DOCKS

Docks arc enclosed areas for berthing ships, to keep them afloat at a uniform level, to facilitate
loading and unloading cargo. Harbours are prone to be affected by tides, which may cause
changes in the water level. If at low tides the level is sufficient as not to ground the ships, the
ships could be berthed in these areas.

Thus, in ports on the open sea coast protected by an outlying_ breakwater, basins are formed
within its shelter. In these basins, quay walls are projected at right angles to the shore alongside
which vessels can lie and discharge their cargoes.

Open berths : Where tidal ranges are very marked and large, docks are formed by enclosures.
The water level in these enclosures should be maintained at constant level by providing locks
and gates.

Docks or wet docks are enclosed and are shut off by entrances or locks to maintain a fairly
uniform level of water, and basins are partially enclosed areas of water, which are approached by
open entrances and are subject to fluctuations of levels, due to tidal variations. These are also
known as tidal basins (e.g. Mediterranean sea) .

The permissible tidal range is about 15'-0".

Advantages of tidal basins:

(1) Vessels can come in and berth or leave at all times.

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(2) Costly arrangements like lock gates are not required.

Advantages of wet docks:

(1) Uniform level of water is maintained which is very convenient for handling cargo.

(2) Prevents the rubbing of the ships sides against the quay walls.

(3) Effect of storms in the outer sea and harbor do not obstruct the dock enclosure.

River ports: are formed with quays alongside \ the river banks, where the tidal effect is small.
The river in this case serves as the basin. When tide ranges are large in such rivers, wet docks are
constructed, with locks and entrances, 'which retain the water level during the fall of level in the
river.

Form and arrangements of basins and docks:

The exact arrangement and form must depend upon the available site. The object to be aimed at
in the design is to obtain the maximum length of quay in proportion to the water area of the basin
or dock.

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 1. Approaches to basins and docks:
 should be sheltered one
 should be of adequate length
 the cost of dredging forms an important item in the budget provision of any port.
2. Depth of docks and basins:
 Should be capable of accommodating the largest vessel likely to visit the port
 It is possible to deepen the basins subsequently if required subject to the condition
that the foundation of docks walls are not disturbed or damaged.

Location:

Docks could be located, on inland ports of rivers, at estuaries or on open sea coast. A site on the
sea coast is preferable to one up a river as at Calcutta, where navigation of the Hugli river is
difficult especially as the river is congested with local traffic. A proper piloting service is
necessary for this purpose. The river approaches to the dock have to be maintained. A site on the
estuary of a river, if sheltered, broad and free from storms is very good.

Internal arrangement:

Separate docks are usually required for different kinds of cargo, as for example, coal and oil
should be dealt with separately, away from general or food cargo. Flour acquires the smell of its
surroundings and should not be discharged near cargo, with strong odour like salted fish.

Other aspects:

(1) Availability of fresh water to replace leakage and fouled water from docks. In inland ports
separate canal from the rivers will have to be drawn for this purpose, if alternate sources of
supply are not available. In the case of sea coast docks the sea water could be used for cleaning
and replenishing the dock.

(2) Approaches must be sheltered and of sufficient depth. In many cases both on the open sea
coast or in inland docks, the approach channel has to frequently dredged. In certain ports, docks
could be approached only at high tides as the approach channel cannot be navigated at low tides.

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Shape of docks and basins:

Shape of dock or basin should be straight to facilitate the ships to stand along them, as curved
shape is not convenient for ships to stand alongside.

The shapes of docks and basins should be such that maximum quayage ie berthing length is
available within the given area.

The following are the shape may be adopted as per site conditions:

 Rectangular dock
 Diamond dock
 Inclined quay type.

Rectangular dock:

The length and breadth could be adjusted to give the maximum quayage.

Diamond dock:

For the same perpendicular distance between the long sides, the long sides could be conveniently
extended

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Inclined quay shape:

It consists of a number of projecting quays into the basin or dock

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF BASIN OR DOCK WALLS:

Design loads:

These walls are designed as gravity retaining wall sections. It should satisfy the following
conditions:

 Dock empty to withstand pressure of back fill.

 Dock full with back fill removed.
 Thickness at top should be sufficient to resist the shock of contact with ships.
 Dock walls have to carry additional concentrated loads like crane foundations, and
capstans or bollard fixtures for mooring ships.
 Surcharge loads in the shape of loaded vehicles or trains on the quay adjacent to the
wall.

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Other aspects of construction details:

 Basin walls have to be of much great height than dock walls to allow for the variation in
water levels due to tides.
 As the water level has to be kept constant the sides and bottom should be made
impervious and arrangements must be made to supply any loss of water by leakage.
 The front [ace is generally straight or has a very slight batter for ships to stand close to
the wall
 The front face is given a granite fending surface or timber or steel fender to protect the
face of the wall from abrasion of ships.
 Material for construction: Dock walls are constructed of masonry, brickwork or concrete
or a combination of these materials (with construction joints as in the case of concrete
walls).

Dock entrances:
Docks are entered either directly or through locks. In either case gates are provided for the dock
entrances. The types of gates used are:

(1) Caissons.
(2) Wooden or Iron gates

(1) Caissons.

Two kinds of caissons are employed:

(1) Sliding caisson.

(2) Ship caisson.

Sliding caisson:

 It consists of a box shaped steel structure stiffened internally with proper bracing.
 It is provided with steel keels sliding on smooth granite floor.
 Instead of the keels, the caissons could be moved on rollers and rails.
 The entrance is opened by hauling the caisson into a recess provided in the side of the
dock.
 The caisson also serves as a bridge across the dock entrance. +

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Ship caisson:

 Resembles the outline of a ship in cross-section and is constructed of steel with stiffeners
at proper intervals.
 It is floated into position and sunk into specially prepared grooves in the dock sides and
sill.
 The sinking and raising of this caisson is done by ballasting and unballasting
respectively.
 This type does not require any gate recess or machinery for moving

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 REPAIR DOCKS

Repair docks are necessary for the execution of repairs, cleaning and painting of ships bottom.
Hence these docks and docking arrangements should be such as to expose the ships exterior fully
and keep it out of water during the progress of repairs or renovation. There are generally four
classes of such docks viz

1. Graving or dry dock.

2. Marine railway dry dock or slipway
3. Lift docks.
4. Floating docks.

1. GRAVITY OR DRY DOCK

 Also known as a dry dock
 It is a long, excavated chamber
 It consists of side walls, a semicircular end wall and a floor.
 The open end of the chamber is provided with a gate and acts as the entrance to
the dock.
 The side walls are formed with a series of steps known as altar courses to receive
the ends of the shores which support the vessel in a vertical position while being
docked
 The dock is constructed of concrete or masonry and the altar courses and steps are
of granite to withstand heavy wear.
 Suitable culverts are also provided in the side walls for filling and emptying the
dock.
 The dock floor is finished in concrete and is very heavy.
 On the floor are fixed the keel and blige blocks on which the ship is brought to rest
on the emptying of the dock.
 The floor has a. cross fall to the side, drains which have a longitudinal slope to
carry away all wash water. The drains are' protected with proper gratings on top to
exclude solids and scrapings carried by the wash, while cleaning the ship's bottom.
 Other accessories include big capacity pumps, lifting and hoisting machinery and
repair equip. ments all suitably housed either on tqp of, or inside the side walls.
 Figs. (a) and (b) show the plan and an enlarged cross-section of a typical graving
dock.

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 Fig (a)

Fig (b)

Method of Dry docking:

 The ship enters the dock on adjusting the water level inside the dock to that of outside
and the entrance gate is closed.

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  The water inside the dock is now pumped out by powerful pumps
 The ship being kept vertical and central by the shores between the ship's sides and alter
steps while slowly being lowered on to the keel and bilge blocks on which it comes to
rest.
 The main principle of operating a dry dock is thus to admit a vessel into the chamber,
close the gate and pump out the water.

Size of dock:

 The size of a dock depends on the size of the largest ship it has to dry dock.
 Dry docks to handle modern big ships have to be 300 m in length, with an entrance
width of 25 m to 30 m.
 The ratio of length to breadth of modern ocean liners are about 9·5 to 10.
 One of the world's biggest dry docks is built in British Columbia. The Esquimalt dry
dock has a length of 350 m. and breadth of 41 m.
 It is constructed of concrete, with granite altars.
 The pumping plant consists of 3 pumps of 270000 liters per minute capacity each,
which empties the dock in 4 hours. This would give an idea of the enormity of the
dock size as well as its pumping equipment.

Forces acting on a graving dock:

The principal forces to which the dock is subjected are:

 Weight of ship resting along the centre line of dock floor, when dock is empty.
 Weight of water on the floor when dock is flooded.
 Upward pressure under the floor when it is being emptied.
 Earth and hydrostatic pressures behind the side walls.
 Load imposed by the shores on the inside face of the side walls.
 Surcharge on the side walls due to cranes and other heavy stationery and moving
appliances.
 In addition to this if there is a strong breeze blowing during dry docking operations, the
shores on the leeward side of the ship will be subjected to wind stresses.

Condition for design of graving dock

For purposes of design the following conditions of loading are to be investigated.

1. Dock empty:
 The floor is subjected to heavy uplift, which will be considerably more than the
weight of the floor itself. This unbalanced excess load is transmitted to the side
walls, by "actual" or "virtual" inverted arch action, and being resisted by the
weight of the side wall and the horizontal pressures behind it .

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  The weight of a ship resting on the empty dock floor, adds concentrated loads
along the centre line of the floor.
 Heavy reinforced floor sections may become necessary if the soil is soft or
yielding, as intensity of this load may reach as high as 2600 kN to 3000 kN per
running metre.
 It is generally assumed that 5/8 of such loads are borne by the keel block and 3/8
equally divided on the bilge blocks on either side, at the loaded sections.
2. Dock filled with water
 This condition imposes the greatest load on the foundation.
 The horizontal pressures behind the side wall are more or less resisted by the
water pressure inside the dock.
 The inverted arch action of the floor will be absent under this condition of
loading, and the full weight of the side wall less loss due to buoyancy along with
the surcharge loads, will have to be taken directly by the foundation.

Scheme Of Constructing Dry Docks:

 The effects of horizontal earth and hydrostatic pressure as well as uplift pressures should
be considered during the construction of docks.
 The sequence of construction should be so manipulated as to ensure the stability of the
structure during construction.
 The following is the scheme of constructing a dry dock:

 Site is partly excavated and portion marked ‘a’ of the side wall is built.
 The core ‘b’ is excavated to lay the floor in short lengths and the outer section c1 , c1 ,
are laid, leaving the core in between.
 By so doing only small lengths of the side wall are exposed to the lateral soil and
hydrostatic pressure; this pressure being also sustained by the unexcavated central core
‘c’of the floor and the completed sections of the floor cl , cl
 The flooring in the central section is placed after excavating the core c.
 The upper portion of the side wall marked d are constructed.
 The back fill e is placed to complete the work.

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 Design of dry dock floor :
The floor of the dry dock sustains loads both from above and below under critical
conditions like that of the floor of locks, and floor thickness has to be carefully designed.
A simple numerical example will make this aspect very clear:.
Let us consider the concrete floor of a dry dock to sustain 12m of water over an
entrance width of 21 m. Assuming a modulus of rupture of 1100 kN per sq. m. for cement
concrete, a floor thickness of nearly 6 m. will become necessary, jf the foundation below
the floor sinks and the concrete slab breaks, in consequence. But actually such an extreme
condition is rare. Then consider the same floor to withstand the upward pressure when
the dock is empty, causing a reversal of the original conditions.
Of course this upward pressure is to be taken up by the virtual inverted arch or
actual constructed flat arch of the floor. In practice it has been found quite sufficient to
design the floor thickness, to accommodate an inverted arch of about 800 m. thickness
and 1/4 rise, adding up to an actual floor thickness of 5 m. to satisfy all the above
mentioned conditions.
It would also be necessary to construct the side wall and the floor as independent
sections considering the divergent effect of the forces on them. It could be also noticed
that constructing the floor slab in sections aids in its action as an inverted flat arch to
resist the upward pressure.

2 MARINE RAILWAY DRY DOCK OR SLIPWAY

 Marine railway is an inclined railway extending from the shore well into the water as
well as the foreshore, to enable a ship to be drawn up clear out of the water.
 The essential parts are cradle. which moves up and down an inclined track and the track
itself supported on an unyielding and firm foundation or pile foundations.
 The cradle or platform is constructed of steel and provided with keel and bilge blocks to
receive the ship.
 The cradle is mounted on a system of rollers which move on iron tracks carried by
longitudinal timbers, supported on cross ties or beams bearing on piles or other firm
foundations.
 Strong cables attached to the shore end of the cradle to haul the cradle
 Hauling is operated by strong mechanical winches built on shore.
 The ways consist of heavy rails secured to longitudinal sleepers supported on cross ties,
and laid at an inclination varying from 1 in 15 to 1 in 20.
 A locking device to receive the safety pawls under the cradle is placed in the centre of
the ways, to keep the cradle from slipping back if the hauling cable breaks.
 For dry docking the cradle is moved down into deep water and the ship to be docked is
towed over the cradle and positioned to rest and moored to the towers on either side of
the cradle.

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 The cradle slowly emerges above the high water level, when hauled up the ways,
permitting the ship to come to rest, on the cradle floor as the cable reaches the normal
docking position.
 The use of this type of dock is no doubt economical but is limited to vessels of not more
than 5000 tons.
 It is due to the fact that the long vessels with deep draft in the ways would have to be
drawn out a distance nearly twice the length of vessel to be docked.
 It is also means that the entire length of the ways would be over three to four times the
length of the vessel to be docked.

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3. LIFT DRY DOCK: page 133.

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