Floating breakwaters
We feel the technical knowledge we have acquired in engineering school and in practice should be put into full use not only for standard building projects but also for creating new possibilities and designs. This results in product development and also in innovative engineering for otherwise standard projects. The added value of innovation is always long term and it takes a load of good common sense and intuition to evaluate research and development.
Breakwater for resort
FDN is involved in the development of multiple resorts all over the world. To protect the marina floating breakwaters have been used.
Floating breakwater
Building a floating breakwater in Greece (Messolonghi)
The whole process during the building of a floating breakwater in Greece is explained in the pictures below. Finally the floating breakwater is brought to it’s position and tested in extreme weather conditions.
For the Messolonghi Breakwater we did our own wave analysis of the area
and compared it with data given by the authorities.
Our design criteria were as follows:
• Water depth near breaker 9 m
• Wind speed 12 Beaufort (30 m/s)
• Occurring wave periods T =1 to 6 sec , corresponding wave lengths up to 60 m
• Wave height up to 2 m (significant wave height)
• Wave damping needed: up to 2 m waves with a period of 5 s should be
damped up to 80%. Higher waves damped 50%
• Design extreme condition wave height up to 4 m (for design anchorage,
concrete and connections)
• Design life structure 70 years
• Reference period of loads 100 years
The structure was calculated according to the European codes.
Workers for the pontoons in Greece
Making the formwork / Building the element, length 25 m
Reinforcement, lifting points / Pouring and vibrating the concrete
Polystyreen blocks for the core of the breakwater / Placing the polystyreen blocks
Pouring the concrete / Building a floating breakwater on shore
U-Block: Breakwater block / Lifting a mega breakwater
Turning U-Blocks (Dutch floating Breakwaters) in the water / Connecting elements with the FDN designed flexible connectors
FDN’s flexible pontoon connector / Mega breakwater ready to bring to it’s end position
Walking on a floating breakwater
3D model of a floating breakwater
Simulating stresses during wave movements / Damping the waves: The proof
Breakwater during extreme weather conditions
Building of a floating breakwater in Monaco
Below is another visual presentation of the building process of a floating breakwater. This one is a combined structure, holding a carpark internally and acting as a promenade/boulevard.
Our design criteria were as follows:
• Wave height up to 2,8 m / 7,2 s (significant wave height)
• Design extreme condition wave height up to 4,9 m / 12,0 s (for design anchorage, concrete and connections)
• Wave damping needed: up to 2,8 m waves with a period of 7,2 s should be
damped up to 80%, higher waves damped 50%
• Reference period of loads 100 years
• Design life structure 100 years
Anchorage configuration
Section of the breakwater
Impression of the breakwater
Testing scale model
Testing with scale model ships
Breakwater in dock
During fabrication
On water
Placement
Final result
Watch a short clip of a floating breakwater under heavy wind and wave load, 3 Mb