular profile, but due to the modular nature of the port's construction, the exact dimensions and shape of the upper deck will necessarily vary from embodiment to embodiment according to the specific needs of the port itself. Similarly, the exact dimensions and shape of the under-deck will be chosen in order to provide support for the upper deck, and will thus vary depending on the needs of the specific port being constructed.
• the under-deck 2 is constructed from a plurality of perforated modular marine structure units 10.
• the perforated modular marine structure units are prefabricated and designed such that they are capable of interconnection, and are constructed from material that is compatible with long-term immersion in salt water.
• FIG. 1 One embodiment of said perforated modular marine structure unit is presented in FIG. 1.
• This embodiment illustrates the essential qualities of the unit, in particular, its modularity (i.e. construction of the under-deck 2 is done by interconnecting a plurality of identical elements as illustrated in FIG. 5), its interconnectability, and its ability to allow water to pass through it. In this particular embodiment, water flows through cut out portions of the structure.
• the unit may contain passages or be itself constructed from smaller sub-units in order to allow passage of water.
• the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 is provided to illustrate the construction of the integrated dock, and is not intended to limit its construction to use of the specific embodiment shown in the figure.
• the under-deck sits directly on the natural sea floor and is constructed from prefabricated modular marine units 10 which are constructed on-shore, and the upper deck sits atop the mega- structure.
• the elements are interconnected (cf. FIG. 5) in dry dock. After the modular marine units are interconnected, a platform of at least one level is built. It is possible to build further structures atop the platform, with the platform itself serving as a foundation for the structures. After the work is completed in dry dock, the dry dock is filled with water to float the platform and everything on top of it. The platform is then towed (afloat) to its ultimate location in deep water, at which point water is allowed to enter the cavities within the modular marine units, causing them to sink to the sea floor, thus creating the breakwater port.
• the elements may be interconnected in wet dock and the port then towed to its ultimate location.
• the under-deck is constructed from perforated units, it acts naturally as an efficient breakwater, providing still water on its landward side, and thus enabling the upper deck to act as a pier or wharf for cargo ships without the need for construction of a separate dedicated breakwater.
• the perforated units additionally can serve as a habitat for underwater flora and fauna, and hence, the under-deck as constructed can also serve as the basis of a man-made reef.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Ocean & Marine Engineering (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Civil Engineering (AREA)
• Structural Engineering (AREA)
• Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
• Revetment (AREA)

Priority Applications (7)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

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Publications (2)

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Family Applications (1)

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Cited By (4)

Citations (10)

Family Cites Families (29)

• 2010
  • 2010-01-14 US US13/144,394 patent/US20120051845A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2010-01-14 EP EP10706752A patent/EP2376712A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2010-01-14 CN CN2010800119241A patent/CN102348853A/zh active Pending
  • 2010-01-14 WO PCT/IL2010/000036 patent/WO2010082198A2/en active Application Filing
  • 2010-01-14 BR BRPI1007892A patent/BRPI1007892A2/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2010-01-14 JP JP2011545837A patent/JP5658168B2/ja active Active

Patent Citations (12)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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