Statistical Analysis of the Effects of Building Conditions on the Initial Loadings of On-piles Quays

This article presents an accurate survey of two on-piles quays with tie-rods during the building stage and the two first years of their opening. These first years after building are characterized by a very fair exploitation of both quays. The influence of the building conditions on the loads in the tie-rods of the two quays has been identified from measured data. On these two quays, identically designed, an original instrumentation strategy has been achieved: it aims to follow the behavior of the quays during the next 5 years including their building in view to set up models for the prediction of the loadings evolutions and to base the maintenance policy or exploitation during extreme events (storms) on a better understanding of the in-service behavior. This aim has been achieved by monitoring key components of the structure as the tie-rods and by surveying displacements of the quay, tide level, and water level in the embankment. An analysis of all the measurements obtained from 2002 to 2006 has led to identifying probability distributions which represent the randomness of the measured values. The study concludes on the use of these results for assessing structural health.