} UNDERMINING OF QUAYWALLS AT SOUTH AFRICAN PORTS DUE TO THE USE OF BOW THRUSTERS AND OTHER PROPELLER UNITS by Ph Harbour Engineer, Port ELizabeth (a Regionat Manager, S.A. Taansport la eat (13h Poe eicbech Uitepubtie of South Afetea 60001 1. INTRODUCTION ‘The South African commercial ports form an integral pert of the country's national transport system, cficially own as the South Afelcan Transport Services, which provides servioes in all branches of transport; es rally oad, ley pipelines and harbours. tt is 3 non-profit making fconcern administered on business prioiples. Whilst the rational ports policy is determined by the South Afeican ‘Transport Services Administation, the port authority Is vested Ina separate section of the South African Trans- oct Services organisation Known as the Harbours Section, Which manages, operates and provides the infrastructure as well ap the sprastructre ‘The principal South Alcan ports are situated at Durban, ‘Table Bay (Cape Town), Port Ellzabeth, East London, Richards Bay, Saldonha Bay and Walvis Bay, while Mossel Bay Is regarded as 8 minor port. AAs 9 part of ite ongoing ceive to provide the port user wth the Bett possible service, the Harbour Section femberked on a comprehensive program of modernising Its harbour craft leet. From 1871 to 1977 9 total of nine Feplacement tugs were acquired, with the following new [generation type propulsion unlts z= 3 x Yolth Sctneider 1 x Sehottet 3 x ZPeller. Subsequent to 1977 & further 2 x Zpaller, 2 x conven: tonal delve and 9 x Yolth Schneider tugs were alko ac fulred. Those wore all distbuted at varleur herboure ‘throughout South Ate In 1977 during the half-yearly dlver's Inspections of the ‘qaywalls in Port Elizabeth, It was reported that serious undermining. of the foundation of the quaywall had occurred whore these tugs were moored. The problem was brought to the attentlon of all the Hathour Engineers, and dtailae Giver's inspections were conducted at all ports: Not only was damage discovered at tag berths but other cages were feported. of similar damage caused by ship's bow and stem thrusters, ‘The problem was considered serious enough to place an immediate restriction on the’ use of bow thrusters for rmanceuvelng. during berthing and undecting of ships, untess fan emergency oervered dicing the operationy when the ratter would be reported by the pllot and a special diver!s Inspection would be carried out to detarmine the extent of any damage, if any. Of course, the tugs were also moved Immediately 2 deap water erthe where they cold nat cause any damage: 2. CAUSES OF PROBLEM AND EXTENT OF DAMAGE ‘As a rorut of the detailed. divers inspection reports Which were complied over @ number of years and from dit. ferent ports, i became evident that the extent of damage could be clasified into two main categories as follows + = (damage to scour protection and subsequent undermining of feuvtation materialy and (4) damage to grout seals between vertical and horizontal Jolnts fa the quaywall itself Both classes of damage could be caused 9 a result of the indiscriminate use of either bow and stern thrusters; or 360° dleecttonal theust propulsion units ftted to some new generation type tugs PIANG. - ALP.ON. — BULLETIN 1057 — P68 1072.1. Panage to scour protection and subsequent anor mining of foundation material Ih this case the problem is caused by the sideways thrust from the propellers being directed against a sold quaywall resulting ina strong dowoward wash of waters If the available underieel clearance is Limited, then the tlow fof water which is forced between the marrow sap under the keel can scour out any loose foundation material. NNavucally this type of damage can anly occur with a sold ‘ype queywall construction such as solld blockwork or esis- sons which are laid on a stoge bed foundation, Even if anti-scour protection it provided the wash from the propellers can be strong enough t© move Ite “The worst case of damage of this llnd so far encoun ‘ered in South Afslean ports occurred In Port Ellzabeth in 1977. At Nov 12 berth, three calssns out of the five Which mske up the berth were found 10 be undermined. ‘The centre calston was the worst) with more than hall Its width undermined, over ite full length. Three of the port's ew tugsy fitted with Z-Poller propulsion units isd been berthing there for the previous six months. Subsequently, evidence of washing out of anti-scour pro- tection and undermining of quaywalls was discovered at Duchany Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, at berths used by ships with bow thrusters. ‘The main factors which may determine the extent of damage, 16 any, are a5 follows + = (power of aldo thruster oF proptslan unity GD desft of vessel when berting afd unberthings (WD position of thruster in relation to helght above Keely (iv) shape of hall and bear: (0) awe of vessels (depth at berth and stoto of the tier (vi distance off quay and dleection of thrust; (eid weather contions. f.2, Danage to grout seats between vertical ant hovizon- ‘ak folnta'in the quayeutt 03024 In this case the sideways thrust from the propellers causes daimage to the grout seals between vertical and/or horizontal joints ln the qaaywall. As in the previous class, damage Is confined to solid type quaywall construction, particularly concrete sheetples and to @ lesser extent cas ‘sons and blockwore ‘The sideways thrust Is usually sut- ficient’ to crack the cement grout socks placed In the joints, which leads 10 rapid disintegration and falling, out fof the joint sealer. in the end tho sand filling behind the quaywall leeches out causing sinkholes in the surfacing of the quay. If allowed to go further, crane rails, rail tracks, buildings and othor services can all he undermined. ‘The most recent Incident of thls nature occurred in Walvis Bay in 1981 where a cavity, of approximately 22 metres long. and 17 metres wide was leeched out. Arm ber of previous cases of sinkholes have alto been rnearded in Walvis Bay. This damage can be ascribed'to the we of bow thrusters during Derthing. Unlike the previous class, the factors which may deter= imine the extent of damage in this case are only dependent fon the power of the aide thruster or propulsion wnit. The focation of the thrust relative to the water depth and draft of vessel cts» makes no lference as damage can fecur anywhere along the joint. 3. PRECAUTIONS ADOPTED. [As oon at the damage from the tugs was discovered tn Port Elizabeth, the new generation type tugs yore shifted to deep water berths where the efferts of wash under the leeet woul! be minimised. The matter wos brought to the tention of the hathour enginear at exch port and aivers’ Inspections were carried out at all ta berths, The tg Imasters were also requested to exercise restraint, when moving tugs off the berth, not to exert full power against the quaywall. When the problem war also found with ships using bow land steen thrusters, thele use was restricted except in the case of an emergency arising during berthing In which cose ‘he pllot was permitted to wie the thrusters at his dis cretion, Whenever thrusters were used by the pilty this tect had to be reported to the harbour engineer who would erange for a diverts. inspeetion to determine if any Gamage 10 the quaywall had ecoured, 1 should be emphasized that the restriction cn the use cof tow and stern thrusters only applies during the berthing land unberthing of vessels or when In close proximity to the quays. ih normal cieoumatances, thrusters may be used t0 fssst tugs tn turning. vessels in windy conditions or nego- toting entrance. channels. the quays where the problem is likely to occur have all bioen Mentified and they are now lnspected on a more cogular basis, at not more than she monthly Interval. OBJECTIONS FROM SHIPPING LINES NNatueatly, when the use of bow and stern thrusters wor esiricted, objections were raised by some shipping tines ‘They objected to having paid some R300 000 for cach ship to be equipped with side thrusters only to be advise that ‘hele use was boing rettricted and they would still be requieed to use ond pay for tugs. Furtherere, they felt that the equipment would deteriorate through lack of use. ‘They suggested that the problem lay Inthe method of [qsaywall construction and that steps should be taken to remedy the sition at the source of the problem. In reply to these objections it was pointes out that i cely thot the side thrusters would deteriorate through lack of use ag Jt would be wnusual foe them not seemed un 108 PIANC. - ALP.O.N, — BULLETIN 1087 — 158to be ured in other ports In Europe, unless ofcourse other hrarbour authorities had similar reservations. Although the Shipping Lines had Invested R300 000 per vessel on side thrusters, the South African poct administrators had in- vested millions of rand on suitable tugs to handle container vessels: Those tugs could not be dispensed with for Sand- ling. these ships, whereas the side thrusters were regarded ss an aid that needed only to be used In an emergency if wire should breake or the wind came away. suddenly. Fira, the provision of special scour protection as si- gested ould have been extremely costly and not economic cally ested 1 Is also interesting to note that following report In the Lloyd's List issue of 31 December 1981 about the lumited use of side thrusters ia Durban, wo separate enquiries were addressed to. the port suthorities requesting more information on the matter die 10 similar problems being. experienced at European ports. In a letter trom the Head of Operations and Research, British Perts Association Ht wat stated that a number of ports in the United Kingdom has indicated that they were experiencing camage to quaywalls and underwater protection by vessels using bow thrusters: The writer also stated that he was aware of the same problems in Hamburg. The second enquiry was from a member of the Technical Committee, River Scheldt Pilots who wae busy carrying out 1 study on the use of bow thrusters on various types of vessels. In hls paper he states : = Une recently no one really thought about the effects of lateral thrust on port infrastructures. The decision of the Durban Port Captain to forbid the use of bow thrust unite Df over 300 HP in rooting etc. makes it clear that usage may have adverse effects for quays pllings and lock walls. Atter having tend that large aluet of HP ate oneded for ‘maroeucring, eventual results on the Infrastructure wll soon be apparent. ‘The Durban example will pot remain the only one, thus Tr can be expected that real large HP values will not be allowed in mooring. and unmoering In a number of ports 5. REMEDIAL WORK 5.1. Repaies to undermined foundations LUndermines foundation sections usually consist of cavities lin the order of 1 - 3 metres long, O45 = 5 metres dee and 100 - 600 mm high. Sometimes the height is se much a 1 metre, The usval method of repair ls a8 follows + (0) ciean out any rubbish trom eavitys (G9 place concrete filled bags on the outside exge to act a5 shutter, leaving aulticlent gap to insert a pipe for pumping. eancretey pump concrete Into the cavity unt it is ‘leds We) finish off in front of the foundation with selected stone scour protection or in some cases concrete blocks [A more advanced method was considered, with the use of specially madeap geofabric bags, which are cut and sewn 2 conform to the shape of the cavity and then pumped full of concrete. The advantage of this meshed Is that the goofabric retains the cement and fine aggregate of the concrote mich better, resulting in a higher quality coerete. Althouth this method gives better results, the high coat of the manufacture of the bags proved to. be Uunjustified and the simple method Initially adopted proved to be more than adequate, 5.2. Repaies 20 guout tag joint seaters Im tho case of the second class of damage, where the grout bog Joint sealers had lisintagrsted and been washed fouty repairs were carried out by vers using 9 very dry grout mix carried underwoter ina plastic big and then hand packing the grout mix Into the gaps in the jolats (Once the Joints were all sealed, the sand fill onthe Inside had 10 de replaced. Fist a geofabrie filter mem- brone was placed against the Inslde face of the sheetples and eld In place by some means compatible with the type fof construction of the pile cap or deck and beams. Weights wore sewn onto the bottom adge to ensure that the fier membrane, stayed in position during. backdlling. Backtling was then completed in the oaemam manwer with stable materia, compacted, and repairs to any rervioos and urachg carried out. 6 CONCLUSIONS ‘There is definite evidence at South Aftican ports, of ftamage being caused te solid faced quaywally by the Indiscriminste use of the mace modern types of propulsion units. ‘These Include all types of bow and stern side thrusters as well as steerable rudder propulsion systems sich a8 Volth Schnelder, Schottel and Z-Pelle The main factors which determine the extent of posible damage are as follows + = power of the unit (horse power}s Aistance ot propulsion unit above sex beds Aisetion of thrust, distance from quay. Damage oceurs In two ways, elther by the undermining fof the quayvall foundation, or by the disintegration of rout seals In jolts between concrete shestpiles and/or faistons and the oventual Tooching out of sand backll, leading 19 @ sinkhole in the quuy surface. Concrete plates ‘oF suitable selected antiscour stone can te placed on the toe of the foundation but this is contly and not considered ‘economically justified tn South African ports. PIANC, « ALP.GN, — BULLETIN 1987 — 198 109Ih any event, this protection would not protect against damage to the grout bag joint seats [RECOMMENDATIONS It Is recommanded that ¢ ~ () the use of. the side ehvusters be prohibited during berthing and unberthing against solid faced quaywall: except in an emergency: (i) the use of steerable rudder type propulsion units be Tentricted to low power when in close proximity t0 oid faces, quaywalls (uid port engineers be made aware of the potent prob- fems which can arise due to the indiscriminate use of side throsters and steerable rudder type propulsion units end fake the necessary precautions tO prevent * ary serious Semages 8. BIBLIOGRAPHY (4) south Afvioan Railways and farboura Handbooks romnoa PubLbontions, Fohannesdarsy SoBe (4) tee South Afrtonn Harboura, Published by the Pubs TSig?ans ‘Travel Deparcnont oP the S.Ae Treneport Servines, South Africa. (4ut) Teohosoal comittae mivor Scholae, Piotsy 1882, TEMEite practical Value of Sor- and. Steratnrusts eeteetMeiegs Berting and Urbortning. rare of & Soar prosonted t2 tbe Duton Governpents 110 PAANG. « ALPO.N:— BULLETIN 1887 — NPSB