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The archaeological site of Portus (Ostia Antica), is a most important ports of the ancient world. Since 2017, the University of Huelva, in collaboration with the Archaeological Park of Ostia Antica, has been developing a research project on one of its interior piers, the so-called lantern. Said east–west structure or pier is the best example of its category in the port complex. With a length of about 150 m. the latest research has provided numerous and interesting data on its architecture and diachrony, highlighting significant phases in its evolution from its construction to its final abandonment in the beginnings of the Middle Ages. Therefore, the results presented here represent a significant novelty in the general knowledge of Portus and in that of its docks in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) transport system, which plays a huge role in the transportation and economy of the Philippines, mainly uses piers to provide smooth berthing of ships. However, its structural configuration attracts different hazards causing damage, particularly to piles. Tsunamis produce devastating wave forces. This may heavily result in discontinuity of the whole port operation as there will be no available berthing structure for ships. Hence, this study was conducted to determine the structural resilience of the pile-supported piers of the Port of Batangas against tsunami loads at different variations of wave height and water depth. Structural software was used to model the piers and incorporate calculated tsunami drag forces. Furthermore, pushover analysis was performed to produce the base shear versus displacement curves needed for the calculation of the robustness index. The rapidity index, on one hand, is based on an interview with the Philippine Ports Authority - Port Management Office (PPA-PMO) of Batangas resulting in recovery rates for demolition works and pile replacement. Combining these indices using the concept of resilience triangle, values of the resilience index ranging from 0.0 to 1.0 were calculated at both longitudinal and transverse directions. As a result, the piers were categorized as highly resilient in almost 50% of the tsunami load cases. It proved that the pier with existing batter piles exhibits higher resilience than the other which is only supported by vertical piles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The £6.76 million refurbishment of Whitby's famous west and east piers improved the condition of the grade II listed structures into the foreseeable future. The project stabilised sandstone facing blocks, filled voids and repaired the deck surface to prevent damage from water ingress. A new flood deflector wall at the adjoining slipway was built in preference to a more visually intrusive flood gate alternative, and this wall now lessens the impact of wave run-up on the slipway during stormy sea conditions, protecting several commercial properties against sea flooding, which previously regularly occurred. The construction work, susceptible to unpredictable weather and undertaken in a hostile marine environment, was carried out from marine craft, using cranes with suspended access systems and divers, all working in tidal conditions. Through careful planning and coordination, construction was completed safely, ahead of programme and £150 000 under budget. This paper describes the physical setting and historic development of the harbour at Whitby, draws lessons from an earlier refurbishment of another grade II listed marine structure and demonstrates how these lessons were applied to the refurbishment of the Whitby harbour piers to ensure that the works remained sympathetic to the heritage values and iconic aesthetic setting of the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ocean fishing piers are ubiquitous along the world's coastline, yet little research has examined how these structures can attract and retain fishes. Fishers routinely use these human-made structures as a reliable way to catch fish for subsistence or recreation. California halibut (Paralichthys californicus) and white croaker (Genyonemus lineatus) are commonly caught from fishing piers in southern California; however, some individuals have been found to contain high concentrations of hazardous contaminants. Thus, human health hazard warnings are posted throughout the Los Angeles area to limit fish consumption. To document attraction, residency, and association to fishing piers, 42 California halibut and 198 white croaker were tagged with acoustic transmitters in regions of the Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors, including a local fishing pier, and the movements of these fish were tracked throughout a 1.5 year period. Average (±SD) fish residency near piers was 90.5 ± 104.8 days for California halibut and 31.9 ± 25.7 days for white croaker. Only 18% of white croaker and 6% California halibut were detected migrating to the pier from other locations of the LA-LB Harbors, and most spent < 10 min within 300 m of the public fish pier. Only 14% of California halibut and 0.35% of white croaker geo-positions were within casting range (approximately 30 m) of the pier, thus California halibut show the greatest potential affinity for pier habitat. Due to their movement patterns and habitat associations California halibut are much more likely to be attracted to fishing piers than white croaker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Destructive damages to deep foundations due to liquefaction-induced lateral spreading during or after major earthquakes in gently sloping or level grounds with a free end have been observed in many earthquakes. The pile foundations supporting structures located in or near the ports and harbors, and also bridge piers, are the most vulnerable structures in this respect, as have been observed in various events in earthquake-prone areas all around the world for decades. Many physical and numerical modeling studies have been carried out to study and understand the insight into different aspects of this phenomenon. In this regard, 1g shake table and Ng centrifuge tests using both rigid and laminar shear boxes have been utilized to physically model the problem and measure the crucial parameters that may play an important role in the effects of lateral spreading on deep foundations. A number of countermeasures have also been examined for tackling this problem. In this paper, the authors describe shortly the physical modeling studies conducted by the first author and his coworkers including the second author on this subject during the last decade. In addition, the various parameters that are involved in physical modeling for studying the behavior of deep foundations subjected to liquefaction-induced lateral spreading are discussed herein. The limitations involved in such physical modeling are also mentioned and some solutions to the involved challenges are discussed as well. • Shake table experiments were conducted to study the responses of piles to lateral spreading. • Different parameters (configurations of piles, soil profiles and superstructure weights) have been investigated. • Several shake table experiments were also conducted to assess the mitigation methods against lateral spreading. • Rigid and laminar shear boxes were constructed and used to investigate the effects of boundary condition. • A number of limitations involved in 1g physical modeling are mentioned and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CFST-RC column is modified from CFST laced column in which CFST members are connected with RC web instead of steel bracings. The CFST-RC column has excellent static and earthquake resistant properties, such as high strength, high ductility and large energy absorption capacity. CFST-RC columns have been adopted as piers in Ganhaizi Bridge in high seismic risk zone with a highest pier of 107m.. The experimental investigation on scaled models of similar type of the CFST-RC pier are carried out. Under cyclic loading, the hysteretic performance of CFST-RC columns, such as failure modes, ductility, load displacement hysteretic curves, energy absorption capacity, strength and stiffness degradation are studied in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on scour in the wake region of piers in cohesive sediments containing gravel were not reported in literature, to the best of our knowledge. Results from the laboratory experiments based study on the process of wake scour are presented here. The sediment used for the experiment were of two types: (1) fine gravel mixed with clay in proportions varying from 20% to 60% by weight, and (2) fine gravel and fine sand in equal proportion by weight mixed with clay in proportions varying from 20% to 60% by weight. The experiments revealed that the process of scour as well as depth, shape, and geometry of scour hole developed in such cohesive sediment were significantly different from that of cohesionless sediments. Proportion of clay fraction and unconfined compressive strength of cohesive sediment mixture were found to be the most significant variables controlling the depth of scour in the wake of piers. On the basis of dimensional considerations, relationships have been proposed for the estimation of the depth of scour in the wake region of piers in clay-gravel and clay-sand-gravel sediment mixtures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Piers with back-to-back stems or columns and piers for which part of the foundation becomes exposed as a result of the development of scour over large periods of time or because of severe flood events are fairly common at bridge waterways. The present paper uses eddy-resolving numerical simulations to study flow and turbulence structure at piers of complex shape and/or with multiple components. In particular, the study considers cases with one and two back-to-back pier columns for which the section of the main column is neither circular nor rectangular. In addition to a design case for which the foundation of each pier column is submerged, the study analyzes a case when scour exposes part of the foundation of the main column. The results show that the shape and size of the pier column have a significant effect on the spatial and temporal distributions of the bed friction velocity induced by the horseshoe vortex system. The large-scale shedding behind the main column greatly influences flow structure and increases bed friction velocity around the downstream column for piers with two back-to-back columns that are aligned with the incoming flow direction. The present study shows that the presence of large-scale unsteady coherent structures in the vicinity of the bed around piers of complex shapes results in very complex distributions of the bed friction velocity and in large-scale temporal oscillations of the bed friction velocity. The results of eddy-resolving simulations strongly suggest the need to account for the effect of these large-scale oscillations around the mean value when bed friction velocity distributions are used to estimate the flux of entrained sediment in movable bed simulations that do not resolve the large-scale turbulent flow structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, special behavior of floating piers in the berthing event is assessed, and a new approach is presented for the analysis of these kinds of piers for berthing impact. Accurate estimation of berthing force is an important matter for appropriate design of mooring piles in these piers. In the pier design references, the traditional approach used in the design of fixed piers is extended to floating piers, ignoring distinctive response of these piers to berthing impact. In this paper, the fact of mobility and flexibility of structural system of floating piers are taken into consideration, and it is proved that energy absorption mechanism in these piers is different from that of fixed piers. Thus a new analytical approach and corresponding closed form formulations are presented in this paper for evaluating impact energy and induced berthing forces in these piers. The validity of presented method is shown by numerical simulations. Comparison of results of analysis by new and traditional methods in two typical piers shows that the traditional method underestimates berthing force in floating piers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

By applying the Lefebvrian lens, this paper tries to understand why unlike previous similar cases, the latest removal of the Star Ferry and Queen's Pier was so controversial. To Lefebvre, embedded in 'spatial practices' that 'secrete' a place are two contradicting spaces: 'conceived spaces' produced by planners to create exchange values and 'lived spaces' appropriated by citizens for use values. Applying Lefebvre's framework to examine the 'Piers saga', it is found that the pre-Second World War (WWII) piers were 'conceived' by spatial practices of a colonial and racially segregated trading enclave. The public space in the commercial heart that housed the previous generations of piers was not accessible to the Chinese community, thus denying them opportunities to appropriate them and turn them into 'lived' spaces. It was only after WWII when the Government carried out further reclamation to meet the needs of an industrializing economy that inclusive public spaces were conceived in the commercial heart, enabling the general public to 'appropriate' them as 'lived' space. When the Government planned to remove this very first 'lived' space in the political and economic heart of the city to conceive further reclamation for the restructuring economy, the more enlightened citizens were determined to defend it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rate at which creosote-treated pilings release polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) into the environment should diminish with structure age and weathering, and so, it may be assumed that PAH concentrations in the vicinity of old structures (>30 years) may approach background levels. However, this may not be true in cold environments where PAH release and degradation rates are slow and where pilings continue to experience significant physical damage. Moreover, PAHs will remain high in the vicinity of pilings if current and wave action is insufficient to disperse and dilute PAHs over a wider area and/or where PAHs do not become diluted and buried by uncontaminated sediments. This is demonstrated in our investigation of the sediments of the Grey Owl Marina, located in Prince Albert National Park, in central Saskatchewan, Canada. The marina, constructed in the early 1960s, consists of six piers and is protected from strong wave action by a breakwater. PAH concentrations were high in sediments collected under the piers and inside the boat slips, exceeding probable effect levels for several compounds. Various lines of physical and chemical evidence pointed to creosote as being the primary PAH source with a mixture of relatively undegraded and weathered PAHs being present. PAH concentrations decreased rapidly 2 m and further away from the pilings as a result of dilution with increasing dispersal over a broadening area. There was evidence of benthic community impairment, with total abundances negatively correlated with PAH concentrations. According to the Methods for Ranking Contaminated Aquatic Sites on Canadian Federal Properties, areas with the highest hazard scores were under the piers and inside the boat slips, while areas with the lowest hazard scores were >10 m from the pilings. Therefore, remedial actions based on piling and contaminated sediment removal may need to be conducted over only a small area, i.e., within 2 m of the pilings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The maritime industry is moving towards a sustainable supply chain (SSC), intending to increase the quality of logistics and make more profit. The sustainability of the maritime supply chain (MSC) in Iran is one of the topics that has not been widely studied. Ports play a crucial role in promoting Iran's position in the international transit of products, strengthening economic, social, and environmental connections with neighboring eastern and northeastern countries, improving GDP, and promoting the role of the free zone in the national development of the country. Port development is one of the essential elements in the government's strategic planning in developing and activating the East axis. It has a special priority in line with government policies based on deprivation elimination and improving people's living standards. This paper considers five significant ports of Iran that are part of special economic zones and studies the sustainability of those ports. In this research, different multi-criteria decision-making methods were applied to solve a sustainability-ranking problem of major Iranian ports. First of all, by using the SWARA method, sub-criteria of loading and unloading oil, pier length, and population obtained the highest scores in economic, environmental, and social aspects of sustainability, respectively, which shows that they had the greatest impact on the sustainability assessment of Iranian ports. Finally, the MARCOS and CoCoSo techniques were the most similar in all three dimensions of sustainability, and both seemed to be suitable methods for evaluating the sustainability of ports. Furthermore, the implementation of sensitivity analysis and definition of different scenarios for port evaluation and the high efficiency of the MARCOS method were determined in solving the port-ranking problem. According to the MARCOS method results, economic, environmental, and social criteria were all effective criteria in the sustainable development of major Iranian ports and have been largely applied in Astara, Bushehr, and Imam Khomeini ports. Based on the analysis of the results, several managerial insights to make better industry decisions are also revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scour at a bridge pier is the formation of a hole around the pier due to the erosion of soil by flowing water; this hole in the soil reduces the carrying capacity of the foundation and the pier. Excessive scour can cause a bridge pier to fail without warning. Current predictions of the depth of the scour hole around a bridge pier are based on deterministic models. This paper considers two alternative deterministic models to predict scour depth. For each deterministic model, a corresponding probabilistic model is constructed using a Bayesian statistical approach and available field and experimental data. The developed probabilistic models account for the estimated bias in the deterministic models and for the model uncertainty. Parameters from both prediction models are compared to determine their accuracy. The developed probabilistic models are used to estimate the probability of exceedance of scour depth around bridge piers. The method is demonstrated on an example bridge pier. The paper addresses model uncertainties for given hydrologic variables. Hydrologic uncertainties have been presented in a separate paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A suspension bridge over a river is generally supported on a structure mounted on large concrete piers placed on the river bottom near the two banks. Because of its massive size the piers are built by pouring concrete at site in a floating position. During this construction period, the floating caissons are moored in place to withstand any environmental currents and waves, which may be prevalent at the site. Since the draft of the caisson changes during construction, the mooring system must be capable of holding the caisson at all these drafts. Once the construction sequence reaches the required height, the caisson is ballasted down to rest on the river bottom and subsequently during further ballasting penetrates the soil to its desired depth. The design and construction of the piers in place and their mooring system provides several technical challenges. This paper describes these challenges experienced in the design of a caisson system for a new bridge at Tacoma Narrows, close to Seattle. This design process included towing the caissons at a shallow draft from the dock to the site, design and installation of the mooring system, construction of the caissons in place, and final touchdown and penetration to soil. The current at the Narrows was extremely high, which gave particular challenges in the construction sequence. Some of the critical areas of the associated design and their solution techniques are highlighted. It should be noted that the dimensions of the bridge caissons and their mooring system are of similar order of magnitude as typical offshore structures exposed to severe environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Riprap of bridge piers is placed to prevent scour and to secure the pier from failure. Riprap is therefore an addition to a pier to increase its performance against scour. The present research intends to present three basic scour mechanisms associated with circular-shaped bridge piers in rivers first, to introduce then a number of selected experiments for a range of hydraulic, geometric, and sedimentologic conditions, and finally to describe a novel procedure for assessing the safety of these river elements against failure. This procedure is based on the Shields diagram relating to sediment entrainment in a uniform and flat sediment bed subjected by a water flow. The Shields approach is extended for the presence of a circular-shaped pier that is protected by a circular-arranged riprap layer of equal size elements. The design procedure presented in the following thus reduces to the entrainment condition of a pier for equal riprap and the sediment sizes and to the Shields entrainment condition when the pier diameter degenerates to 0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is an overview of different previous approaches to the rehabilitation of Havana's old port. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results of an experimental investigation into local scour at piers and abutments in uniform gravels under a clear water scour condition are presented. Two types of pier, namely circular and square, and two types of short abutment (abutment length/upstream flow depth < 1, for short abutments), namely wing-wall and vertical-wall, were tested. Although scour at piers and abutments has been studied widely in sand beds, it remains almost unexplored in gravel beds. Therefore, different gravel sizes, ranging from 4.1 mm to 14.25 mm, were used in this experimental study. The influence of gravel size on equilibrium scour depth at piers and abutments is prominent. From the experimental results, it is observed that the equilibrium scour depth increases with decrease in gravel size and with increase in pier width and abutment length. The variations of equilibrium scour depth with gravel size for both pier and abutment scour depart considerably from the variations of equilibrium scour depth with sand size. Consequently, for scour at piers and abutments, the resulting sediment size factors for gravels, evaluated by fitting envelope curves, are significantly different from the existing sediment size factor for sands. Combining pier and abutment scour data, an integrated approach to estimating the equilibrium scour depth at a bridge foundation is proposed. Scaling of distorted experimental model results to prototype is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural behaviour and reliability peculiarities of cargo piers in deepened harbour waters are discussed. Deterministic and probabilistic reliability assessment methods for permeable cargo piers exposed to lateral berthing actions and gravity permanent and variable loads are analysed. Some new methodological approaches to probabilistic reliability assessment of existing cargo piers are presented. The survival probability assessment of pier piles is based on their irreversible serviceability and safety margins. The numerical example illustrates the virtue of probability-based approaches and methods of design practice of cargo piers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The damage suffered by elevated viaducts of the Hanshin Expressway Kobe Route during the 1995 Kobe earthquake is described with emphasis on reinforced concrete (RC) piers. Although many piers were severely damaged, it is also true that the damage to many piers appeared moderate or even mild. On the other hand, a number of piers suffered from large residual inclination in spite of the apparently light damage. By considering that the large residual inclination of piers included severe earthquake-induced damage, it is pointed out that almost all the RC single piers from P35 to P350 received consistently severe damage. The cause of large residual inclination, especially in apparently nondamaged piers, is studied. A dynamic analysis of a single RC pier is conducted to study the relationship between residual inclination and residual deformation of a pier. As a result, we find that the flexural residual deformation of a pier cannot explain the observed large residual inclination, but it is suggested that the pulling out of reinforcing bar from the footing can be a primary cause of the observed large residual inclination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which provided a framework to determine the optimal extent of specific port access infrastructure and how its associated cost could be fairly divided among its users. Evaluation of port pricing systems; Calculations needed to implement the selected pricing mechanism; Conclusion.

Talks about the connection between the ports of Los Angeles, California and Liverpool, England. Discussion on China as a primary industrial hinterland for the port of Los Angeles; Details on Liverpool's version of a Los Angeles-style 'invisible' maritime future.

Provides information related to Matadi, the ocean terminal of Belgian Africa. Location of Matadi; Availability of a rudimentary metal pier; Port operations.

The article offers information on the expansion and improvements of the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT), a port located on the coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. RBCT is considered to be the largest coal terminal in the world. Additional port handling capacity would be of five phase development, which should enable South Africa to increase its coal exports. RBCT is owned by the companies involved in mining industries, firms which are the port's main costumers. The expansion of the port will benefit industries involved in exporting in Europe, East and South Asia.

The article reports on the new port to be inaugurated by the government of Djibouti on January 2006. It cost the government about 150-million dollars to complete the project. The construction of the port commenced two years ago. The new port will be used to unload and distribute petroleum products.