Wave actions on the side caissons of the Venice gates

Abstract

The present study originates from a construction problem found in the planned deployment of the side caissons of the Venice gates barrier. Each of these caissons is made to float, then sunk into a lateral trench and jointed to the soil at its bottom. As a result, a C-shaped channel forms between the vertical caisson surfaces and the surrounding trench. Incoming storm waves propagating from the sea can then induce forced oscillations in this C-channel. An analytical model based on the method of matched asymptotics is developed in order to obtain the free surface oscillations in the channel, caused by a grazing incident wave. The resonant response of the basin and the amplification factors are then determined. From the free surface elevation, the pressure field and hence the total forces are also found. The analysis moves on to irregular wave motion. The analytical solution enables us to compute the dynamic actions, showing that their magnitude can be significant, due to the excitation of different resonant modes.