Port structures - the distribution of forces on infrastructure due to mooring and berthing of vessels

This work presents a study on the project actions required for the design and analysis of port structures, with regard to the impacts of mooring and berthing of vessels. This study sought to conduct a literature review, with emphasis on technical standards and codes, encompassing both national and international publications, including the Brazilian Standard NBR 9782/1987, the British Standard BS 6349, and the German Standard EAU 2004, in addition to the recommendations of the Permanent International Association of Navigation Congresses (PIANC 2002), and those of Jayme Mason (1982) in “Port Works”. The design procedures proposed by these different references regarding the computation of forces induced by mooring and berthing of vessels were evaluated in this work. Additionally, a case study of a port’s substructure was carried out, and a comparative analysis of the results, obtained with each recommendation of the aforementioned publications, was performed. The results showed a remarkable dispersion, revealing that the standards used strongly influence the design loads of port structures.