HARBOURS & COASTS
INDUSTRIAL PORT
OF RAS LAFFAN - QATAR
Client: Condotte
and Partners for Qatar General Petroleum Corporation (Q.G.P.C.)
Services: Hydrodynamic
and navigational mathematical model studies, Preliminary
Design of port layout, Basic, preliminary and detailed design
of the main breakwater preliminary design of the jetties,
Environmental impact studies.
Period: 1991
- 1994
Construction cost:
694,118,072
The Project:
The port of Ras Laffan, which was completed in 1995, is at
present the most important LNG vessel in the world.
The design and construction of the Industrial Port of Ras
Laffan, included:
Construction activities were successfully completed in 1995,
ahead of schedule.
TECHNITAL was awarded a Contract by Condotte Qatar JV, the
nominated Contractor, for the
performance of the following engineering services:
These activities involved the execution of studies with
hydrodynamic and navigational mathematical models and the
preparation of specifications and supervision of execution of
physical model for the optimisation of the layout and 2 and
3 dimensional physical models for the design of the
breakwater.
The layout was selected by comparing several alternative
solutions (developed starting from the solution shown in the
Master Plan), by means of a "weighted" comparison of the
behaviour of the following indicators:
"downtime" due to wave motion at the berths;
"downtime" due to access difficulties along the canal;
the balance between dredged material and material needed
for implementation, by filling, of the harbour yards;
the rationality of the access to the various harbour
terminals;
the possibility of further development of the port.
The Layout Design also included studies aimed at assessing the
environmental impact of the new port, such as the variations
in the littoral drift and the interference with the discharge
outlets of industrial plants, due to the considerable
hydrodynamic changes.
The Preliminary Design of the breakwaters was performed in
close collaboration with the construction contractors. It also
involved the programming and co-ordination of tests on a
two-dimensional physical model. Since a part of the breakwater
core was constructed using dredged material with a very fine
granulometry, particular care was taken over the design and
checking of the filtering layers. The cladding was
constructed using Antifer blocks of sizes varying from 1.9 to
4.5 cubic metres.
The Preliminary Design of the jetties also made use of the
results of model tests, in this case of a 3-D hydrodynamic
model, where the propagation of the wave motion was reproduced
and the strains at the moorings were measured.
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