Wharf bulkhead wall geotechnical and structural capacity assessment

The paper presents the outcomes of existing conflicting views between the structural and geotechnical engineers about the approach to assessing an existing wharf retaining structure at Flinders Port, Adelaide. It demonstrates that working together is the only way to obtain a ‘best for client’ engineering solution. The paper summarises geotechnical analysis outputs for structural capacity assessment. Analysis indicates that new crane loads will have a negligible effect on the current Factor of Safety (FOS) for the overall geotechnical stability of the berth. Additional vertical crane loads only affect the vertical load on sheet piles and have little influence on geotechnical and structural capacity against rotational or translation movement.