MARINE STRUCTURES (BREAKWATER)

CASE STUDY

SUBMITTED BY:
NEETHI H NATH
070901074
 STATISTICS:
INTRODUCTION LOCATION: TAMIL NADU,
INDIA
ENNORE PORT, TAMIL NADU, INDIA TYPE: RUBBLE MOUND
The primary purpose of having a breakwater constructed in India BREAKWATER
for the new Ennore Coal project was for the importation of coal DEPTH: UPTO -12M CD
for the North Madras Thermal Power stations and other power ENGINEERS: HASKONING
CONSULTING ENGINEERS
stations.
AND ARCHITECTS
The breakwater consists of South and North breakwater of lengths NORTH BREAKWATER
1040m and 3070m respectively, out of which the breakwater at LENGTH: 3070M
North is considered to be the longest in India. SOUTH BREAKWATER
The objective of this project was to evaluate two major contracts LENGTH: 1040M
of the port construction, i.e. the quarrying and transportation of COMPLETION: 1st SEPT 2001
rock and break water construction.
LOCATION
ENNORE PORT, TAMIL NADU, INDIA

Ennore Port lies on the north-eastern corner of

the Chennai City of Tamil Nadu State on a flat
coastal plain known as the Eastern Coastal
Plains. It is located on the east coast of the
Indian peninsula known as the Coromandel
Coast in the Bay of Bengal and is situated 2.6
km north of the Ennore creek.

North
breakwater

South
breakwater

Satellite image showing the location of

Ennore port, North breakwater and the
South breakwater.
TYPICAL LAYOUT
ENNORE PORT, TAMIL NADU, INDIA
The required properties of the various breakwater parts have to be assessed in the
design phase. Combinations of these parts all together forms the complete design.
The issues in the designs are:
Armor stability due to wave attack
Crest height/ Overtopping
Sub layers
Base and toe
Head of the breakwaters
Geo-ethical stability
PARAMETERS FOR CONSTRUCTION
ENNORE PORT, TAMIL NADU, INDIA
When a breakwater is to be
built at a certain location,
and the environmental
impact of such a structure
has already been evaluated
and deemed
environmentally feasible, the
following parameters were
required before construction:
 a detailed hydrographic
survey of the site
A geotechnical
investigation of the sea bed
A wave height investigation
or hind casting
A material needs
assessment and
The cross sectional design Map showing the location of the existing facilities at the port.
of the structure
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
ENNORE PORT, TAMIL NADU, INDIA
PHASE 1 of the Ennore coal Port project consists of the construction of the two rubble mound
breakwaters. The two main construction materials used I breakwaters are rock and concrete.
BREAKWATER CONSTRUCTION ROCK QUARRYING AND
Two rubble mound breakwater were designed TRANSPORTATION
to withstand a wave height with a return Rock for the breakwaters is carried at
period of hundred years with minimum Karikkal, situated 120 km west of Madras.
damage. This resulted in a protection of a The rock is sorted into various grading and
single layer Accropode blocks with a then loaded on especially for this purpose,
maximum weight of 15 tonnes at the deepest constructed skips. The skips are
section of the northern breakwater. The transported on trucks for the first 25km to a
southern breakwater is protected by natural transfer station. From there on the skips will
rock with a maximum grading of 5-12 tonne. be placed on trains, which transports the
The breakwaters are built by marine based skips directly to a stockpile area at the port
methods and land based methods. site. The empty skips are then transported
back to Karikkal.

Image showing the profile of Accropode block

Rubble mound breakwater on hard ground
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
ENNORE PORT, TAMIL NADU, INDIA
The eastern coast of India is subjected to
storms and cyclones during the monsoon,
and the littoral drift creates a sand transport
along the coast.

Construction of a new harbor on this coast

required the construction of two new
breakwaters to protect the future coal
harbor and incoming ships from waves and
sedimentation problems.

Because the soil was insufficient to support

such breakwaters, additional dredging and
backfilling were needed and a new method
of compaction was developed.

Typical section of a rubble mound breakwater

Rubble mound construction
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
ENNORE PORT, TAMIL NADU, INDIA
ROCK DUMPING OPERATION
After the trenches of the Northern
and Southern Breakwaters had
been filled in and compacted, the
rock dumping operation was
carried out, up to 4 m below sea
level with the side stone dumping
vessel.
Approximately 1,250,000 tons of
rock had to be placed by this
method. Above the – 4.00 m CD
level, HCC then took over the rock
dumping with land-based
equipment by back tipping
method, for which they used 40
tonne dumpers .
By this method, HCC completed
the breakwaters by dumping the
remaining core and placing the
armor layers, Accropodes and
concrete capping. In total over
2,500,000 tons of rock had to be
placed.
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
ENNORE PORT, TAMIL NADU, INDIA
EXCAVATION AND FOUNDATION
To construct the Ennore breakwaters, 3
million tonnes of rock were needed for
the rock-dumping operations. The
Employer and the Engineer had
appointed an area at Karikkal, situated
approximately 80 km inland east of
Chennai, for the development and
exploitation of the rock quarry.

A causeway with a length of

approximately 200 m was built from the
beach into the sea, with rock taken
from the stockpile to reach a water
depth of –3.00 m.

Over 8500 Accropodes were

fabricated with weights of 9.6, 12 and
15 tonnes each. Also over 65,000 m3 of
concrete had to be produced for the
construction of the concrete slab on
the breakwaters and the blocks of the
work harbor.
A 3D model of the North breakwater
REFERENCE
ENNORE PORT, TAMIL NADU, INDIA

http://www.ennoreport.gov.in/content/

http://cwc.gov.in/CPDAC-Website/Training/5_Coastal_structures.pdf

https://www2.iadc-dredging.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/article-
ennore-breakwater-construction-79-02.pdf

http://www.ennoreport.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/Corporate_plan_
2017_18.pdf

http://www.fao.org/docrep/013/i1883e/i1883e07.pdf