Abstract
In 2001 a storm induced the failure of four caissons recently built for the construction of a dyke in a new entrance to the Barcelona Harbor. Understanding the failure required the analysis of the construction history and the wave action. The caissons were founded on a thick layer of soft silty clays potentially liquefactable. The main properties of foundation soils are discussed based on laboratory and field data. A back-analysis of the failure is developed using an analytical and a numerical procedure. The analytical procedure is based on well-known solutions and concepts in Soil Mechanics. It involves the calculation of pore water pressure distributions on the foundation, its dissipation, the induced increase of the undrained strength, and the caisson stability during construction stages. An analysis of liquefaction, which explains the collapse observed, is also described. The problem is also solved numerically using a commercial finite difference code. This second analysis allowed a cross-checking of the analytical solution and the quantification of some simplifications introduced that can be properly accounted for in the numerical analysis. In the final part of the paper an alternative stable design of the caisson dyke is presented.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alonso EE, Krizek RJ (1975) Consolidation of randomly heterogeneous clay strata. Transp Res Rec 548:30–47
Davis EH, Booker JR (1973) The effect of increasing strength with depth on the bearing capacity of clays. Géotechnique 23(4):551–563
Davis EH, Poulos HG (1972) Rate of settlement under two- and three-dimensional conditions. Géotechnique 22(1):95–114
Goda Y (1985) Random seas and design of maritime structures. University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, 323 pp
de Groot MB, Bolton MD, Foray P, Meijers P, Palmer AC, Sandven R, Sawicki A, The TC (2006) Physics of liquefaction phenomena around marine structures. J Waterw Port Coast Ocean Eng 132(4):227–243
Ishihara K (1993) Liquefaction and flow failure during earthquakes. Géotechnique 43(3):351–415
Jamiolkowski M, Ladd CC, Germaine JT, Lancellotta R (1985) New developments in field and laboratory testing of soils. In: Proceedings, 11th international conference on Soil mechanics and foundation engineering, San Francisco, vol 1, pp 57–154
Jeng DS (1998) Wave-induced seabed response in a cross anisotropic seabed in front of a breakwater: an analytical solution. Ocean Eng 25(1):49–67
Jeng DS (2001) Mechanism of the wave-induced seabed instability in the vicinity of a breakwater: a review. Ocean Eng 28:537–570
Jeng DS, Lin YS (2000) Poroelastic analysis of the wave-sea interaction problem. Comput Geotech 26:43–64
Kudella M, Oumeraci H, de Groot MB, Meijers P (2006) Large-scale experiments on pore pressure generation underneath a caisson breakwater. J Waterw Port Coast Ocean Eng 132(4):310–324
Lunne T, Robertson PK, Powell JJM (1997) Cone penetration testing in geotechnical practice. Blackie Academic/Chapman and Hall, E&FN Spon, London
NGI (2002) Report on DSS tests. Port Authority, Barcelona
Olson SM, Stark TD (2002) Liquefied strength ratio from liquefaction flow failure case histories. Can Geotech J 39:629–647
Oumeraci H (1994) Review and analysis of vertical breakwater failures-lessons learned. Coast Eng 22:3–29
Potts D, Zdravkovic L (1999) Finite element analysis in geotechnical engineering, vol I, theory. Telford Publishing, London
Poulos HG, Davis EH (1973) Elastic solutions for soil and rock mechanics. Wiley, New York
Rowe PW, Craig WH (1976) Studies of offshore caissons founded on Ostercheelde sand. Design and construction of offshore structures. ICE, London, pp 49–60
Sassa S, Sekiguchi H (2001) Analysis of wave-induced liquefaction of sand beds. Géotechnique 51(2):115–126
Van der Poel JT, de Groot MB (1998) Cyclic load tests on a caisson breakwater placed on sand. Proc. Int. Conf. Centrifuge 98 1:403–408
Wood DM (1990) Soil behaviour and critical state soil mechanics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Youd TL, Idriss IM (2001) Liquefaction resistance of soils: summary report from the 1996 NCEER and 1998 NCEER/NSF workshops on evaluation of liquefaction resistance of soils. J Geotech Geo-environ Eng ASCE 127(10):297–313
Zhang XY, Lee FH, Leung CF (2009) Géotechnique 59(1):3–16
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer India
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Alonso, E.E., Pinyol, N.P., Fernández, P. (2016). Caisson Failure Induced by Wave Action. In: Rao, V., Sivakumar Babu, G. (eds) Forensic Geotechnical Engineering. Developments in Geotechnical Engineering. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2377-1_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2377-1_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New Delhi
Print ISBN: 978-81-322-2376-4
Online ISBN: 978-81-322-2377-1
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)