DEVELOPMENT OF THE IHI FLOATING BREAKWATER

Abstract

With the advent of the era of 200-mile economic sea zones, the efficient utilization of coastal waters has increasingly been required. Accordingly, many various facilities for cultivating marine products as well as port and harbor facilities, which used to be installed usually in the shallow waters of a bay, are obliged to be hereafter installed facing the open sea exposed to severe natural conditions. Under these circumstances, the development of the wave reducing device to protect those facilities from high waves surging from the offing has come to be a pressing necessity. To meet the above requirements, IHI has recently developed the floating breakwater through various tank tests and bench tests of mooring parts. The designing techniques of these facilities have been developed based on accumulated field data, laboratory test data and theoretical analysis. Several sea trials were conducted on the full-scale floating breakwater; as a result, the IHI floating breakwater proved to have excellent high wave reducing efficiency and high reliability. The first L type IHI foating breakwater was delivered to Saga Prefecture in November 1977 and is now in successful operation. This paper presents an outline of the development process, test results and design technique of the IHI floating breakwater.