Break-through solutions

Technology development is in many respects like rafting logs in the old days. Sometimes the logs jammed and one could spend a lot of time and effort without much progress. On the other hand it was only necessary to remove a couple of key logs to break the jam. The trick was to identify those specific logs and concentrate all efforts on them.

 Application of the continuous pontoon breakwater system in
Santorini, Greece for the city of Oia

Assisting Rautaruukki Oy to develop a new steel pontoon pier and floating breakwater product line is an example of an R&D project carried through by Eranti Engineering. In this case the key innovation was to build a long continuous structure that is fairly rigid both in the vertical and horizontal direction. Such a structure distributes local wave and service load effects over a long area. Stability, serviceability and wave breaking properties are improved while savings are achieved in anchoring. An article of the research and development work was published in the PIANC Bulletin No. 89.

An example of a steel shell pier

Steel shell technology is another promising innovation. When a thin walled cylindrical or conical shell is filled with granular material, it behaves more or less like a solid block because of the arching effects of the fill. Applications range from ordinary piers to ice resistant oil piers, breakwaters, single point mooring structures and oil drilling platforms.

Construction is simple. Just lift lightweight shells in place and fill. There is a large promise for cost savings especially in remote and arctic areas.