Quay Wall and Marine Retaining Structure Design in DeepEX
- Dec 26, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 24
Design Gravity Quay Walls, Waterfront Structures, and Marine Retaining Systems in One Integrated Platform
Marine infrastructure projects present unique engineering challenges.
Unlike conventional retaining walls, quay walls and waterfront structures must resist not only earth pressures, but also wave loading, overtopping effects, seismic forces, ship loads, groundwater pressures, and complex foundation conditions.
As a result, engineers often find themselves switching between multiple software packages to complete a single design.
DeepEX brings geotechnical, structural, and coastal engineering analyses together within a single environment, allowing engineers to efficiently design and evaluate gravity quay walls, marine retaining structures, caisson walls, and waterfront developments.
The Challenge: Marine Structures Face More Than Earth Pressures
Designing a waterfront retaining structure requires engineers to evaluate a wide range of loading conditions.
Questions commonly include:
How will wave pressures affect wall stability?
Will overtopping create additional loading concerns?
How will seismic forces influence wall performance?
Is the structure vulnerable to sliding or overturning?
What factors govern overall stability?
How do changing water levels affect the design?
These evaluations often require separate analyses using different methodologies and software tools.
How DeepEX Helps
DeepEX allows engineers to evaluate many of these effects within a single integrated model, providing a more efficient workflow and helping reduce design complexity.
Design a Wide Range of Marine Structures
DeepEX supports the design and evaluation of:
Gravity quay walls
Caisson walls
Block-type quay walls
Cellular waterfront structures
Port and harbor retaining walls
Sheet pile waterfront systems
Anchored marine retaining walls
Cofferdams
Bulkheads
Composite marine structures
The software can be used for both preliminary studies and detailed design evaluations.
Model Complex Quay Wall Geometries
Every marine structure is different.
DeepEX allows engineers to create and modify a wide variety of wall geometries through an intuitive graphical interface.
Users can model:
Gravity walls
T-type walls
Segmental structures
Composite wall systems
Multi-material wall sections
Caisson walls with infill zones
Custom wall geometries
Project geometry, loading conditions, soil profiles, and construction stages can all be managed within the same environment.
Evaluate Wave Pressures and Overtopping Effects
One of the most important aspects of marine retaining structure design is accurately estimating wave-induced loading.
DeepEX includes multiple established methodologies for evaluating wave pressures, including:
Goda Method
Sainflou Method
Coastal Engineering Manual (CEM) approaches
Additional industry-recognized procedures
The software allows engineers to define:
Wave heights
Wave periods
Water depths
Overtopping conditions
Site-specific environmental parameters
DeepEX can also assist with preliminary estimation of wave characteristics and overtopping flow rates, helping engineers quickly evaluate different design scenarios.
Incorporate Seismic and Environmental Loading
Marine structures located in seismic regions require additional evaluation beyond conventional static analyses.
DeepEX allows engineers to include:
Seismic earth pressures
Dynamic loading effects
Water level variations
Hydrostatic pressures
Environmental surcharges
Supported seismic methodologies include:
Mononobe-Okabe
Semi-rigid approaches
Other recognized procedures
This allows engineers to evaluate multiple design conditions within the same project model.
Analyze Stability and Structural Performance
DeepEX combines geotechnical and structural evaluations to provide a comprehensive understanding of wall behavior.
Engineers can evaluate:
Sliding stability
Overturning stability
Bearing capacity
Global stability
Structural demands
Earth pressures
Water pressures
Wave pressures
Seismic effects
For more advanced studies, projects can also be analyzed using finite element methods available within DeepEX.
Optimize Designs with Detailed Results
Following analysis, DeepEX provides comprehensive graphical and numerical results that help engineers identify critical conditions and optimize designs.
Available outputs include:
Pressure distributions
Structural forces
Stability factors of safety
Critical slip surfaces
Load combinations
Structural utilization ratios
Construction stage results
This allows engineers to quickly determine which design conditions govern project performance.
Why Engineers Use DeepEX for Marine Infrastructure Projects
DeepEX helps eliminate the need for multiple disconnected analysis tools by combining coastal, geotechnical, and structural engineering workflows within a single platform.
With DeepEX, engineers can:
✔ Design gravity quay walls and marine retaining structures
✔ Evaluate wave pressures and overtopping effects
✔ Perform seismic and environmental loading analyses
✔ Analyze sliding, overturning, and global stability
✔ Create complex wall geometries and caisson systems
✔ Review structural and geotechnical performance together
✔ Generate comprehensive design documentation
Whether designing a port expansion, harbor redevelopment, waterfront retaining structure, bulkhead, or gravity quay wall, DeepEX provides engineers with a practical and efficient solution for marine infrastructure design.
Availability
Marine retaining wall, gravity quay wall, wave pressure, overtopping, and waterfront structure design capabilities are included in all current DeepEX software packages.
Let us show you how to reduce your design time by up to 90%!
