INDUSTRIAL & COMMERCIAL PORTS
Industrial Port of Ras Laffan - Qatar

Client:                         Condotte & Partners for  Qatar General Petroleum Corporation (Q.G.P.C.)

Services:                    Hydrodynamic and navigational mathematical model studies,  Preliminary  Design of port layout, Basic,

                                      preliminary and detailed design of the main breakwater preliminary design of the jetties, Environmental

                                      impact studies.

Period:                        1991 - 1994

Construction cost:   € 694,118,000

The Project:

The port of Ras Laffan, which was completed in 1995, is at present the most important LNG vessel in the world.

The design and construction of the Industrial Port of Ras Laffan, included:

• Main and Lee Breakwa­ters (respectively 6 and 4,5 km long) protected by ar­mour rock and antifer blocks;
  

• Ro-Ro Berth, Dry Cargo/ Container Berth
• 2 LNG Berths (4 planned);
• Embankment leading to LNG Berths;
• 2 LPG Berths (6 planned);
• Harbour Basin dredged to -13,5 metres;
• Navigational approach channel dredged to -15 metres;
• Land Reclamation (10.2 million cu. m.)

• TECHNITAL was awarded a Contract by Condotte Qatar JV, the nominated Contractor, for the perfor­mance of the following engi­neering services:

• review of the preliminary design of the layout;

• review of the preliminary design of the main and lee breakwaters;
• review of the preliminary design of the access channel and of the dredging works;
• basic and preliminary design of quay walls and berths
• basic, preliminary and detailed design of the main breakwater .

The layout was selected by comparing several alternative solutions (developed starting from the solution shown in the Master Plan), by means of a "weighted" comparison of the behaviour of the following indicators:

•  "downtime" due to wave motion at the berths;

•  "downtime" due to access difficulties along the canal;

• the balance between dredged material and material needed for  implementation, by filling, of the harbour yards;

• the rationality of the access to the various harbour terminals;

• the possibility of  further development of the port.

The Layout Design also included studies aimed at assessing the environmental impact of the new port, such as the variations in the littoral drift and the interference with the discharge outlets of industrial plants, due to the considerable hydrodynamic changes.

The Preliminary Design of the breakwaters was performed in close collaboration with the construction contractors. It also involved the programming and co-ordination of tests on a two-dimensional physical model. Since a part of the breakwater core was constructed using dredged material with a very fine granulometry, particular care was taken over the design and checking of the filtering layers. 

The cladding was constructed using Antifer blocks of sizes varying from 1.9 to 4.5 cubic metres.

The Preliminary Design of the jetties also made use of the results of model tests, in this case of a 3-D hydrodynamic model, where the propagation of the wave motion was reproduced and the strains at the moorings were measured.

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