Marine Structures

Breakwaters

Testing and optimizing the performance of fixed and floating breakwaters is a core element of CHC’s business. CHC engineers have extensive experience with a wide range of structure types, including:

Typical performance issues include:

In addition to an extensive record of commercial testing, many new insights and innovative technologies have been developed through numerous research studies.

Offshore Structures

CHC has the facilities and expertise to conduct high-quality model tests to assess the performance of a wide variety of offshore structures in severe marine environments. Our track record includes:

Typical performance issues investigated in these studies include:

Ship Mooring

CHC engineers have extensive experience with a broad range of ship mooring problems. In many projects, ship motions are used as a criterion to verify the performance of new berths. In other cases, mooring studies are conducted to improve conditions at existing sub-standard facilities.

Mooring studies typically involve determining vessel motions, fender loads and mooring line loads under a range of environmental conditions including seas, swells, long-waves, winds and currents. Fendering and mooring systems can be optimized to deal with site-specific conditions.

The horizontal motions of large vessels can be very sensitive to low-frequency long waves and harbour resonance. CHC has developed industry-leading techniques to accurately simulate long-waves in laboratory basins, and to investigate their impact on ship motions.

The relative motions of multiple floating bodies have been investigated in several projects. CHC has experience with many vessel types, including:

Seawalls, Revetments & Groins

Seawalls, revetments and groins are generally used to protect valuable waterfront property from the water’s erosive powers. CHC has been investigating the design, performance and environmental impacts of these structures for over 35 years.

Seawalls and revetments normally run parallel to the shoreline. Critical issues for these structures typically include:

Groins are low rubble-mound structures oriented roughly perpendicular to shore to protect against erosion by trapping sediment. CHC has conducted numerous studies of groins designed for lake, river and ocean environments. Critical issues in these studies typically include:

Docks, Piers & Jetties

Docks, piers and jetties are important structures used extensively in ports, harbours and marinas. CHC routinely conducts physical model studies to validate and optimize the performance of innovative structures, while numerical modelling is often used to quantify a broad range of environmental impacts.

For example, CHC has conducted several physical model studies to determine wave uplift forces on pile-supported structures with low freeboards exposed to large waves. CHC has also conducted tests with many different types of floating docks. In several cases, CHC engineers were able to suggest simple modifications that led to dramatic improvements in performance.

CHC has developed several innovative technologies to reduce wave reflections from both fixed and floating structures. Application of these technologies can dramatically reduce wave disturbances in berthing areas and navigation channels.

Outfalls & Pipelines

CHC offers a comprehensive range of modelling services to assist with the analysis and design of wastewater outfalls and marine pipelines. CHC has experienced engineers and state-of-the-art tools to investigate: