The aim of the working group is to collect all the available prefabricated elements up to date. This work is the basis for the construction of a large Catalogue that can be updated after distribution and reached by many professionals related with ports and coastal engineering. Obviously, this catalogue will continue expanding in the future, so all engineers are encouraged to cooperate and send new or different references of prefabricated elements.
Types of applications considered in this catalogue
For the last four decades, the use of prefabricated elements in the construction of port and coastal structures has become a very common practice. Prefabricated elements provide important advantages, such as improved hydraulic performance when compared with natural materials, ecological benefits, cost reduction, construction efficiency, etc. As a consequence, numerous new prefabricated units have been designed for a wide variety of engineering applications, such as breakwater protection, coastal erosion control, stability of river banks, reflection damping on quays, attenuation of waves, etc.
In this work, different applications of prefabricated elements in maritime and fluvial works are briefly described. The structures are classified into four types :
- Breakwaters
- Revetments and seawalls & coast protection
- Quays
- Bank protection.
For each of these four types of structures some relevant characteristics are described. This includes: types of prefabricated elements; structural integrity; hydraulic performance; constraints; maintenance; construction costs and materials.
The catalogue includes all the names of prefabricated elements known to the members of the WG at the moment. Some of them have additional characteristics like: shape, photograph, etc.; type of work; reference projects; bibliography; invention and development and commercial references.
