Discussion on

Port Engineering
Part-II
 Dock
Docks are the enclosed areas required for
berthing the ships to keep them afloat at a uniform
level to facilitate loading and unloading cargo and
passenger.
The form of accommodation in ports may be
either tidal or enclosed in which water is
maintained at uniform level by means of gates.
Tidal range at the port will decide the form. Ports
with small tidal range are equipped with open
berths and ports with large tidal range are
equipped with docks.
 Classification of Docks

Docks can be classified into the following

two categories:
1. Harbour docks or wet docks
2. Dry or repair docks
 HARBOUR DOCKS OR WET DOCKS

The harbour docks are usually enclosed basins

provided with locks and entrance gate to keep the
water at fairly constant level. Tidal basins are
partially enclosed areas of water which allow
vessels to come in and berth or leave at all times.
They do not require expensive arrangements like
lock gate, etc. However in river ports, the lock
gates often prove to be effective in preventing silt
from entering the basin area.
 SHAPE OF DOCK AND BASINS
Shape in plan of wet dock is governed
by the shape and area of the land
available. Three main categories are
i) Rectangular shape
ii) Diamond shape
iii) Inclined quay type
 DOCK ENTRANCES

Docks are entered either directly or

through locks. In both cases gates are
provided for the lock entrances.
Types of gates
The gates used may be of the following two types:
(a) Iron gates
(b) Caissons
 SIZE OF DOCK ENTRANCE

The width of entrances depends upon the

largest ship likely to visit the dock.
 Modern ships have widths upto 30m and to
accommodate the largest ship, the entrance should
be sufficiently wide.
 Generally the width varies from 36m to 60m.
 TYPES OF DOCK WALLS

A large variety of dock walls are in

existence. Due to introduction of R.C and
prestressed concrete, steel piling, monolith
and caisson constructions, the numbers and
types have increased.
 Contd.
Main types of dock walls are as follows:
1. Gravity walls of masonry, concrete blocks, or mass concrete
2. Cylinders and monoliths or hollow concrete walls with masonry or
mass concrete super structure walls
3. Walls of mass concrete built with steel caissons sunk with
compressed air
4. Walls built upon R.C caissons floated in position and sunk
5. Walls built on crib-work timber
6. Miscellaneous type of dock walls
 Design of Dock Walls

The dock walls are designed as a gravity retaining wall

sections. They should satisfy the following conditions:
a) The empty dock has to withstand the pressure of backfill.
b) The top thickness should be sufficient to withstand the
shocks due to contact with ships.
c) The walls should be able to carry the additional concentrated
loads of crane foundations and revolving cylinders for
winding up ropes and bollard fixtures for anchoring the
ships.
d) They should also carry the surcharge loads in the shape of
loaded vehicles on the quay adjacent to the walls.
Dry or Repair Docks
 Classification of Dry Docks

Broadly the repair docks may be:

i. Graving docks
ii. Floating dry docks
iii. Marine railway docks
iv. Slip ways
Graving Docks or Dry Docks
It is a long excavated chamber into which a ship can be floated
and supported on blocks for repair work after the dock has been
drained.
The main components of a dry dock are-
 the floor
 the semicircular end wall
 the side walls and
 the entrance
As soon as the ships are floated into the dock, the entrance is
closed by means of a movable gate or floating caisson. As water
removed from the interior, the ship is left dry and settles on the
blockings previously arranged to receive the ship. These type of docks
are generally used only for carrying out minor repairs, inspections and
painting.
 SECTION B-B

Porbandar dry dock

 Contd.
These docks have been built of stone, brick, timber, concrete and
steel. Modern docks are built of concrete. The side walls are formed
with a series of steps, which support the vessel in a vertical position
while the dock is dried. These steps are known as alter courses and
made of granite to withstand the heavy wear. The docks are filled
through openings in the gates. A system of tunnels is often built in side
walls to distribute water for filling and emptying the dock. Filling and
dewatering should be done by means of pumping plants.
 Contd.
The blocks on which ship is allowed to rest are of
two types: Keel block comes directly under the
centre line of the hull and Bilge blocks rest on the
sides of the hull. They are made of number of
individual slabs of wood and are also provided
with wedges for adjustment of heights of blocks
for resting of ships. Additional support is given to
the ship by means of shores which connect the top
portion of the ship’s side to projections on the
wall.
Types of graving docks :
i) fully hydrostatic
ii) partially relief and
iii) fully relief
 Contd.
Fully hydrostatic
A fully hydrostatic dock structure is generally constructed in sandy or pervious
soils. This dock structure must be capable of resisting the total maximum
hydrostatic water pressure, both vertically and horizontally. So it has sufficient
weight to resist the full hydrostatic uplift when empty. It has high initial cost
but less maintenance cost because of limited pumping for seepage water.

Partially relief
A partially relieved drydock would generally be arranged with a cutoff wall
surrounding the floor area and a filter course under the floor with a system of
collector pipes which carry the seepage water into a collecting tunnel. As an
alternative to a collector system, holes through the floor would allow the
seepage water to flow into the drydock chamber and then through trenches to
the collecting tunnel.
Fully relief
Fully relieved docks are indicated where rock exists beneath the dock and
throughout its height.
 FLOATING DOCK
 A floating structure with a floor and two sidewalls and wider than the
ships, is used to lift the vessel out of water for repair and servicing is
called floating dock and this is usually power operated.
 It is trough shaped in cross-section with a pontoon floor. This may be
subdivided into components which may be flooded for submergence
and unwatered for using.
 It has mobility, rapid construction, low initial cost and reduced volume
of pumping with respect to graving docks. Further they need not be
constructed at the site and can be taken any position.
 These docks require a system of anchoring devices for maintaining
position and orientation during operations. The conventional method is
to berth along a pier or wharf.
Floating dock cross- section

Offshore type floating dock

 Marine Railway Dock
The Marine railway of slip dock or slip way is an inclined
railway extending from the shore well into the water as well as off
shore. This railway track is used to draw out a ship needing repair out
of the water.
Component parts of a marine dock are as follows:
• Cradle
• Inclined track on a foundation
• Hauling chain
• Hauling machine
 Cradle
The cradle is a platform made of steel, which rolls on rollers or
wheels, and lowered into the water along an inclined track until
sufficient water over the cradle is achieved. It is provided with keel
and bilge blocks to receive the ship. The rollers or wheels move on the
iron tracks laid on longitudinal timbers. These timbers are supported
on beams resting on piles and other firm foundations. To haul the
cradle strong chain are attached to the shore end of the cradle and the
chain are operated by hauling machine build on shore.
 Contd.
Track
The track consists of heavy rail sections
secured to longitudinal sleepers supported on
cross ties and laid at an inclined varying
from 1/12 to 1/25, usually an inclination of
1/15 is found convenient and useful. To
check the slipping of the cradle in case the
hauling cable breaks, a rocking device
attached to the safety levers under the cradle
is placed in the centre of the track.
Fig. of mid-section
 Hauling Machine
The hauling machine is a large capacity winch designed to pull
the cradle with the capacity ship aboard. It consists of an electric
motor, which drives a speed reducer and a train of gears. The gears
turn the chain wheels, which drives the chain. An automatic brake is
provided to hold the cradle whenever power to the motor is
interrupted.
The load on the winch (chain load) is a function of the cradle and
vessel weight, the gradient (slope of track), and the friction in the
system.
Chain Load = (W x Slope) + (W x Cf )
Where:
W = weight of cradle, ship & chains
Slope = 1/??
Cf = Coeff. of friction
=> 0.02 – 0.04 for rollers
=> 0.03 - 0.05 for wheels
 Hauling chain
The hauling chain is welded steel chain
or welded alloy steel chain. It is used for
hauling the cradle up the slope and the
backing chain pulls the cradle down the
slope if gravity does not overcome friction.
 Slip Ways
Slipways consists of a inclined path of timber or stone laid on a
firm ground. On this inclined path a series of rails are fixed. The rails
run up from a sufficient depth of water to the required height above the
high water level to a point at which the longest vessel to be
accommodated is completely out of range of tide. The lower end of the
slip is tidal and open to water. For the construction of slip ways, flat
footed rails of heavy sections are used. Generally 1:15 slope is
provided.
 Contd.

As shown in the figure, the slip way extends into water to some
length and it is also sufficiently above the high water to
accommodate the full length of the biggest vessel likely to be drawn
out. On the slip way floor rails are laid on which cradle can run. To
take up the ship to be dry docked, the cradle is lowered into the water
and the vessel or ship is towed on the cradle and allowed to rest
before it is hauled up. At the time of towing ship on the cradle, the
depth of available water should be equal to the sum of the draft of the
ship and the height of cradle.
 Calculation of Slipway Length ‘L’
At high water, let the ship length ‘l’ starts from point ‘o’. Let d be the
draft of the ship and h the height of the cradle from the rail bottom to
the block, then the slip way from the bow upto the high water is
(d + h) cosec
Thus the length of slip way OA is given by the relation
l + (d + h) cosec + K1 - - - - - - - -(1)
Where K1 = 1 to 3m
The length of slip way AB above the high water should be long
enough to accommodate the whole ship and also to take into account
any wash due to waves. In clam waters, 2 meters extra length is
sufficient.
Thus length of slip way above high water is given as
l + K2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (2)
Where K2 may be taken as 2.0 m
 Contd.

Combining both equations, the total length of slip way is given as

L = 2l + (d + h) cosec + K
Where,
l = length of the longest vessel to be slipped
d = draft of the vessel
h = height from slip way deck to the block on the cradle
= inclination of the slip way with horizontal. Usually it is taken
as tan = 1/15
K = a constant, varying from 2 to 5 meters
Power required to raise a ship upon a slip way
The pull required should be more than the sum of the following forces:
a) Pull required to counter act the gravity in lifting the weights of ship and
cradle.
b) To overcome the frictional force
Thus pull required is given as
P = (w1 + w2) (sin + cos µ)
Where,
w1= weight of ship
w2 = weight of cradle
= inclination of slip way with the horizontal
µ = coefficient of friction, whose value may be taken as 0.05.