Port of Augusta (Syracuse)

The drainage channel designed for the Port of Augusta

What we were asked to do

Greenpipe was commissioned to rapidly implement an efficient drainage solution within the construction site area of the commercial port of Augusta, specifically in the area highlighted in green in Figure 1.

For the client, both the functionality of the system—to ensure the yard remained well-drained even during heavy rainfall—and load resistance were critical to guarantee suitability for vehicles during maneuvers involving very heavy loads (F900).

The context

The Port of Augusta, in the province of Syracuse, is a major commercial hub and military base, thanks to the unique characteristics of its seabed which allow ships of all sizes to dock with relative ease. Its location at the center of the Mediterranean has always made it ideal as an industrial port and a hub for international transit.

The Port System Authority, via memorandum prot. no. 5436/UFF.TEC dated 2017-09-05, expressed the need to carry out extraordinary maintenance on the breakwater in front of the Port of Augusta to ensure the safety of navigation within the roadstead.

The project

EXTRAORDINARY MAINTENANCE OF THE PORT BREAKWATER, COMPLETION OF ARMOR STONE REPLENISHMENT AND RESTORATION OF THE REVETMENT The Eastern Sicily Sea Port System Authority requested the development of an executive project for the restoration of the old breakwater, limited to the maintenance of the Northern and Central breakwaters, aimed at achieving full efficiency of the port structure and ensuring the safety of navigation within the Augusta roadstead. Material similar to the existing one in terms of volume, mass, and composition will be used, without dredging/excavation or placing material outside the profile. Based on the calculation of areas and volumes, the following quantities are expected:

158,576.31 m³ of 60-ton cubic artificial blocks
2,709.53 m³ of 43-ton artificial blocks
670.20 tons of natural rocks

A total of 6,494 artificial concrete blocks will be produced, requiring the following materials:

Quarry aggregates or gravel: 193,543.00 tons
Sand: 90,320.06 tons
Cement: 48,385.75 tons
Water: 19,354,299.59 liters

These blocks will be prefabricated in designated construction site areas and transported to the breakwater installation site at sea. Regarding the construction site areas, the Eastern Sicily Sea Port System Authority identified an area of approximately 10,600 m² at the Commercial Port of Augusta where the blocks can be manufactured and stored during curing, and where site offices can be located, including the access roads for moving the blocks to their final destination. The site area will require appropriate preparatory work to make it usable for the contractor, who will be responsible for drafting, at their own expense, the executive project—complete with technical drawings, dimensional calculations, etc.—for the treatment of water originating from the plant, including both process water and rainwater. Greenpipe’s activities focused on the development of the management system for this water.

The Greenpipe Solution: BIG I nS 300 H520 - F900

We conducted a hydraulic study of the system, selecting not only the best section to minimize the width of the grate but also proposing the correct number of outlets and positioning them appropriately using the hydraulic calculation software developed by Greenpipe.

By inputting the hydrological data provided by the client, the characteristics of the yard (surface area, slopes, type of paving, runoff types) and setting the maximum expected filling level of the channel, the ideal solution was obtained through iteration. This verified the system while ensuring correct shear stress at the bottom—meaning a water velocity that was neither too fast (which would cause outlet malfunction) nor too slow (which would impair the channel’s self-cleaning capacity).

The contractor awarded the project, in agreement with the works management, opted for our Big I nS reinforced cast concrete channel Type I F900 with a cast iron profile to protect the upper edge, featuring elements 3.00 meters in length. Specifically, the chosen BIG I nS model was the 300 H520 (internal section 300×400 mm) with a “Z”-shaped cast iron profile.

This is the best possible solution because:

in the event of heavy loads on the structure, the “Z” profile ensures total protection of the concrete against wear and impact;
the self-supporting channels (Type I), requiring no additional concrete haunching, allowed for the immediate operation of the yard, simplifying the management of all other site activities;
the installation of the channel was accelerated thanks to the length of the units (3 meters);
the lateral outlets created during production facilitated the work on site.