Sequential movement of the caisson on soft clays in the construction of the port

연약 지반 지역의 항만 시공 단계에 따른 케이슨 변위 거동

The movement of the caisson used to construct a wharf front can affect functional performance of the port. Sequential movement of caissons at each stage of the construction is essential in the overall design as well as the stability of the port. It is common that back-analysis using the previous measurement is performed to predict the caisson movement, while there is no intensive study on sequential movement of the caissons according to the construction stage. In the study, we analyzed the pattern of the movement of caissons as a port is constructed. To simulate the construction of the port, the finite element method (FEM) is employed. The computed result shows that the caisson moves differently at each construction stage. When the caisson is being installed, the displacement of the caisson takes place mainly in vertical direction. In next stage of filling rocks behind the caisson, the top of the caisson move toward shore, while the bottom moves toward sea, thus rotating the caisson. The maximum rotation of the caisson takes place in the stage of filling rocks behind the caisson.