A NEW APPROACH TO BREAKWATER DESIGN - 2B BLOCK

Abstract

Breakwaters are one of the oldest and important marine structures. Rubble mound breakwater is a very common type in all around the world. If the heavier rock is necessary for the design, concrete armor units are used. Each unit has its own advantages and disadvantages. For example cube and antifer blocks are massive units and their interlocking is weak. Dolos and tribar units have good interlocking but rocking stresses in these units are extraordinarily high. The placement method is very important and requires special equipment and experienced staff for the later developed single-layered units like accropod and core-loc. Moreover, continuous touching of blocks to each other and fatigue of the material may cause the breakdown of legs and serious damage of armor layer. And in case of damage, it is necessary to remove the units in a wide area on the breakwater and then relocate them, so it is very difficult to repair. A new type concrete armor unit is developed considering all these problems. It is called 2B Blocks.