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CEG 438 - Assignment

Transportation
Engineering
Olusola Gideon Olagunju

170402014
30th December, 2021
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Question 1
3 points that guide conveyor belt geometry for open belt conveyor systems:
1. Radius of a curve is primarily determined by belt tension in the curve.
2. The radius should be large enough to prevent belt lift off in concave
curves and to limit idler load in convex curves.
3. The curve radius should be large enough to prevent, with the application
of banking angles, the belt from running off the idlers.

3 points that guide conveyor belt geometry for closed belt conveyor systems:
1. The radius of the curve is primarily determined by the admissible belt
stretch.
2. The radius of the curve should be large enough to maintain the belt’s
typical cross section and to stabilize the position of the belt in the idlers.
3. The required radii of closed belt conveyors are less than half or one third
of the radii used in open belt conveyor systems.

Question 2
Similarities in the conveyor loading and unloading processes.
1. They are loaded in exactly the same way.
2. They are opened for a conventional belt feed system from the tail pulley
and again opened at the head pulley for discharging.
3. There is a major concern of overloading.

Differences in the conveyor loading and unloading processes.

1. Pouch belt uses a much more restrictive type of loading arrangement
than conventional.
2. Where conventional belt conveyors allow water to run off the belt at the
head or tail pulley, a pouch conveyor is completely closed at the loading
point.

Question 3
● In the Open belt conveyor system the belt is troughed and the bulk solid
material is in direct contact with air while in the Closed conveyor system
the bulk material is there but it eliminates the risk of dust contamination.
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● In conventional open belt conveyor systems, the radius of a curve is
primarily determined by the belt tension in the curve, while the radius of
a curve in a closed belt conveyor system is primarily determined by the
admissible belt stretch.
● Closed conveyor belts have smaller idler spacing than open conveyor
belts.
● Closed conveyor belt systems allow for substantially smaller vertical
curves than open systems.

Question 4
Types of closed conveyor belt systems
1. Pipe conveyor
2. Pouch conveyor

Pipe Conveyor System:

● Pipe conveyor consists of a rubber conveyor belt rolled into a pipe
shape with idler rolls, This fundamental design causes the
transported material to be totally enclosed by the belt.
● The idlers constrain the belt on all sides allowing much tighter
curves to be negotiated in any direction. The curves can be
horizontal, vertical or combinations of both.
● Pipe Conveyor belt reduces dust/Spillage due to the fact that the
material is completely enclosed.
● Fabric and Steel Reinforcement can be used to Construct the Pipe
Conveyor Belt.
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Pouch Conveyor Belt:
● In the pouch conveyor system, the belt is formed into a pouch-like
shape through which the materials are transported. The pouch’s
mouth is kept tight with the aid of idlers hanging from a tension
cable.

Question 5
Waterfront construction materials - Timber, Concrete, Steel
Deterioration modes of Timber
● Decay
● Marine borers
Timber materials decay due to a biological attack caused by some species of
fungi within the wood. This decay leads to a deterioration of compressive and
tensile strength, and causes the material to flake away.
Marine borers undermine the structural integrity of timber by boring holes
inside the wood structure. This reduces surface area of the material, increasing
stress, and reduces the material’s ability to withstand such stresses. These
borers include mollusks and crustaceans.
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Deterioration modes of Concrete
Reinforced concrete piles in waterfront structures face such deterioration
modes as disintegration and spalling.
● Disintegration: Impurities in water can cause metal corrosion, introduce
unwanted silt and clay into the concrete, adversely affect the hardening
process of concrete and also reduce the strength by an appreciable
amount.
● Spalling: Cracking of concrete after hardening can be caused by several
factors including freeze–thaw cycling, creep, autogenous deformation,
drying shrinkage, chemical effects, load-induced cracking, both external
and internal, and thermal cracking.

Deterioration modes of Steel

Steel faces such deterioration modes as corrosion and abrasive action of water
borne sand.
- Corrosion: Where oxygen content of the water is greatest, corrosion is
usually most active, and can have harmful results, as corrosion affects
the tensile strength and yield strength of a steel element.
- Abrasive actions of sand agitated by waves and currents is usually
present in shallow waters where wave and tidal action is most active.

Question 6
Protection against deterioration:
Timber
● Maintaining unbroken bark on the timber structure so that the borers
cannot penetrate.
● Charring and Tarring.
● Coating the wooden pile with (gloss) paint to prevent the marine wood
borers from entering.
● Impregnation with toxics
● Pile armoring.

Concrete
● Deep embedment of the Reinforcement.
● Use of dense rich concrete.
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● Applying jackets of woods or metal from below to above the tidal range
or continuing oil coating (In locations where oil floats on the surface of
the water or as near oil docks)
● Careful handling of piles to minimize stresses and to avoid cracking
during placement.

Steel
● Cathodic protection i.e. coating of iron alloy steel with zinc, a process
known as galvanizing.
● Fireproofing protection.
● Hot deep Galvanizing.

Question 7
Features of ideal harbor entrance

The entrance of the harbor should be wide enough to provide the ready
passage for shipping and at the same time it should be narrow enough to
restrict the transmission of excessive amounts of wave energy in times of
storms. Emphasis has been laid on the deepening of channels due to the
drastic changes in the size of ships. Entrance should also be wide enough to
counteract dangerous tidal currents.
To minimize wave action within the harbor, the entrance should be as narrow as
possible, provided it meets the requirements for safe and expeditious
navigation and provided it doesn’t cause excessive tidal currents.
The required entrance width is influenced by the size of the harbour and the
ships that use it. As a rule of thumb, the width of the entrance should be
roughly equal to the length of the largest ship using it.

Question 8
Determination of anchorage at harbor site
Concepts guiding determination of anchorage area at a harbor site are
● Soil conditions along the bottom of the anchorage area.
Generally firm cohesive materials provide good anchorage, while light sandy
bottoms are poor anchorage areas. Other factors being equal, more anchorage
area will be required when poor bottom soil conditions prevail. This follows
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from the fact that maximum resistance to ship movement occurs when the
anchor cable is as nearly horizontal as possible.
● Holding Ground:
In benign conditions the weight of the anchor chain on the seafloor is generally
sufficient to hold the ship in position, but in adverse weather conditions the bite
of the anchor into the seafloor is also required to stop the ship from dragging
out of position. The physical composition of the seafloor in an anchorage is
critical for providing a safe and effective anchorage. A ship's anchor needs to
embed into the seafloor so the anchor chain can lay out providing effective
holding capacity for the ship. Ideally an anchorage site should be relatively flat
and free from obstructions, natural or man made, this allows the anchor chain
to be deployed without fear of it becoming entangled or ensnared. A ship at
anchor will swing around its anchor under the forces of tide and wind. As the
ship swings the anchor chain will drag along the seafloor, so it is important
there are no obstructions in the anchorage. Anchorage areas should be
surveyed for both bottom type and obstructions before an anchorage plan is
developed. Seafloor composed of mud or sand or sand/shell provide good
holding material as the anchor can readily embed into the seafloor. Seafloor
material made up of rocks and compacted sands are regarded as being quite
poor holding grounds, with anchors often failing to hold in extreme weather
conditions. Seafloors such as these are also susceptible to greater anchor and
chain damage and often provide a substrate for more sensitive biological
material. As such, these seafloor types should be avoided. If the seafloor does
not provide a good holding capacity alternative to anchoring.

Question 9
Factors determining shape and extent of anchorage area
The shape and extent of an anchorage area is dependent on:
● The maximum number of ships to be served.
● The size of the ships
● The method of mooring (securing a ship to forestall free movement on
the water).
● Maneuverability requirements.
● Topographic conditions at the proposed site.