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Description
This project is justifiable to cope with an increasing need in the construction of large floating structures using concrete instead of steel, to standardise the specific properties of such concrete and to support the construction of simplified abacus to enhance the selection of pontoons for each specific site.
The proposed project will evaluate all the structural requirements (namely berthing and mooring loads, punctual and distributed loads, service applications) using Eurocode and AS3692 directives. Based on the calculation results obtained the constructive design will be detailed focusing mainly on properties of concrete, steel reinforcements and expanded polystyrene core suitable for the specific application in marine environment. It will focus on the type of construction methods such as monolithic approach or segmental solution. Test models will be built to validate ongoing results.
This product is aimed to be used in commercial and fishing ports, marinas and leisure harbours, working piers to attend offshore operations, touristic and multipurpose piers required wave attenuation in estuaries and rivers.
The benefit of this type of concept is to crate and alternative to large steel pontoons which require regular surveys and inspection on shore with the related operational losses and costs. It is also an objective to validate a lifetime of 50 years with environmental adequate construction processes.